CULTURE

Practices of Then honoured as UNESCO Cultural Heritage

TQO - ‘Then’, a ritual practice of, Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic people in Vietnam, was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The decision was made during at the 14th meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Columbia on the morning of December 13 (Vietnamese time).

The Cultural Heritage Department, UNESCO’s recognition to the practices of Then as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has reaffirmed the assorted cultural identities of ethnic groups in Vietnam, as well as the community solidarity, and rich cultural identity of the nation.

It also encourages dialogues between individuals, community and nations towards tolerance, love and humanity as mentioned in the principals and objectives of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The practices of Then reflect the solidarity among ethnic groups and their concepts about the universe according to UNESCO’s objectives, while contributing to raising public awareness on the importance of ethnic communities in Vietnam and other countries in the world.