Book of performing arts and traditional folk introduced

The art book “Worldwide Tour of Vietnamese Troupes” has recently been launched by a young local, introducing Vietnam’s traditional and folk arts to both local and international readers.

The book introduces 30 typical performing arts of Vietnam. Photo:@ganhhatluudien

Presented in the form of a bilingual Vietnamese-English artbook, “Worldwide Tour of Vietnamese Troupes” introduces 30 performing arts and six folk festivals with many beautiful color illustrations.

The project comes from the group's interest as well as unexpected discoveries about the profusion and diversity of the performing arts in Vietnam.

“We found out that these artistic manifestations are preserved and developed by different ethnic groups from North to South, from the ancient time to the present,” said Thao Ho, the author of the book.

Accordingly, 30 typical performing arts in the book include Xoe dancing, the singing of Then, Sinh, Quan Ho, Xoan, Ca Tru, Do, Chau Van, Xam, Dum; water puppetry, Cheo theater, Hue royal court music, Hue folk music,  Central Highlands gong cultural space, traditional music of Southern Vietnam, among others.

The illustration of Quan ho folk singing introduction in the book. Photo: @ganhhatluudien

In addition, the six folk festivals including the Na Pe Chau Festival, Cap Sac Festival, Giong Festival, Yang Potao people’s rain praying ceremony, Ok Om Bok festival, and tug of war were also touched upon in the book.

“The book is not scientific research but a product of personal inquiry, discovery, and feeling. All these artistic expressions contain great cultural and spiritual values that affect the daily life of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. Some have become world cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO. That is the pride and happiness of each Vietnamese. Learning and enjoying these traditional folk arts is a journey to find our roots,” Ho told The Hanoi Times. “It is expected to provide basic knowledge and inspiration for young people to love performing arts and traditional folk festivals of Vietnam more and more.”

The illustration of Hat xam folk singing. Photo: Photo: @ganhhatluudien

Ho also shared that the book is bilingual that is translated by Ngo My Trieu Giang to help foreign readers learn about Vietnamese art as well as to honor and spread Vietnamese cultural values around the world. In addition, the book has many nice colorful paintings by artist Tan Nguyen, bringing vivid, and realistic illustrations of the art forms.

The book is expected to be officially released in December, with interesting gifts such as a set of 36 stickers of various troupes or a map of 36 artistic manifestations along with the country.

The price of the book is VND129,000 (US$5.6) for a popular edition and VND200,000 ($8.8) for a limited edition. Pre-order is available at https://shop.comicola.com.

At the moment, there are only 36 art forms in the book but Ho said that she wants to add more unique ones of the country in the future.