Musician Hoang Van's collection officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage

The UNESCO Executive Board unanimously agreed to inscribe the Collection of Vietnamese Musician Hoang Van into the Memory of the World Register on April 10. (Source: UNESCO)

At 11pm on April 10 in Paris, the UNESCO Executive Board unanimously agreed to register the Collection of Vietnamese Musician Hoang Van in the Memory of the World Catalogue.

This is the first time a collection of Vietnamese music has been recognized as a World Documentary Heritage.

Assessing the results, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, emphasized: “The fact that the Collection of Musician Hoang Van was recognized by UNESCO is not only a great honor for the musician and his family, but also an affirmation of the position of Vietnamese music in the flow of human intellectual heritage. This is a vivid testament to the enduring vitality of Vietnamese music, a vivid memory of a historical period, reflecting the soul, identity and aspirations of an entire nation through each melody.”

Highlighting the important role of the Memory of the World Program in protecting and promoting global cultural and historical values, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van highly appreciated the effective coordination between domestic and international authorities and experts, especially the dedicated contributions from Musician Hoang Van's family in preserving and promoting this valuable collection.

Ambassador, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to UNESCO Nguyen Thi Van Anh shared that the Collection is one of 74 dossiers recommended by UNESCO for inclusion out of a total of 121 nomination dossiers considered at this session. The dossier was approved smoothly and exceeded expectations, with close coordination between many stakeholders, especially the timely advisory role of Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong, Member of the International Advisory Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme for the 2024-2028 term, which contributed significantly to the dossier being approved with an absolute rate (100%).

Musician Hoang Van's collection has been officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage. (Photo: Bao Chi)

Ms. Le Thi Hong Van, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, affirmed that the registration of the Musician Hoang Van's Collection was a success beyond expectations, the result of the close and harmonious coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO and a team of domestic and international experts.

The collection is the 4th world documentary heritage out of 570 world documentary heritages recognized by UNESCO to date and is also the first documentary heritage about Vietnamese music to be recognized, contributing to enriching the national cultural treasure and human civilization.

The above registration is even more meaningful when the revised Law on Cultural Heritage was passed by the National Assembly in 2024 and took effect from July 1, 2025, which for the first time dedicated a chapter to documentary heritage, demonstrating the increasingly deep interest of the State, management agencies and the whole society in this field.

Musician Hoang Van's collection includes more than 700 musical works composed from 1951 to 2010, deeply reflecting the changes of the country and the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people through many periods. With a harmonious combination of European classical music and folk music, his works not only have artistic value but are also valuable documents for research on Vietnamese culture, society and music history.

According to the assessment of the International Advisory Council of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, Vietnam's dossier fully meets international criteria with outstanding values. The collection is well preserved and highly accessible through a multilingual digital platform (https://hoangvan.org), contributing to spreading Vietnamese cultural values ​​to the international community.

UNESCO's recognition of the Collection of Musician Hoang Van is not only the pride of Musician Hoang Van's family, but also the common pride of the country and people of Vietnam. This documentary heritage will contribute to raising public awareness of documentary heritage, spreading the cultural - historical - humanistic values ​​of Vietnam to the world, thereby enhancing the image and position of the country and people of Vietnam in the international community.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bo-suu-tap-cua-nhac-si-hoang-van-chinh-thuc-duoc-unesco-ghi-danh-di-san-tu-lieu-the-gioi-310715.html