HÀ NỘI The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a plan to support the study, restoration, and preservation of ethnic minorities’ intangible cultures which are at risk of falling into oblivion.

The programme, to be carried out in Q2 and Q3, is expected to contribute to saving the khèn bè (panpipe) art of the Thái people in Nghĩa Lộ Township, the traditional brocade weaving of the Mông group in the northwestern province of Yên Bái, the cấp sắc maturity ritual of the Sán Dìu ethnics in Tam Đảo District of the northern midland province of Vĩnh Phúc, and the art of mask making of the Khmer community in the Mekong Delta province of Trà Vinh.

Accordingly, the ministry’s Department of Ethnic Culture will support the groups with equipment and musical instruments to perform and re-enact the rituals, take photos and make documentaries about the restoration process, while burning DVD discs and delivering them to locals so as to popularise the preservation results as well as the traditional cultures.

The programme is hoped to enhance solidarity among the ethnic groups through the teaching and learning of folk songs, dances, and cultural rituals, and promote the roles of artisans, village patriarchs, prestigious people and the communities in the preservation work. VNS