The flame of identity in digital space

*The Co Tu cultural space is exploited by young people into artistic products, attracting public attention. Photo: DANG NGUYEN*

The mark of "Co Tu Village"

On weekends, many people expressed surprise when seeing Colau Cao (born in 1998, Literature teacher at Dong Giang Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities) working hard on her "side job". With only a smartphone, Colau Cao wandered around villages, recording beautiful moments of the culture and people of the Co Tu and posting them on social networks.

Colau Cao said that he chose his own approach in his journey of trying to contribute to preserving and spreading the values of the mountainous homeland's identity. In particular, the orientation of bringing Co Tu culture to social networking platforms helps viewers have a new, complete and attractive perspective on the Co Tu people in the western region of Quang Nam.

All of this is arranged by the Co Tu boy in the order of "village stories" to tell his audience, providing an interesting perspective that is both modern and traditional.

A few years ago, when social networks started to explode, Cơlâu Cao, then a fresh university graduate, returned to his village and hatched the idea of creating a community page on social networking platforms to introduce and promote the unique images and stories of his people.

Not long after, “Co Tu Village” - a channel specializing in providing images and videos related to the life of the Co Tu community was launched, quickly attracting the acceptance of the online community.

*Colau Cao, owner of the social network channel "Co Tu Village", shares many impressive videos and images about life and culture in the mountains. Photo: DANG NGUYEN*

“This idea came very naturally. As a Co Tu person, I always deeply feel that the culture of my people is both beautiful and unique, but not known by many young people. I thought, instead of letting those values only exist in books or in the memories of the previous generation, I can tell them and spread them on social networks - where young people are present every day,” Co Lau Cao shared.

Not just stopping at the idea, the young Co Tu teacher persevered to carry out this project for many years. However, the journey was not easy.

“The hardest part is how to maintain the authenticity of the culture while making young people feel close and receptive. In the early days, not everyone was interested or receptive, sometimes I felt a little sad. But then I persevered, kept telling and writing with all my feelings. Gradually, people began to sympathize more and share more beautiful, meaningful, and interesting stories” - Co Lau Cao recounted the days of effort and overcoming obstacles, determined to bring “Co Tu Village” closer to the audience.

To have authentic content, besides carefully researching and verifying information from the people and village elders who are knowledgeable about traditional customs, Co Lau Cao spent a lot of time filming and presenting, deeply introducing Co Tu culture to the audience.

Many stories and shared images attract the attention of a large number of viewers, with hundreds of thousands of likes and shares on each post. Co Lau Cao plans to incorporate Co Tu culture into regular classes, extracurricular activities and experiential activities at school to help students directly feel and be more proud of the beauty of their ethnic traditional culture...

Spreading community values

In recent years, many young people in the mountainous areas have used digital technology platforms to promote culture, such as Co Lau Cao. Some have become social media phenomena and have great influence, such as Alang Brac (Ben Hien commune), Alang Thi Cong (Song Kon commune), Alang Hoang (Song Vang commune), Alang Bac (Hung Son commune)...

*Alang Thi Cong introduces the creative Co Tu mask carving culture. Photo: DANG NGUYEN*

Taking advantage of the common advantage of social networks, the group of young Co Tu people regularly post stories about life, especially traditional culture associated with indigenous values of the mountainous region.

A typical example is Alang Brac, a famous Tiktoker from the Co Tu ethnic group who once went viral on social networks and media with his interesting and impressive journey of "telling village stories".

With each video posted, Alang Brac skillfully tells the story of everyday life in the village, the Co Tu community at the foot of the Truong Son Dong mountain range. By telling simple and rustic stories, many of Alang Brac's videos quickly become trends, reaching millions of viewers nationwide, helping to spread the cultural values of the Co Tu community widely.

Promoting creative content, a few years ago, singer-songwriter Danh Zoram (real name Zoram Huu Danh, a Co Tu boy from Tay Giang commune, currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City) used to include many mountain cultural scenes in his music videos.

In particular, the MV "Mung guol moi" was staged and chose the traditional cultural living space of the Co Tu people as a vivid filming setting.

In many conversations with audiences, singer-songwriter Danh Zoram said that he always cherishes what belongs to his identity, especially the cultural roots of the Co Tu people of Quang region, which has been a positive inspiration to help him compose new songs that are well received by many people.

“As a Co Tu person, I always consider preserving and spreading traditional culture as the pride and responsibility of the young generation. In the digital age, if properly utilized, social networks will become an effective bridge to bring the image of the people, customs, language and music of the Co Tu closer to the public at home and abroad.

I really appreciate those who are making efforts to record and retell stories, festivals, and Co Tu folk songs through images, videos, or creative content on digital platforms. It is not only a way to preserve cultural memories, but also a way to "breathe new life" into national identity in the era of integration. Because when culture is spread by the heart and national pride, it will vibrate and touch everyone's hearts in an attractive way," singer-songwriter Danh Zoram confided.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/ngon-lua-ban-sac-tren-khong-gian-so-3308285.html