Let the heritage "speak"
Dong Ho painting village (in Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh) was once famous for Dong Ho paintings of chickens and pigs with fresh and clear strokes and bright national colors on die-cut paper; but now, most families have switched to making votive paper. Fortunately, there are still 3 households that still cherish and preserve their ancestors' craft. One of them is the family of Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Dang Che.
When we arrived, artisan Nguyen Dang Che was preparing to open a personal museum to introduce the process of making traditional Dong Ho paintings and many of the most unique paintings that he had preserved. He proudly showed us more than 100 old engravings, including some that he had to spend dozens of taels of gold to buy from the villagers. There were also some that were so rare that even if someone offered him billions of dong, he would not sell them. In particular, there were paintings that even the Dong Ho villagers themselves could no longer preserve. After being accidentally given a gift by a French friend, he had them remade.
The Nguyen Dang family has 20 generations, more than 500 years of experience in the profession, and he himself, at 88 years old, has more than 70 years of experience in the profession. Perhaps God does not disappoint those who are dedicated to the profession, up to now, Mr. Che's entire family including his son, daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law and grandchildren are all "living well" from the profession, building a spacious property with a Dong Ho painting conservation center of more than 6,000m2 . Not only consumed domestically, his paintings are also exported. He also organizes many activities to "revive" the craft village such as: teaching the profession to local children, experiencing making Dong Ho paintings for students, which are very popular with children.
Mr. Che shared: “For decades of struggling to preserve the profession, I have done it all by myself, without any financial support from the government. Fortunately, recently the government has realized the need to preserve the craft of making Dong Ho paintings as a cultural beauty of the Kinh Bac countryside and has submitted a dossier to UNESCO to include it in the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection, expected to be considered in 2024. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for many tourists to know and visit Dong Ho painting village.”
Mr. Che's story makes us think of the "fate" of famous folk paintings such as: Hang Trong (Hanoi), Sinh village (Hue), Kim Hoang (Hoai Duc, Hanoi)...
Meanwhile, from Japanese tea ceremony, to Korean kimchi, or the "harem" stories of feudal Chinese dynasties... are spreading strongly all over the world. For nearly 2 decades, the Korean cultural trend (often called Hallyu) has "flooded" the world through cinema, music, fashion, digital technology... Along with that, Japan, India, China, Thailand... have been very successful in developing the cultural industry, thoroughly exploiting historical, cultural, and heritage elements (both tangible and intangible) to turn them into strengths, introducing and conquering the international market. It is not only the image of the country and people but also becomes the key economic sectors of these countries.
Foundation for developing cultural industry
With its potential in heritage, culture, nature, and architecture, Thua Thien Hue is one of the localities with many opportunities to develop the cultural industry. This place was chosen as the filming location for many popular films such as Indochina; Royal Candle; Moon at the Bottom of the Well; Old Girl with Many Tricks; Blue Eyes…
And one of the products that defines the cultural industry brand of the land of the Gods is the Hue Festival. After more than 24 years of existence and development, the Hue Festival has become a notable event in the system of festivals around the world. Through the festivals, beautiful images of Hue culture, Hue people, the quintessence of Hue traditional crafts... have been introduced to domestic and international tourists. This activity has not only become a cultural - social - tourism event, contributing to promoting economic growth, increasing local budget revenue and creating jobs for workers, but also a driving force to accelerate the process of investment in developing technical facilities for tourism, improving service quality...
Similarly, in Quang Nam, the live performance art program called Hoi An Memories located along the Thu Bon River is also considered a "miracle" attracting visitors to this heritage land. With the combination of sound, light... the program recreates the atmosphere of the ancient land of Hoi An, which used to be a bustling trading port, a cultural exchange between East and West from 400 years ago.
Commenting on this special live show, Professor and Doctor of Science Vu Minh Giang once shared that with the advantage of the stage being built on a mound of land rising in the middle of the Hoai River, the Hoi An Memories stage does not need to be too elaborate to create a lot of emotions. The combination of past and present, tradition and modernity makes the program leave a special impression on domestic and international tourists. In 2023, Hoi An Memories was honored by the prestigious International Tourism Awards as the world's leading cultural and entertainment tourism complex.
Stories from heritage sites such as Hoi An (Quang Nam), Trang An (Ninh Binh), Hue (Thua Thien Hue)... are typical examples of how cultural heritages are managed, protected and their values are promoted.
Regarding the capital Hanoi, which has a huge heritage treasure and great tourism resources, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong said that in 2022, the Hanoi Party Committee issued Resolution No. 09-NQ/TU on "Developing cultural industry in the capital for the period 2021-2025, orientation to 2030, vision to 2045". Accordingly, Hanoi has focused on exploiting this resource on the basis of harmonizing conservation and development. Currently, many historical and cultural relics in Hanoi have promoted the application of technology to create unique cultural events and products, which not only have promotional, propaganda and educational value but are also a resource contributing to socio-economic development.
Compared to other Asian countries, Vietnam also has thousands of years of glorious history, diverse culture, rich heritage of all kinds, not inferior. However, to make it widely known to the world, have attraction and become a strong economic sector, it is still very limited.
According to Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien, Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), cultural heritage has now affirmed its role as both a priceless asset and a valuable resource for socio-economic development, tourism development and especially the exploitation of values serving the cultural industry. Millions of antiquities are being preserved and displayed in museums and relics; over 40,000 relics and over 70,000 intangible cultural heritages have been inventoried, ranked, recognized and listed both domestically and internationally... which are a huge resource for the development of the cultural industry.
“However, in the Cultural Industry Development Strategy, cultural heritage is not yet an independent subject or industry. Therefore, in the Law on Cultural Heritage that is being revised, we have drafted a content that clearly stipulates the exploitation and use of cultural heritage in the fields of education, artistic creation, performance and services, and commerce; regulates public-private cooperation and policies to attract and encourage organizations and individuals in society to participate as a form of cultural industry development,” said Ms. Hien.
On September 8, 2016, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 1755/QD-TTg approving the strategy for developing Vietnam's cultural industries to 2020, with a vision to 2030.
The strategy states: “Cultural industry is an important component of the national economy; developing cultural industry is closely linked to promoting the image of the country and Vietnamese people, contributing to protecting and promoting national cultural identity in the process of international exchange, integration and cooperation. Cultural industry (including 12 sectors) is an industry that produces artistic and creative products, whether tangible or intangible; through exploiting cultural values and products and services of intellectual nature, with social and cultural significance to gain economic benefits. Thus, cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible) is an important foundation for developing cultural industries imbued with the national identity of Vietnam”.
VINH XUAN - MINH DUY - TRAN BINH - QUOC LAP
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/phat-trien-van-hoa-khoi-nguon-di-san-trong-thoi-dai-so-bai-4-di-san-va-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-post742497.html
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