(VOVworld)- Vietnamese cultural heritages, especially those recognized by UNESCO are of great importance not only to Vietnamese people but also to mankind. The Vietnamese state has paid special attention to encouraging and facilitating individuals and organizations to join efforts to preserve and promote the heritages.

Hue citadel- a UNESCO cultural heritage

According to the Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam now has 17 world heritages including 2 natural heritages, 5 cultural heritages and 10 oral and intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO. The country is also home to more than 40,000 relics including 3,000 national relics. Vietnam’s cultural heritages are not only precious cultural assets of the Vietnamese people but also of humanity. The State has put in place several incentives to facilitate individuals and organizations to preserve and protect these heritages. Many localities, organizations and individuals have joined this effort. Several exhibitions and cultural exchanges introducing Vietnamese cultural heritages have been held inside and outside the country leaving great impressions on both the domestic and foreign public and contributing to promoting the image of Vietnam, its land and people to the rest of the world. The success of the exhibition on the Legend of Long Bien bridge, a special heritage of Hanoi has awakened local people to the responsibility of preserving this bridge. Ms Nguyen Nga, the organizer of this event and Director of the House of Arts in Hanoi, has organized nearly 100 cultural events to promote Vietnamese heritages in the past 6 years.  "It’s necessary to promote heritages through cultural and arts activities because culture and arts reflect the country’s image. Protecting the heritage needs efforts from all people in society', said Ms Nga.

Central Highlands' gong

The preservation and promotion of historical relics and cultural heritages are always closely associated with the preservation of national cultural identity. Since the Quan Ho folk song was recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity 3 years ago, local people have been aware of the importance of preserving the heritage. Nguyen Van Quyen of Diem village in Bac Ninh province has completed a 2,000-page book featuring Quan Ho folk tunes and glossaries and 1,000 Quan Ho folk songs that he and his wife collected over the past 50 years. Nguyen Van Quyen says: "The more passionate I get about Quan Ho, the more important I find it is to preserve it because my predecessors will gradually pass away taking with them the treasures of folk duets. As the heritage has been recognized internationally, it’s important to preserve it and popularize it".

Bac Ninh province has put in place 14 action programs to disseminate information about Quan Ho, honor Quan Ho artists and strengthen the teaching of Quan Ho folk tunes in schools. These efforts have made Quan Ho more popular in the community. Doctor Le Thi Minh Ly, Director of the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Promotion Center says:  "We have exerted a lot of efforts to preserve and promote our Quan Ho cultural heritage and these efforts have been acknowledged by UNESCO. However, we need to do more to bring Quan Ho closer to contemporary life. It’s now time to implement standard preservation methods to meet the criteria of the UNESCO Convention".

Mobilizing resources, efforts and contributions from the community to preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritages is an effective way to help the heritages live in contemporary life. This will also help to create new cultural values in society.

To Tuan