The pottery-making art of Vietnam’s ethnic people of Cham was inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, local media said.
The decision was made during the ongoing 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Morocco’s capital city of Rabat, from November 28 to December 3, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST).
Cham pottery products are mainly household utensils, religious objects, and fine art works, including jars, pots, trays, and vases, made by women as an expression of their individual creativity on the basis of their community’s knowledge.
Besides, raw materials such as clay, sand, water, firewood, and straw are collected locally.
Despite preservation efforts, Cham pottery-making is still in danger due to the impact of urbanization on access to raw materials, inadequate adaptation to the market economy, and a lack of interest among millennials.
Currently, Vietnam boasts 15 intangible cultural heritage honored by UNESCO. (Tin Tuc [1], Vietnam Plus English [2], ich.unesco.org [3], Dang Cong San [4], QDND [5])