Drawing on six years of ethnographic investigation pursued collaboratively by U.S. and Chinese folklorists, museum professionals, and local cultural groups, this two-part symposium offers research reports on material culture and heritage policies in Southwest China. In keeping with the larger binational project from which the papers derive, some presentations will consider the intersection of these two topical domains. Cultural groups whose circumstances will be discussed include the Baiku Yao people of Nandan County (Guangxi), the Dong people of Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County (Guangxi) and Liping County (Guizhou), and the Bai of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (Yunnan).

This item is a bilingual (English, Chinese) program for a two part symposium titled Material Culture and Heritage Safeguarding in Southwest China, which was held on September 16-17, 2021. The event was organized by the International Folklore Studies Center, a partnership between the Department of Chinese Folklore Studies, Beijing Normal University and the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Indiana University. Bilingual abstracts are included within the program. Papers presented during the workshop were based on the work of the China-US Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage Project, an effort of the American Folklore Society and China Folklore Society.