Xoe Thai dance, Cham pottery seek UNESCO’s heritage recognition

Xoe Thai is a unique type of traditional dance that plays a significant role in the daily life of Thai ethnic communities in the northwest of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

It is performed in various community activities from festivals to funeral rituals (Photo: VNA)

There are about 30 Xoe dances, which have been developed, protected and handed down through generations (Photo: VNA)

With gentle and alluring rhythms, dancers usually form a circle around a festive flame and move to the sound of melodic traditional music (Photo: VNA)

Cham people in the south central provinces of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, particularly those residing in the Ninh Thuan’s Bau Truc pottery village, have long been renowned for their art of pottery (Photo: VNA)

One of the most outstanding features of the traditional Cham pottery is the technique of shaping their wares by hand rather than by a wheel and their use of simple tools or shells to decorate the products (Photo: VNA)

The skills of the Cham have created a variety of products used for daily activities and spiritual worship (Photo: VNA)

Some of the products include cylindrical jars which store water or rice, decorative lamps, reliefs, and statuettes of apsara or gods (Photo: VNA)

The Bau Truc pottery village is one of the oldest of its kind in Southeast Asia (Photo: VNA)