Unique and special performing arts
“Arriving” at UNESCO is a journey, the most important of which is building a dossier to submit.
Formed more than 3 centuries ago, Hue singing is considered an elegant pastime of talented scholars, a very unique and special performing art form. The Hue singing system is built on 3 main melodies: Bac, Nam, Nam Xuan and some melodies are changed according to the singing style.
Nowadays, Hue singing has become a tourism product, a brand that attracts domestic and foreign tourists to Hue through the form of Hue singing on the Perfume River dragon boat and Hue chamber singing.
There has been a lot of information about the construction of a dossier to submit to UNESCO , but this work was officially started in early August 2024 when the Provincial Department of Culture and Sports invited the Institute of Music to coordinate the implementation.
At the time when Hue folk songs were recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, the leader of the Department of Cultural Heritage - Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that this was one of the measures to protect intangible cultural heritage, demonstrated through assessing the vitality of the heritage and pointing out different ways of protection, creating a solid foundation for building appropriate protection measures and allocating resources.
Being included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage has shown the high appreciation for the typical historical, cultural and scientific values of Hue singing. This is also a necessary condition if the Hue singing heritage builds a dossier to submit to UNESCO for inclusion in one of the lists of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity or Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. However, to be recognized by UNESCO, Hue singing needs to continue to be thoroughly researched to further clarify its outstanding values for cultural diversity and human creativity.
Convenience in the process of making a profile
It is not until now that the preparation for the journey to compile a dossier to submit to UNESCO has begun, before that, experts have also paid close attention to this issue. In particular, in addition to research, it is necessary to focus on inventory, documentation, database building; developing a system of Hue singing clubs, bringing Hue singing into teaching in schools; and policies on rewarding artisans.
And during the working session with the Department of Culture and Sports in early August 2024, experts once again affirmed that with what is available, building a profile for Hue singing at this time is extremely favorable.
Dr. Pham Minh Huong - Director of the Institute of Music - said that her unit and herself have been involved with Hue singing for a long time. This includes going to Hue to collect documents related to Hue singing as well as inviting artists to the institute to record and archive. All of these documents are extremely valuable in the process of serving the dossier.
Ms. Huong pointed out that the advantage of making a dossier at this time is receiving the support and determination of the locality, moreover, the development of Hue singing in community life is also objective and clear evidence. Along with that, the successor team of this art form is also very large, they proactively approach and promote very well the heritage value left by their ancestors... "Hue singing is worthy of building a dossier" - Ms. Huong emphasized.
Meanwhile, according to Dr. Phan Thuan Thao (Hue Academy of Music), the process of documenting and collecting documents is very important. “In several meetings with the authorities, I affirmed that documenting the heritage of Hue singing is within reach. Because here we have a team of artisans and experts, audio materials, written materials, and very thick visual materials with inheritance from previous generations, with a spread to the community, specifically bringing Hue singing into schools, Hue song lyrics composition contests…” - Dr. Thao commented.
