(HBO) – The People’s Committee of Cao Phong district on August 18 organised a workshop on Mo Muong, unique cultural heritage of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh province. The event brought together representatives from the People’s Committee and 50 artisans from three Mo Muong clubs in Cao Phong, Tan Lac, and Lac Son districts.
Bui Van Dong, a Mo practitioner in Thach Yen commune, Cao Phong district, performs Mo Muong at the workshop.
Mo Muong is a job and also a performance practiced at funerals, religious
festivals, and life cycle rituals by the Muong ethnic group. The art consists
of Mo prayers and performances, by Mo practitioners, or Mo artisans.
Cao Phong is home to 37 Mo artisans, and eight learners and assistants, all of
them members the Mo Muong Thang Club.
Currently, most of the Mo artisans are old, thus hindering their efforts in
teaching and preserving the art. Therefore, the workshop was intended to seek ways to preserve and promote
intangible cultural heritage values of Mo Muong in the new situation.
Participants also looked into how to raise the sense of responsibility among
the artisans for the research, popularisation and practice of Mo Muong.
They shared the view that Mo Muong Thanh in particular and Mo clubs in general
should offer regular training to young Mo practitioners, and organise
activities encouraging people to join preservation efforts. They also proposed
all-level authorities issue more specific policies in support of the
preservation and promotion of the unique cultural heritage.
The People’s Committee of Luong Son district on November 21 held a ceremony to announce the recognition of Lai Tri communal house in Thanh Cao commune as a provincial-level historical relic site, and hand over the certificate to leaders of Thanh Cao commune.
Located on the right bank of the Da river in Quynh Lam ward, Hoa Binh city, the Ngoi communal house was recognised as a provincial-level historical and cultural relic in 1999. Upholding traditions, locals often come to the place on major festivals, full-moon days, and the first day of each lunar month, burning incense to honour deities and pray for favourable weather and good harvests.
In recent years, the movement of mass culture and arts in Kim Boi district has been maintained and developed, contributing to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values and building a cultural life at the grassroots level.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently announced a list of new intangible national cultural heritage items, one of which is the Keng Loong performance art of the Thai people in Mai Chau district, the northern province of Hoa Binh.
In order restore brocade weaving of the Thai ethnic group, with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Chieng Chau Brocade Weaving and Tourism Services Cooperative was established in Chieng Chau commune (Mai Chau district) in 2009.