The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai has accelerated its efforts to
preserve a traditional form of oral storytelling, knows as Bahnar
epics, which are fading away in the locality.
For the past few
decades, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has
launched studies of the Bahnar epics, which recount legends about the
group’s heroes and great events. These poems and stories have been
collected and preserved.
One of these tales, the
epic of Dam Noi, was first discovered in the 1980s in Kong Chro. Other
epics found in the region have been translated and published
bilingually.
Currently, there are more than 20 storytellers across the province who know 70 Bahnar epic poems by heart .
On April 24, the epics received national intangible heritage
recognition. This will help promote them and facilitate further
research, collection and preservation.
The province has also
asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to bestow the local
storytellers with ‘excellent artisan’ titles.
The
Central Highlands region, which comprises the five provinces of Dak Lak,
Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, is home to stunning mythical
landscapes and a significant population of diverse ethnic minorities and
cultures./.