Meritorious Artist Tuyet Mai shows international tourists how to play a traditional Vietnamese musical instrument at Truc Mai Home Concert. (Photo courtesy of www.nld.com.vn)HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City is piloting a new tourism project called Ngoi Nha Nghe Si (Artist's House), with the aim of promoting Vietnamese music to international tourists at the homes of individual artists.
The number of international visitors to the city who look for art shows such as the A o Show and Golden Dragon Water Puppet, and ethnic music performances at Rex Hotel, increased greatly in the first quarter of the year.
The ‘Ngoi Nha Nghe Si’ tourism project, which includes a visit to an artist’s house to experience ‘Don ca tai tu Nam Bo’ (southern folk music), has stirred excitement within the arts community.
Meritorious Artist couple Dinh Linh and Tuyet Mai offers the Truc Mai Home Concert on 104 Pham Viet Chanh street in Binh Thanh district’s ward 19.
Since 2004, Truc Mai Home Concert has become a popular address among many international tourists. Experts describe it as “the first privately owned museum for traditional musical instruments”.
Similar to Truc Mai Home Concert, Phuong Bao Music Centre on 11Bis Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street in district 1 has attracted many visitors who take a tour and practice Vietnamese traditional musical instruments with artists.
Recently, Meritorious Artist Minh Vuong has rearranged his living space and put up 200 images capturing his art journey, ready to welcome guests.
“I have heard about the new ‘Ngoi Nha Nghe Si’ project and would love to reserve this space for promoting the art of cai luong (a form of modern folk opera) to tourists,” he said.
People’s Artist Le Thanh Tung also dedicate his house in Hoc Mon district to carry out the new tourism project.
Meritorious Artist Truong Son said his family is ready to greet tourists to Thai Hung communal house, where he and many generations of artists have practiced ‘cai luong’.
In the house, artists and their audiences experience an intimate space.
According to Meritorious Artists Dinh Linh and Tuyet Mai, visitors will not only enjoy the art performances at Truc Mai Home Concert but learn how the instruments work.
People’s Artist Phuong Bao has had many opportunities to travel and perform around the world, and has skills in knowing how to promote her house to visitors.
“For example, with Japanese visitors, my students play instruments and perform the melodies of Japanese music,” she said, adding that it is important to not only let visitors experience the performance itself, but also understand the essence of traditional Vietnamese music via the melodies of where they are from.
“Don’t think about making profits right away, but have a long-term plan as this tourism project is expected to open more stages for artists to perform,” People’s Artist Phuong Bao said.
In addition to connecting artists and tourists, the artist house project also helps inspire and train younger generations that have a passion for music.
This can be seen at Truc Mai Home Concert where three generations of artists all perform on the same stage.-VNS/VNA
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