Gia Lai: 20 years of spreading the echoes of gongs

(GLO)- On November 25, 2005, the Central Highlands gong cultural space was honored by UNESCO as “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. Since this milestone, Gia Lai has made continuous efforts to preserve the gong cultural space, bringing the echoes of the great forest to domestic and international friends.

Affirming the position of Gia Lai gong

It is no coincidence that UNESCO chose the mountain town of Pleiku as the venue for the title awarding ceremony for the Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space (in 2006).

Bahnar and Jrai artisans met to demonstrate gong tuning techniques in the mountain town of Pleiku in April 2025. Photo: Hoang Ngoc

Gia Lai province has the largest number of gongs in the Central Highlands, where "the Bahnar and Jrai communities still preserve the largest, most magnificent and most complex gong sets compared to the Truong Son-Central Highlands ethnic groups" - according to researcher Bui Trong Hien (Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts).

Over the past two decades, Gia Lai has affirmed its position as a "bridge" between the Central Highlands provinces through large-scale events to preserve and promote gong heritage.

The three grand Gong Festivals organized by Gia Lai province are outstanding highlights.

In particular, the 2009 International Gong Festival gathered 63 teams with more than 1,000 artisans from 6 Southeast Asian countries, marking the first time the gong sound reached the region.

The 2023 Gong Festival brings many innovations in organization, gathering more than 1,000 artisans from 5 Central Highlands provinces, creating a sublime convergence space, imbued with the spirit of solidarity.

Gia Lai affirms its position as a "bridge" connecting the Central Highlands provinces through large-scale events to preserve and promote gong heritage. Photo: Hoang Ngoc

Two provincial-level inventories (2008 and 2020-2021) showed that Gia Lai province still preserves 4,576 sets of gongs and 117 individual gongs. The second inventory was conducted scientifically and applied information technology, not only counting the quantity but also assessing the practice environment.

This is a reliable basis for the Culture sector to build long-term conservation programs, aiming to restore the space for gong performances in community life.

Preserving and promoting heritage values

Artisan Dinh Thi Khop - Head of the Women's Gong Team (To Tung Commune, Kbang District) shared: "In the past, Bahnar women did not participate in playing gongs. But to preserve the heritage, our village established the first women's gong team in 2014, which is also the first model in Gia Lai province with women playing gongs".

Up to now, the whole province has more than 40 female gong teams with thousands of members, breathing new life into this heritage.

Gia Lai province has organized many activities to preserve and promote gong heritage. Photo: Hoang Ngoc

Along with that, Gia Lai pays special attention to teaching gong tuning - a skill once considered "secret". In 2024, the participation of researcher Bui Trong Hien (Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts) and Meritorious Artist Pham Chi Khanh ( Hanoi ) in gong tuning classes created an important turning point.

“The province is implementing the Project to preserve and promote the sustainable value of the Gong Cultural Space (2026-2030 period) with a long-term goal, linking cultural preservation with economic development, tourism and international integration.

The project aims to make gongs a typical cultural-tourism product of Gia Lai, while promoting the image of "land of festivals", "land of magic" to domestic and international friends.

Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Committee NGUYEN THI THANH LICH

Researcher Bui Trong Hien affirmed: "Without good gong tuners, magnificent orchestras would be nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

From ancient times until now, gong tuning has been considered a secret technique, based on the experience of "talented people", people who have been given special abilities by God.

Now, that secret has been brought to scientific light, can be taught, replicated, and popularized to every village without fear that the elderly will pass away and there will be no succession or transmission.

Artisan Ksor Mang (Phu Ma Nher hamlet, Ia Sao commune) shared: “After learning the new gong tuning technique, I can teach it to the local youth. The community and I will try to preserve this heritage so that it will never be lost.”

The space for gong performances is traditional festivals. In the past 5 years, Gia Lai has restored dozens of festivals of the Bahnar and Jrai people such as: victory celebrations, grave abandonment ceremonies, new rice eating ceremonies, rice pruning ceremonies, communal house worship ceremonies, New Year celebrations, etc.

In the western part of Gia Lai, there are 32 outstanding artisans (10 Jrai artisans, 22 Bahnar artisans). These are “living human treasures” who have made many contributions to preserving and transmitting the value of gong heritage.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/gia-lai-20-nam-lan-toa-am-vang-cong-chieng-post571669.html