Introduction

PASEA is one of the 20 study groups of the International Council of Traditional Music (ICTM), a scholarly organization, which aims to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries. To these ends the Council organizes World Conferences, Symposia, and Colloquia, and publishes the Yearbook for Traditional Music and the online Bulletin of the ICTM.

As a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and by means of its wide international representation and the activities of its Study Groups, the ICTM acts as a bond among peoples of different cultures and thus contributes to the peace of humankind (http://www.ictmusic.org).