Vietnam’s Nghe Tinh Vi-Giam folk singing was officially recognised by
UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity at the 9th session
of its Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris on November 27.
This type of folk singing is popular in nearly 260 villages in the
central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The two provinces have 51
singing clubs with over 800 vocalists, many of whom are actively
preserving the folk music.
Vi-Giam folk music, estimated to have 15 tunes of Vi and 8 airs of
Giam, is a repartee sung while working. It reflects the work, cultural
life and feelings of the residents in the central coastal provinces.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien said
the recognition of Vi-Dam as a cultural masterpiece of humanity is of
great significance to Vietnam since the folk genre plays an important
role in bringing the local community together.
The
country committed to implementing an action programme to preserve
Vi-Giam singing, carrying out policies to honour artisans, and
intensifying communication campaigns to educate young generations on
this type of art.
Talking to Vietnam News Agency
correspondents in Paris, Permanent Vice Chairman of Ha Tinh provincial
People’s Committee Nguyen Thien and Vice Chairwoman of Nghe An
provincial People’s Committee Dinh Thi Le Thanh expressed their pride of
their localities’ folk singing becoming part of the world’s intangible
cultural heritage treasure.
They also acknowledged
the responsibility for and the necessity of building specific measures
to preserve the heritage value, thus helping promote the cultural
identity and boost sustainable development of the two provinces.
Vi-Dam became the ninth Vietnamese cultural practice wining UNESCO’s
intangible heritage status. The other eight practices recognised by
UNESCO are Hue’s royal court music, Gong space culture in Tay Nguyen
(Central Highlands), the northern province of Bac Ninh’s love duet
singing, the Giong festival, Ca Tru ceremonial singing, Xoan singing,
Don Ca Tai Tu music and the worship of Hung Kings.
At the session, 33 other cultural pieces worldwide received UNESCO’s
recognition as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, bringing the
total number of heritages for this category to 314.-VNA