03:07, 23/07/2021

Improving cultural life for ethnic minorities

Khanh Son District (Khanh Hoa Province) is implementing plans on cultural and art activities in order to improve cultural life of the ethnic minorities in remote areas in the district.
 

Khanh Son District (Khanh Hoa Province) is implementing plans on cultural and art activities in order to improve cultural life of the ethnic minorities in remote areas in the district.
 
 
Passing on cultural characteristics
 
Culture and art of Khanh Son include folk epics, traditional music instruments (ma la, lithophone, chapi, etc.) and unique cultural characteristics of Raglai people. Khanh Son has made many efforts to preserve the beauties of its culture and art. Grave-leaving ritual and new rice ceremony, two traditional customs of Raglai people, have been restored in residential communities. The movements of traditional art forms (performances of lithophone and other traditional music instruments, epic telling and singing, etc.) have been created in some villages. Every year, the district holds contests on learning about cultural heritages for pupils and festivals for typical cultural villages, and so on. These activities have helped to enrich the cultural and spiritual life of local people and have contributed to promote the traditional cultural values of the district.
 
 
Khanh Son’s music group performing traditional music instruments (Photo taken on April, 2021)
Khanh Son’s music group performing traditional music instruments (Photo taken on April, 2021)
 
Thanh Son Commune, Khanh Son District, has organized many activities to preserve, promote and develop the values of the Raglai’s culture, for example preserving their epics. The commune planed to ask village patriarchs and artists to teach young people ma la performances. Son Hiep Commune opened ma la classes, lithophone class, and Raglai folk and epic song classes with a total of 20 learners. The commune also restored new rice ceremony of the Raglai. 
 
Promoting cultural and music activities at grass roots level
 
Preserving and promoting traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities, especially the Raglai people, are considered one of the priority tasks of Khanh Son's cultural sector in the time to come. The district has planned to implement the project on cultural and art activities for people in remote areas and ethnic minorities. Accordingly, the specialized agencies of the district will strengthen introduction and promotion of local cultural and art programs; guide the localities in the district to introduce the cultural and art activities; and make a plan to periodically organize the culture and sports festive day for ethnic minorities in order to help preserve the unique cultural characteristics of each ethnic group and the community.
 
Besides, the district will boost public cultural and music movement in remote areas and areas with many ethnic minorities; improve quality of selected shows for province-level cultural and art festivals and contests to promote cultural movement at grass roots level. By 2025, 50% of the hamlets in Khanh Son District are expected to have cultural and music groups, which can often hold quality activities. 
 
According to Bui Van Vinh, head of Khanh Son District's Culture and Information Bureau, the district has a plan for cultural and art activities to serve people in remote areas and areas of ethnic minorities areas from now to 2030. The plan aims to organize effectively cultural and art activities to improve the cultural life of people in remote areas and areas of ethnic minorities and to promote the initiative of ethnic people in preserving the traditional cultural values which have been connected with tourism development. From 2021 onwards, the district will maintain and increase the number of programs of the province’s professional art troupes, roving information groups, and roving film screening groups held in the district to serve people in remote communes.
 
Giang Dinh
Translated by H.N