(VOVWORLD) - The UNESCO-recognized “Space of Gong Culture” of the Central Highlands is facing a risk of falling into oblivion. In a remote village in Lam Dong province, patriarch K’Tieu is making his best efforts to teach younger generations to play the gong as a way to preserve this intangible heritage.
 Village chief K’Tieu (C) performs the gong. |
71-year-old village chief K’Tieu said he makes full use of this summer time to teach local children to play the gong.
K’Tieu started to learn gong performance when he was just 14 years old. He travelled to different villages and attended many village festivals to learn more gong melodies and hone his skills.
20 years ago, realizing that the gong culture was fading, K’Tieu encouraged the elderly to play the gong and opened gong classes for children.
“I faced lots of difficulties at first because few people cared about that. Then, I started to promote and explain the gongs history and showed local people how to play the gong. Children learn very quickly,” K’Tieu said.
Thanks to K’Tieu’s effort, Dinh Lac commune now has 200 gong players, 30 of whom are members of gong clubs in the locality. M Hiu Nguyen, Secretary of Due hamlet’s Party Cell in Dinh Lac commune, said he, his wife and their daughter are members of the gong class taught by K’Tieu.
“Thanks to K’Tieu’s teaching, we have tried our best to master gong playing techniques. We hope that we can contribute to the preservation of the gong culture,” Nguyen said.
 Despite his old age, K’Tieu still enthusiastically teaches young people to play the gong. |
Truong Quoc Phuong, Vice Chairman of Dinh Lac commune’s People’s Committee, said gong classes have been maintained over the past year thanks to K’Tieu’s effort. The gong is performed in every village event, including the rain praying festival, new rice celebration, and other village festivals. Gong culture exchanges were held in 2018 and 2019 in Di Linh district, Phuong said.
“Village chief K’Tieu is a prestigious person in the community who has made contributions to preserving the ‘Space of Gong Culture’ of the Central Highlands. He has opened many gong classes and promoted it at local schools," said Phuong.
"He has inspired villagers to play and preserve the gong. Dinh Lac commune has also set a target to preserve the cultural values of traditional costumes, straw liquor, and brocade weaving. We aim to promote the space of Gong culture and traditional craft villages to help local people improve their income.," he added.
Last year, K’Tieu received the “Emeritus Artisan” title from the State President and was one of 31 individuals conferred with the Prime Minister’s Certificates of Merit for his outstanding performance in patriotic emulation movements.
He was also honored at a conference to mark the 75th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s call for patriotic emulation this year.