The genre Ru tends to perform within the familial environment, with a hypnotising nature that tends to be use to lull children.\n\nThe genre Hò originated from the working environment. The Southern part of Vietnam, where the waters are a vital element for the workers to sing on these flowing streams. Back then, the genre of hò đường thuỷ (singing on waterways) was rather popular. From traditional performing environment, hò eventually separated into different genres- hò trên cạn (hò on land) and hò dưới nước (hò on water). Based on the carrying content, reflected themes, hò continue to evolve into various genres to adapt with different forms and narratives (hò thơ, hò văn, hò tuồng, etc.) \n\nThe genre Lý is a common performance genre across all three regions of the country, although it could be the most popular in the Southern region. Pétrus Ky, a renowned Vietnamese scholar, once mentioned the saying “Southern region has lý, Huế region has hò, Northern region has thơ.” (Nam lý Huế hò Bắc thơ) as it points out how lý is a specialty of the Southern locals. In reality, lý not only has its mainstream popularity but also achieved a high level of craft and essence in traditional culture and professional life of the Southern region.\n\nThis project is sponsored by the British Council under the program Heritage of Future Past- A 2018 project which aims to conserve and cultivate the archive of Vietnamese music and film, especially focusing on the untapped values of these mediums that are under the threat of being forgotten. You can learn more about the Heritage of Future Past program via this link: https://www.britishcouncil.vn/cac-chuong-trinh/nghe-thuat/di-san-ket-noi.\n\nResearch by Mr. Le Hai Dang\nTranslated by Ms. Ha Hoang Minh Trang

Audio and Video Materials Collected from the Onsite Survey in the Ferghana Valley_2012 Uzbekistan-ICHCAP Joint Cooperation Project of Producing Digital Contents on ICH\n\nThe glorious intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Ferghana Valley encompassing the state of Ferghana, Andijion, and Namangan in Uzbekistan includes oral traditional, performing arts, traditional rites and festive events, and traditional crafts. However, this heritage is largely unknown to the public in the nation and abroad, and it is fading out even more rapidly due to the young generation’s lack of interest.\n\nSince 2011, the four Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, have been implementing a three-year project, Facilitating ICH Inventory-Making by Using Online Tools for ICH Safeguarding in the Central Asian Region as a Central Asia–ICHCAP cooperative project. In the framework of the project, the countries have collected ICH information and tried to build an online system for managing the collected information.\n\nIn Uzbekistan, the Republican Scientific and Methodological Centre of Folk Art, under the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in collaboration with the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO, implemented the three-year project. They collected information on ICH elements in the Ferghana Valley (Andijan, Namangan, and Ferghana regions), Zarafshan Oasis and Southern Uzbekistan (Jizzakh, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, and Surkhandarya regions), and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Navoi, Bukhara, and Khoresm regions) through onsite surveys from 2012 to 2014.\n\nIn 2012 when the first onsite survey was concluded, Uzbekistan and ICHCAP selected representative materials among collected videos, audios, and photos on ICH elements and ICH bearers, and compiled the materials as a ten-CD/DVD collection. Also, booklets in English, Uzbek, and Korean were made to spread related information to a wider audience.\n\nFerghana Valley is also home to Tajikistan, Uighers, and Turkistan. In the other words, different traditions co-exist in the same place. ‘Katta Ashula’, which integrates arts, songs, music, and epics, is one Uzbek cultural heritage representing the identities of the diverse people live in the valley\n\nThe collection could preserve the disappeared and disconnected ICH and encourage increased mutual understanding and communication by spreading the information widely from the experts to the people.