Maniq Living Heritage Forum 2026
An Academic Symposium and Cultural Festival
Voices from the Forest to Society: Collaborative Learning for the Future of the Maniq People
11–12 August 2026, The Sirindhorn Natural History Museum Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Concept Note
The Maniq Living Heritage Symposium 2026 brings together scholars, Indigenous community members, students, museum professionals, policymakers, and civil society organizations to explore Indigenous knowledge, living heritage, and collaborative learning in contemporary Asia.
The symposium is inspired by the experiences of the Maniq, one of the Indigenous peoples of the Malay Peninsula, whose communities continue to sustain rich ecological knowledge, oral traditions, and enduring relationships with forest environments despite rapid social, economic, and environmental changes. Today, Maniq communities live primarily in southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, where they have often been represented through external categories such as “forest people,” “ethnic minorities,” or “communities in transition.”
Rather than asking only who the Maniq are, the symposium raises a broader question: How can indigenous communities move from being subjects of research toward becoming co-producers of knowledge? Through collaborative research, living heritage, and community-led learning, the symposium seeks to create a space for dialogue among Indigenous communities, scholars, students, museum professionals, policymakers, and civil society organizations on the future of Indigenous knowledge production in Asia.
Organized under the research project “Co-Creation Towards a Living Museum: Integrating Knowledge and Participatory Learning,” the symposium adopts the concept of a Living Museum as a collaborative platform where communities, researchers, and institutions work together to produce, share, and sustain knowledge. Rather than viewing heritage as something to be preserved only for the past, the forum understands living heritage as an ongoing process through which communities actively shape their present and future.
Objectives
- To promote understanding of the Maniq people and their living heritage.
- To provide a platform for Maniq community members to share their knowledge and experiences.
- To foster dialogue among scholars, Indigenous communities, students, policymakers, and civil society.
- To explore the role of Living Museums and participatory research in collaborative knowledge production.
- To strengthen regional and international networks on Indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage.
Symposium Formats
Academic Forum Keynote lectures, panel discussions, and research presentations on Indigenous knowledge, living heritage, museums, and participatory research.
Living Museum Interactive learning activities led by Maniq community members, featuring traditional knowledge, storytelling, language, crafts, and forest-based cultural practices.
Student and Digital Media Showcase Documentary screenings, digital storytelling, photography, multimedia exhibitions, and creative projects exploring Maniq heritage through contemporary media.
While grounded in the Maniq experience, the symposium also invites broader conversations on Indigenous knowledge across Asia. It encourages dialogue on questions of recognition, cultural heritage, environmental stewardship, community participation, and knowledge production through comparative perspectives from Southeast Asia and beyond.
Organizers
The symposium is organized under the research project “Co-Creation Towards a Living Museum: Integrating Knowledge and Participatory Learning,” conducted by the Center of Geosocial and Cultural Research for Sustainable Development (GSCR), Walailak University, with support from the Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (RSPG).
The symposium is jointly organized by the Center of Geosocial and Cultural Research for Sustainable Development (GSCR), The Sirindhorn Museum, The Sirindhorn Natural History Museum, Walailak Botanic Park, the School of Political Science and Public Administration, the School of Law, Walailak University, and the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society (IACS).
