To spread and perpetuate

(Baonghean) - Over time, the folk songs Vi and Giam have been preserved and adapted to life, becoming an indispensable spiritual food for the people of Nghe - Tinh. The Vi and Giam melodies, the lyrics that have existed since ancient times, have enriched the cultural identity and love of the people of Nghe An.

Vi and Giam folk songs were created by the Nghe community during their labor, production and daily life. Along with the length of history, the vitality of Vi and Giam folk songs was recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. That great value has been passed down by generations of Nghe people in many forms. These include community activities, organizing folk song teaching on television, bringing folk songs to schools, and establishing Vi and Giam folk song clubs in localities with traditions. At the same time, the Nghe Folk Song Conservation Center was built to both perform and collect and preserve folk songs. It is from the regular and continuous conservation work that Vi and Giam folk songs have had a strong vitality over time.

After being recognized by UNESCO, Vi and Giam folk songs have more opportunities to spread with many promotional activities of departments, branches, organizations and local people. Along with that, there is the active participation of press agencies. And the most impressive mark is the series of exchange and performance nights "about Vi and Giam region" organized by former students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted in Hanoi, Vinh City and Ho Chi Minh City, creating a positive effect, contributing to bringing Vi and Giam folk songs to the community. Former students of Phan School also contributed and supported 6 folk song clubs in the province, each club 10 million VND to have more funds to collect and promote Vi and Giam folk songs.

Singing Vi Song Lam by Vinh Tan Ward Folk Song Club (Vinh City). Photo: Truong Sinh

The activity of "bringing folk songs into schools" continues to be promoted by schools. A typical example is Thanh Chuong district - one of the cradles of Vi and Giam folk songs, which has built a long-term plan to bring Vi and Giam folk songs associated with the activities of traditional craft villages. Mr. Nguyen Nhu Hai - Deputy Director of the district's Cultural and Information Center said: In the immediate future, we will focus on 3 folk song clubs: Thanh Linh with the broom making profession, Ngoc Son with the carpentry profession and Cat Van with the hat making profession. The encouraging sign is that besides the clubs established before, many communes, even in hamlets, have also established Vi and Giam folk song clubs. The cultural and artistic club by the elderly of Thanh Dong commune is a typical example. For the club to operate effectively, the elderly themselves wrote new lyrics based on the melodies of Vi and Giam folk songs and after performing, they were loved by the people and became propaganda songs for the commune...

Identifying the work of propagating, preserving and promoting the heritage of Vi and Giam folk songs as a regular and continuous task, each of us must be deeply aware of our responsibility in continuing to preserve, transmit and promote the precious values ​​of the heritage left by our ancestors. In addition to propaganda, promotion and awareness raising activities for each citizen, creating a performance space and linking Vi and Giam folk songs with tourism development activities is considered a positive direction. The province also has a policy of organizing campaigns to compose new lyrics, printing and distributing publications, building policies to encourage artisans and the community to actively contribute to the work of preserving and promoting the value of heritage... All are aimed at making Vi and Giam folk songs become spiritual baggage for generations of Nghe An people in particular, and people across the country in general, contributing to preserving and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity.

People's Artist Hong Luu - Deputy Director of the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Nghe An Folk Song Heritage, said: The establishment and development of the system of Folk Song and Giam clubs in recent times has greatly contributed to bringing folk songs into life. That is a good premise for bringing folk song activities closer to their original space and performance environment, contributing to promoting the movement of practicing Folk Song and Giam to develop strongly, attracting many members to participate. The club is also a place to discover and train many good folk singers and a very good environment to nurture and develop folk singing talents in the community...

On that basis, the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Nghe An Folk Heritage coordinates with folk song clubs in the province to regularly organize discussions to enhance the responsibility of teaching and attracting the participation of the younger generation; at the same time, restore attractive traditional songs and performances; the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinates with the community to organize exchanges between regions of Vi and Giam folk songs, organize performances and festivals of "Folk songs" between regions; the Radio and Television Station maintains and develops the program of teaching folk songs and opens a folk song column on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings on television and 30 minutes of folk songs on Tuesdays on the radio; builds the website "Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh" linked to the Satellite Station of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Data Bank of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that has been built at the Kim Lien relic site. The above activities are promoted and expanded, making Vi and Giam folk songs increasingly widespread, lasting over time, becoming a cultural activity rich in identity and able to promote economic value in serving tourism development...

Thanh Thuy