From international commitments to accountability

VHO - In November 2022, the Cham pottery art was officially inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. This is an event of international significance, affirming the unique value of the handcrafted techniques that do not use a potter's wheel and involve open-air firing, mainly present in Bau Truc village (Khanh Hoa) and Binh Duc village (Lam Dong).

Báo Văn Hóa•20/05/2026

However, being on the "in need of urgent protection" list is not just a designation; in essence, it is a state of alert, requiring the nation owning the heritage site to take timely and effective intervention actions.

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Pottery artisans at Bau Truc Cham pottery village. Photo: THANH HA

Pressure from the recurring reporting cycle

According to Article 29 of the 2003 UNESCO Convention, for heritage sites requiring urgent protection, member states are obligated to submit a progress report on the implementation of protection measures every four years. Therefore, 2026 marks the milestone for Vietnam's first report on the Cham pottery heritage. This report is not merely an administrative formality, but serves as a quantitative basis for UNESCO to assess the effectiveness of national action programs.

In particular, heritage preservation efforts are currently being placed within a new policy context. In early 2026, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on the development of Vietnamese culture. The resolution emphasizes positioning culture as the foundation and endogenous driving force of sustainable development, while also requiring localities to closely link heritage preservation with socio-economic development.

Therefore, preserving Cham pottery art is not only a responsibility to fulfill international commitments, but also a concrete implementation of the Party's major policy on cultural development in the current period.

Following administrative boundary adjustments, the responsibility for preserving Cham pottery heritage now rests on the shoulders of two main localities: Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong. However, looking at the actual progress in implementing the "National Action Program on the Emergency Protection of Cham Pottery Art," a worrying delay is evident.

The delay in providing advice by local specialized agencies, resulting in the new project implementation plan only being issued at the end of 2025, is a major time constraint. The workload is enormous, including organizing systematic vocational training classes, providing direct livelihood support to artisans, restoring the cultural space of craft villages, and building a product promotion system.

If the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong do not urgently implement decisive measures and remove administrative obstacles to put the project into practice, we will not have enough empirical data to build a national report. Disruptions in the conservation process at the grassroots level not only lead to the decline of traditional craft skills but also erode the trust of the local communities.

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Traditional pottery making of the Cham people

Coordination and supervision role

In this process, responsibility does not rest solely with local authorities. The Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) and the National Council of Cultural Heritage need to strongly promote their roles in state management and expert advice at the macro level.

Looking at the actual progress in implementing the "National Action Program on the Emergency Protection of Cham Pottery Art," a worrying delay is evident. The delay in providing advice by local specialized agencies, resulting in the implementation plan only being issued at the end of 2025, represents a significant time barrier.

Given the current delays at the local level, the Department of Cultural Heritage needs to strengthen direct inspection and supervision and issue timely reminders. At the same time, the National Council for Cultural Heritage needs to establish strict evaluation criteria for local reports before compiling and submitting them to UNESCO. If the 2026 national report lacks substantive results and is merely a formality, the consequences will not be limited to the undervaluation of heritage sites.

Furthermore, this delay will directly affect Vietnam's prestige in the international cultural arena, diminishing the weight of future submissions to UNESCO. Preserving intangible cultural heritage is a continuous process, requiring coordinated and close cooperation from the central to local levels. Our ultimate goal is to gradually restore the vitality of Cham pottery through practical actions, so that UNESCO can remove this heritage from the list of urgently protected items.

Time is running out for the national report submission. It's time for cultural management agencies, from the ministerial level down to the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong, to translate directives into concrete and decisive actions. Only then can the Cham pottery art truly be protected and its value promoted in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 80 of the Politburo and to fulfill the commitments Vietnam has signed with the international community.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/tu-cam-ket-quoc-te-den-trach-nhiem-thuc-thi-229740.html