UNESCO removes Xoan singing from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

At 10:52 local time (8:52 Vietnam time) on December 8, 2017, at the 12th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in Jeju, South Korea, Phu Tho Xoan Singing was officially removed from the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

As a performing arts heritage, Xoan singing in Phu Tho province includes singing, dancing, drumming, and percussion. Xoan singing is closely associated with the worship of Hung Kings, a belief rooted in the Vietnamese practice of ancestor worship.

Those who preserve and practice Xoan singing form four Xoan singing troupes, in which the male and female troupes play the most important roles: they safeguard the songs, select disciples, teach the singing style and performances, and organize practice sessions. They also actively introduce and teach Xoan singing in the Xoan singing troupes and in clubs.

As a community performing art, Xoan singing fosters cultural understanding, community cohesion, and mutual respect. The Vietnam Institute of Music has collected 31 Xoan songs, and thanks to the efforts of several artisans, many Xoan singing troupes have been established. There are currently 33 active Xoan singing clubs, and workshops are organized to expand knowledge about Xoan singing.

Experienced artisans teach Xoan singing through oral tradition combined with the use of musical scores, audio recordings, and video recordings. These experienced artisans also teach Xoan singing to club members and music teachers in schools – who then pass on this knowledge to other club members and students.

According to the results of the National Periodic Report (2016) on the status of Phu Tho Xoan Singing, Vietnam, and based on the assessment of the implementation of the heritage protection plan, the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage concluded that Phu Tho Xoan Singing no longer meets one or more criteria of the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding for the following reasons:

Xoan singing is a form of community performing art.

- Reports on the status of the heritage demonstrate that Xoan singing no longer requires urgent protection, as recent efforts by the local community and the Government have significantly restored its viability since its inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011. For example, in 2009, the four Xoan singing groups had about 100 singers and musicians performing intermittently, with more than half being over 60 years old. Today, the groups have nearly 200 members with an average age of 35.

In 2009, among the 31 oldest artisans (aged 80 to 104), only 7 were capable of performing and teaching the ancient melodies of Xoan singing. Today, a total of 62 successors have been trained and are fully equipped to teach Xoan singing. The number of young people participating is growing rapidly. Better preservation results could be achieved through coordination with national sustainable development projects. However, some challenges remain, such as the threat of homogenization of performances; young people continue to leave the craft villages to seek work and education, thus losing opportunities to practice.

- The project to protect and promote Xoan singing, approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, has been implemented since 2013 and will continue until 2020. It has played a vital role in protecting and restoring the heritage with the full support of the community. Protection measures include teaching Xoan singing, training in the protection of intangible cultural heritage, restoring necessary spaces for heritage practice, collecting and publishing literary materials for educational purposes, and introducing the heritage in schools. The four wards of Xoan singers have made significant contributions to the protection of Xoan singing from the 1980s to the present. Their knowledge and continuous practice have helped to restore this art form.

- The Xoan singing groups and communities, trainees, and related organizations actively participated in the preparation of the National Periodic Report, enthusiastically engaging in interviews, discussions, and workshops. Furthermore, this heritage was extensively inventoried with community participation from 2012 to 2015, with information updated annually. A systematic inventory of Xoan singing was also conducted by the Vietnam Institute of Music under the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

For the reasons stated above, the Intergovernmental Committee has noted Vietnam's proposal to remove Xoan singing from Phu Tho, Vietnam, from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

This is the first time the Intergovernmental Committee has decided to remove a heritage item from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in order to transfer it to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Based on the experience gained during the Committee's review of this proposal from Vietnam, the Committee will continue to discuss the draft guidelines and determine clear procedures for removing a heritage item from one list and transferring it to another.

According to VOV