The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee recently hosted a ceremony to receive the certificate in recognition of Don Ca Tai Tu Nam Bo as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” from UNESCO at the Reunification Palace.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that UNESCO’s recognition of ‘don ca tai tu’ reflects the appreciation and respect of the international community for the Vietnamese unique art form. The acknowledgement not only brings pride to Vietnamese people and southerners particularly but also contributes to the preservation of the cultural treasures of the world. The accolade is also clear evidence of the vitality of Vietnamese traditional culture during its integration process into the world’s culture.”
Katherine Muller Marin, Chief UNESCO Representative in Vietnam, announced the UNESCO Decision in recognition of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humankind and presented the certificate to 21 provinces and cities that are home to ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ and to representatives of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
‘Don ca tai tu’ is an art crystallised from folk music, ceremonial music, chamber music and Hue royal court music. It is adapted to aesthetic notion of southerners. This is now played by many enthusiasts, which form a mass folk music playing movement. The recognition of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is laudable. Professor Tran Van Khe |
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also announced a national action plan to protect and develop ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ and praised collectives, individuals and artists for their artworks and teaching of the folk music in the past years.
Formed and developed at the end of the 19th century, ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ is a mixture of ceremonial music, Nha Nhac (Hue royal court music) and folk music. “Tai tu” means specially expert in ancient music, not amateur. The improvisational chamber music was composed and introduced to southerners by three central musicians, namely Nguyen Quang Dai or Ba Doi (musical official of Nguyen Dynasty), Tran Quang Quon, and Le Tai Khi, nicknamed Nhac Khi. At first, they played to serve some groups of people. Then, more people played the music and its space also widened. Originally, the folk music comprised only ‘don’ (fiddle) and ‘ca’ (singing), thus it was called “don ca.” Songs were adapted from Hue songs. Major musical instruments include don kim (two-stringed Vietnamese traditional musical instrument), don tranh (plucked zither of Vietnam made by a wooden body and steel strings), don co (Vietnamese bowed string instrument with two strings), don ty ba (Vietnamese traditional plucked string instrument), and don sen (Vietnamese plucked string instrument with two strings and a slender neck with raised frets).
In 1930 or so, ‘sunken guitar’ (scalloped Vietnamese adaptation of the French guitar), violin and Hawaii guitar Hawaii were adapted to play with ‘don ca tai tu.’ Traditionally, it was rarely played by a soloist but duet, trio or ensemble. In the early 20th century, ‘tai tu’ music branched into a new genre called ‘ca ra bo’ and then ‘cai luong.’ Rooted in southern Vietnam in more than a century, ‘don ca tai tu’ becomes a typical folk art of the South and constantly evolves to become an indispensable part of daily life. According to statistics, Vietnam currently has 2,258 ‘don ca tai tu’ clubs with nearly 14,000 members in 21 provinces and cities nationwide. The youngest singer is six years old and the oldest is 99. Ho Chi Minh City has 97 clubs and 1,133 members.
National Action Programme for Don Ca Tai Tu Nam Bo Art Protection (2014 – 2020)
| On December 5, 2013, UNESCO announced the decision to officially list ‘s ‘don ca tai tu’ as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the eighth session of its Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Baku City, . All 24 member nations voted for the decision. Since then, ‘don ca tai tu’ has been not only the heritage of Vietnamese people but also of the world and is protected and preserved by the world. This very important shift opens up many potentials and opportunities for the country’s all-faceted development, including culture, sports and tourism. Currently, has 18 cultural and natural world heritages. Eight were named the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. |
1- Accelerating information and education activities to raise awareness of the whole society, especially younger generations, to protect and promote the value of cultural heritages in general and ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art in particular.
2- Creating favourable conditions for practising, creating and teaching ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art in families, schools, clubs and communities to enhance the cultural and spiritual life of the community and local people.
3- Strengthening scientific and technological research and application to improve the quality and efficiency of data collection, documentation, teaching and performance to preserve and promote the artistic value of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art and add ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art to schools.
4- Supporting communities to restore and transmit songs, social customs, and beliefs related to ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art; expanding forms and environments for ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art in line with the goal of protecting and promoting the artistic value of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art in contemporary life.
5- Coordinating with media agencies, professional associations and organisations to organise programmes to introduce and popularise ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art in various forms to make the public, especially young generations, aesthetic and artistic perception well aware of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art.
6- Applying rewarding policies for ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ artists with great contributions to protection and promotion of ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art values.
7- Organising ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art exchanges with various localities in Vietnam and with foreign nations; organising ‘don ca tai tu nam bo’ art festival every three years.
PV
Đăng ký: VietNam News
