A night of celebrations, songs and games was held in Quy Nhon on May 5, as artists and official delegates acknowledged bài chòi's recognition as a UNESCO intangible heritage.
A ceremony commemorating UNESCO's decision took place in the coastal city in Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam News reports. The events followed a meeting held last December on Jeju Island, South Korea, where the organization conferred the status on the ancient art form.
"Bài chòi stories include lessons on morality, compassion, as well as love for the village, and for the communities concerned, the element provides an aesthetic platform to express their feelings, knowledge and life experiences," UNESCO's press office said in explaining why the art form was selected.
The list aims to protect and celebrate a variety of culturally significant traditions around the world. Other notable holders of the designation include India's famous yoga, France's gastronomic gatherings, and other local recipients such as Vietnam's Xoan singing.
Infographic via infographics.vn.
"The recognition by UNESCO of bài chòi confirms the diversification of culture in Vietnam, practicing an art that introduces to the world the creativity, as well as the humanity, of the Vietnamese people," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the ceremony.
"Bài chòi is at once a game and a performance art that always brings us excitement," Michael Croft, a representative and head of UNESCO's Hanoi office, said at the ceremony, as reported by Lao Dong Thu Do online in Vietnamese.
"Tonight, let us allow the songs and laughter of bài chòi artists and its players to shine," he continued. "They don't just perform for an audience, a local community, town or city, they also express creativity and cultural diversity of all humanity,"
With the addition of bài chòi, Vietnam now has 12 designations on the list, the eighth-most out of 117 member countries who have signed on to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
[Photo via Sai Gon Giai Phong]
