An exhibition displaying an array of traditional musical instruments from various ethnic groups in Vietnam officially opened in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 7.
Artisans perform traditional musical instruments of the Khmer people (Photo:qdnd.vn)
On show are pieces of musical instruments of ethnic groups from north to south, from mountainous areas to the plain.
Some of the instruments are the gourd lute of the Tay, the porcelain made drum of the San Chay, the flute of the Thai, the zither and monochord of the Kinh, the paranung drum of ethnic groups in the central region, and distinctive musical instruments of southerners.
The exhibition is being held as part of the third Don ca tai tu (southern amateur music) festival co-organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Can Tho City People's Committee,
Addressing the event, Bui Ky Da, director of the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts, described traditional musical instruments as valuable assets of the country’s ethnic groups. He went on to underscore the importance of the event in encouraging people, particularly young generations, to preserve and promote the values of local music genres.
The exhibition will also help contribute to building a Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity and creating new cultural values in contemporary life, he said.
The event will offer a platform in which to introduce local people and international friends to the richness, diversity, and uniqueness of musical instruments from Vietnamese ethnic groups. In addition, it will simultaneously promote art forms recognised by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Da stressed
The exhibition is scheduled to run though to April 11.