Heritage Around Us is ICOMOS Malaysia's monthly knowledge-sharing series dedicated to uncovering and celebrating lesser-known heritage that shapes our cultural landscapes. From traditional ecological knowledge to everyday cultural practices, the series highlights places, traditions, objects, and stories that embody both tangible and intangible heritage values.

While heritage is often associated with monuments, historic buildings, and permanent sites, many of the world's living traditions depend on spaces that exist only briefly. Temporary shrines, ritual stages, festival streets, procession routes, night markets, and ceremonial grounds emerge for days or weeks before disappearing—yet they continue to sustain cultural memory across generations.

In this talk, Kenneth Wong See Huat, Founder of People Ideas Culture, introduces the concept of Temporal Space, exploring how ephemeral places function as vital infrastructures for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Drawing from field research and case studies in Penang, including the Hungry Ghost Festival, Nine Emperor Gods Festival, and other community-based traditions, the presentation examines how these temporary environments enable ritual practice, social interaction, intergenerational knowledge transmission, and community identity.

Rather than viewing these spaces as merely temporary installations, the talk argues that they are recurring cultural landscapes that return through collective memory, participation, and ritual performance. As cities become increasingly regulated and urbanised, understanding and safeguarding these impermanent spaces has become essential for protecting living heritage.

The session invites heritage practitioners, museum professionals, planners, researchers, and community members to rethink conservation beyond permanent architecture, recognising that some of our most enduring heritage survives precisely because it is continually recreated.

Speaker: Kenneth Wong See Huat
Founder, People Ideas Culture
Date: 14 July 2026 | Time: 4:00–5:00 PM (MYT) | Platform: Zoom