Chamber performance of Hue Singing
Controversies
Hue Singing after three centuries of development has become a special tourist product of Hue. Nonetheless, the performing activities, especially those on the Huong River, remain spontaneous because there has been no effective form of managing and organizing the performance.
The Vice-Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, Nguyen Thien Binh, said that there were challenges to the preservation and promotion of Hue Singing values. Most of the singers and artisans who are aged have not sufficiently imparted the art to the younger generations due to a lack of an appropriate training program.
Hue Singing activities on the Huong River are associated with the management from many agencies. Meanwhile, there have been neither legal regulations nor specific adjustments to this heritage art form, so agencies have difficulty in complying with the regulations and in cooperating in management.
The chamber performance of Hue Singing can be found at 23-25 Le Loi street, some garden houses and tourist service establishments. There has not been any deliberately designed space or appropriately assigned institution responsible for the performance of this traditional art form.
According to Vo Que, Chairman of Hue Singing Club, the art form has not been well attended and invested on a par with its values, and nor has there been effective measures to promote it as a distinctive tourist product. This requires the solutions to sustain the development of Hue Singing as a special identity-rich tourist product.
Chamber performance of Hue Singing
Towards a special product
Based on the reality and the necessity of the preservation of Hue Singing as an intangible heritage, the Department of Culture and Sports has proposed the project “Promoting and developing Hue Singing into a special tourist product, 2020-2025 period”. The project aims to establish and develop a brand name for Hue Singing, making it a distinctive tourist product, as well as enhancing the effective managerial measures, preservation and promotion of its values, paving the way to making it an intangible cultural heritage.
Nguyen Thien Binh added that the Department of Culture and Sports will introduce samples of Hue Singing programs, including one for tourism purposes and one in a chamber music program, to promote the art form as well as set criteria for evaluation and licensing.
The criteria lay the emphasis on the performing duration, the list of the must-have songs, the number of singers, instrument players. In addition, contemporary songs about Hue may be added to enrich the program and satisfy the customer demands.
The Chamber Music of Hue Singing has been designed to ensure the preservation of the heritage, including the ancient versions and melodies at stake. Other artifacts related Hue Singing have been created, including souvenirs, instruments and their miniatures, photos and cards, as well as galleries and showrooms of the instruments and costumes for performance of Hue Singing.
Part of the project is the plan for the infrastructure and facilities for a performing theater. For activities of Hue Singing on the Huong River, there will be capital mobilization from the social sources to invest in building specially designed boats to replace the current models of dragon boats, and in setting the secure and modern stops for tourists.
The space for Chamber Music of Hue Singing will be set at 148 Bui Thi Xuan street and other places such as Chau Huong Vien, (royal) Residences and garden houses. In addition, there are outdoor stages for Hue Singing to serve the public at the Ironwood Bridge, the Royal Pavilion, Thuong Bac Park, Quoc Hoc Memorial Wall, and Bui Thi Xuan Park.
Management regulations of Hue Singing are under amendment and completion, including the codes of practice, the criteria concerning the facilities and instruments for performance. The Association of Hue Singing Singers has been founded to encourage self-management and avoid unhealthy competition.
Apart from aiming at human resources training and artist quality elevating, the project also proposed special policies for artists and artisans who have had great contribution to the training, preserving and promoting the heritage of Hue Singing as well as developing the performing space for the art.
Story and photos: Minh Hien