Quan ho folk art troupe makes performance tour in Europe
A Quan ho (Love duet singing) art troupe of the northern province of Bac Ninh held a performance in Prague, the Czech Republic, on June 11 as part of its performance tour of four European countries – the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and France.
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Director of Bac Ninh’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Quang Nam said the tour is organized with the aim of introducing the folk music genre, recognised by UNESCO as part of the world intangible cultural heritage 10 years ago, to the overseas Vietnamese community.
He said the province, the cradle of Quan ho, plans to promote the folk music genre among the Vietnamese community overseas, first of all in Europe and then in other continents.
Counsellor in charge of culture at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic Tran Vinh Bac said he hopes the Association of Vietnamese in the Czech Republic will pay attention to preserving the traditional culture among the Vietnamese community and introducing the Vietnamese culture to the host society.
Sharing the counsellor’s opinion, Chairman of the Vietnamese Association in the Czech Republic Nguyen Duy Nhien said the association had performed Quan ho during the Prague festival of ethnic minority groups earlier this month.
Quan Ho is an art form that combines various elements, including music, lyrics and costumes, and features the distinctive culture of people in the region formerly called Kinh Bac which covered the two provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang.
The art of love duets was inscribed in UNESCO’s representative list of intangible cultural heritage in September 2009.
In recent years, Bac Ninh has invested in renovation and construction of cultural institutions. Of which, the key project is Bac Ninh Quan Ho folk theatre. The 90-billion-VND project boasts an area of 1.9 ha on four floors. It has a unique architectural design in the image of a house, dragon boat, a strip of peach silk and a large round hat, bearing cultural features of Bac Ninh – Kinh Bac.