Celebrating Vietnam Mother Goddess Worship in the Republic of Korea

 

 

 

Participants at the opening ceremony were representatives of the Vietnam Embassy in RoK, leaders of the VWM, members of the Vietnam Cultural Centre, representatives of Ly Hoa Son’s descent, members of the Vietnamese community and multi-cultural families in RoK as well as Korean representatives of friendship organizations, art associations, and folk researchers.

 

Addressing the opening ceremony, Le Thuy Trang, first secretary of the Vietnam Embassy in RoK expressed her appreciation to the organizers, for their idea to hold the event in Seoul.

 

She said that the exhibition not o­nly introduced a unique Vietnamese worship to international friends but also brought Vietnamese expatriates closer to home

 

She expressed her wish that there would be more events, such as this to introduce the beauty of Vietnam and its culture to the world.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Director of the VWM, said this was the first time the Museum has organized an event overseas o­n Mother Goddess Worship, since it was officially recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in late 2016.

 

 

 

The VWM chose RoK for organizing the exhibition because the two countries have cultural similarities. The Museum plans to held similar events in France and the UK, Ms Bich Van noted.

 

After hearing the brief introduction, visitors had a chance to attend a “Len dong” ritual, which is the major component in practicing the worship. The two-hour performance was performed by medium Tran Thi Kim Hue and her followers from Nam Dinh Province, an area considered to be the cradle of the Mother Goddess worship. The audience was so captivated by the performance that they joined the dances with the performers, which created a jubilant festival atmosphere and intertwined ethnic identities.

 

Following the performance, the visitors also had opportunities to understand more about Mother Goddess worship through images, costumes, and props which are used for “Len dong” ritual. Many Vietnamese young people, Korean cultural researchers, and artists asked a variety of questions relating to content, meanings, and history as well as o­n-going development of the Mother Goddess worship. The Museum was delighted to be able to take this cultural heritage to a wider audience, and were pleased to see such an enthusiastic response to the “Len dong” performance.