Need to preserve national identity in innovating traditional costumes - Cao Bang Electronic Newspaper

In the development process of each nation, along with language and writing, costumes are always an important factor contributing to the creation of cultural identity. Over time, due to many objective and subjective reasons, traditional costumes of ethnic groups have undergone some changes to suit the needs and actual living conditions. However, there are worrying signs that may lead to the risk of deformation, oblivion, and even disappearance of the unique characteristics of traditional costumes.

Preserving traditional costumes

In the historical development process of ethnic groups, traditional costumes play a role as a unique cultural symbol of each ethnic group, creating diversity and richness in the costumes of the Vietnamese ethnic community in general, and the ethnic minority community in particular, thereby building and fostering pride in their origins. However, when cultural identity in costumes is lost, distorted, or even eliminated from life, it is an alarm bell about the risk of moving away from traditional values ​​and losing cultural roots; in fact, there are some phenomena of that risk that have been and are happening.

Traditional costumes of the Red Dao ethnic group. Photo: MT

Whether or not traditional costumes of ethnic groups can be preserved and promoted depends on the discovery of the characteristics of each costume associated with each ethnic group. However, to do this requires time, the immediate solution is to record and save costumes in both static and dynamic states, that is, associated with activities of working life and living such as: going to the fields, in the fields, festivals, spiritual rituals... In addition, encourage people to wear traditional costumes of their ethnic groups on holidays, New Year, festivals, rituals during the year, rituals in the human life cycle... The authorities organize costume competitions at all levels to attract the intelligence and creativity of those who are passionate about traditional costumes in particular and ethnic culture in general.

Preserving and promoting the beauty of traditional costumes of ethnic minorities has been and is an issue of concern to the Party, the State and relevant agencies. Preserving and conserving costumes of ethnic minorities is a necessary task in the development of the cultural industry in Vietnam today. Because through the perspective of the traditional costumes of each ethnic group, the first thing to recognize about ethnic groups is the distinction between ethnic groups, and the costumes of ethnic groups are symbols, national identities, souls, character, and the way each ethnic group behaves towards nature and society, expressed through the traditional costumes of each ethnic group.

Traditional costumes also show the level of cultivation and production, the development of indigenous knowledge of each ethnic group, and the harmonious behavior of people with nature and society of each ethnic group... The costumes of each ethnic group will continue to accompany the ethnic groups and become an indispensable whole in social life. In studying the cultural identity of each ethnic group, traditional costumes are an indispensable element. If traditional costumes no longer exist and are lost, the cultural values ​​associated with beliefs, spirituality and the unique identity and symbol of each ethnic group will be lost. Therefore, preserving and promoting the values ​​of traditional costumes of ethnic minorities is becoming an urgent issue in the current trend of integration and development.

The costumes of each ethnic group not only play an important role in distinguishing between ethnic communities, helping the cultural characteristics of that ethnic group not to be confused with anyone else. Despite great efforts to preserve them, the costumes of ethnic groups are currently facing the risk of being lost due to a number of reasons such as: no longer suitable for the times, the costumes of the ethnic groups are difficult to wear, elaborately cut and sewn, requiring many steps, taking a lot of time, the designs are not diverse, not keeping up with the trend of the times, the materials are not suitable for weather conditions... Therefore, change is the direction chosen by the majority of people, helping their costumes to be both convenient in life and preserved forever over time.

In the process of industrialization, modernization and international integration, cultural exchange has affected and changed the perception and aesthetic tastes of ethnic minorities. Their costumes are changing rapidly, many ethnic groups no longer retain the cultural identity of traditional costumes, especially ethnic groups with small populations, living in areas with high cultural exchange and influence... In particular, ethnic minorities are adopting the stereotyped, one-sided way of dressing of the Kinh people, especially in urban areas, giving rise to inferiority complex, even disregarding the value of their ethnic costumes. Ethnic minorities, including some people working in cultural work, do not have a correct perception of the relationship between tradition and modernity of traditional costumes, causing a part, especially the young generation, to not have the awareness to respect and preserve the cultural identity in traditional ethnic costumes.

Innovation within the “framework”

Fashion is a profession without limits, but if fashion designers innovate ethnic minority costumes without in-depth research on the traditional cultural values ​​of each ethnic group, the innovators can easily lose the cultural identity of the ethnic groups. We agree that innovation is necessary, but it must be within the permitted "framework" and cannot be done arbitrarily; it is important to avoid cutting and mixing ethnic costumes. We are trying to promote the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities to the general public, but if we look at the innovative costumes without any annotations, the public will misunderstand the characteristics of ethnic minority costumes, which is very dangerous. Therefore, when creating a fashion product inspired by traditional costumes, designers need to carefully research the traditional values ​​of each ethnic group's costumes, especially respecting the historical and cultural values ​​of each ethnic group, avoiding excessive innovation, losing the symbolic and sacred nature of the national costume.

In addition, each individual and community needs to have the right awareness of self-awareness in behaving with their nation's traditional costumes, then the unique cultural values ​​of costumes will be honored and have a worthy position in life, contributing positively to cultivating love for traditional culture, preserving and promoting national identity.

Thien Phuoc

Source: https://baocaobang.vn/can-giu-gin-ban-sac-dan-toc-trong-cach-tan-trang-phuc-truyen-thong-3176911.html