On October 22, 2008 the delegation of gong artisans from the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum left Vietnam for the Republic of Korea to participate in the Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival.
These ten artisans are from Bahnar ethnic minority group in Dak Wok village, Ho Moong commune, Sa Thay district. Artisan A Bek is nearly 80 years old.
According to Phan Thanh Bang from the Kon Tum provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and head of the delegation to the Republic of Korea, this a great honour of artisans from Dak Wok as well as people in the Central Highlands to perform the arts of gong, which was recognized as an oral and intangible cultural heritage of the human beings by UNESCO. This kind of arts has been preserved and promoted in the Central Highlands as well as in Vietnam.
This is the second time artisans from Dak Wok village has performed gongs in a foreign country. The first time was in the US with the theme “Mekong – the river connecting cultures†held in July 2007.