A Vi Giam folk song performance. The art form has been recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. (Photo: dancaxunghe.vn) Hanoi(VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 30 requested the centralprovinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh to balance their annual budgets and mobilisefunding from other sources to implement projects on protection and promotion ofVi Giam folk singing between 2021 – 2025.
The PMassigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to instruct the provincialPeople’s Committees to protect and promote the value of the folk singing inline with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible CulturalHeritage.
He taskedcompetent authorities to promptly develop new regulations and proposeamendments to the current ones on safeguarding and promoting Vietnam’sintangible cultural heritages to submit to the government for review.
The Vi Giam folk singing was recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in2014.
Vi and Giam are sung by communities in Nghe An andHa Tinh. The lyrics use the unique dialect and linguistic idioms of the regionand are sung with the particular accents of people there.
The songsfocus on key values and virtues including respect for parents, loyalty, careand devotion, and the importance of honesty and a good heart in the maintenanceof village customs and traditions.
The folk musicis traditionally sung while people are working in the rice fields, rowingboats, making crafts or lulling children to sleep. Singing is a chance forlocals to ease theirs hardship in life as well as express feelings between menand women.
Today, Vi and Giam are also sung at cultural events and theatres.The folk singing is also featured in a number of local festivals and taught inschools as a way to transmit, practise and pass down the heritage to theyounger generations./.
VNA
