A unique cultural space has just been introduced at Duyet Thi Duong Theater (Hue Imperial Citadel), drawing the attention of the public and tourists: the Exhibition Space for Hue Royal Classical Drama Masks.

It may seem easy to dream of a day when Gia Hoi “revives,” not only preserving its essence and cultural heritage values, but also seizing the opportunity for this ancient quarter to develop. The preservation of heritage values in this ancient quarter located east of the Hue Citadel, however, is facing many challenges and conflicts.

Many of the dozens of artifacts recently received by the Thua Thien Hue History Museum from donors are considered extremely rare by experts. These artifacts are cultural heritage associated with the land, people, cultural life, the period of resistance against invaders, and the construction and defense of the Fatherland by the army and people of Thua Thien Hue.

The cultural heritage left by the Nguyen Dynasty in Hue, in particular, and Vietnam in general, is extremely voluminous, including historical, cultural, landscape, artistic, scientific, and economic values... Over the years, preserving and promoting those cultural values have been highly appreciated. However, there are still some inadequacies, difficulties, and limitations.

For the sake of sustainable preservation of the precious heritage of the ancestors, Hue Monuments Conservation Center has organized an exhibition and conducted an opinion poll regarding Planning documents for preserving, repairing, and restoring the Complex of Hue Monuments until 2030, with a vision towards 2050.

The center is divided into several spaces. The most notable among them is the space for storing Buddhist woodblocks. Arranged in a scientific and meticulous manner, this space currently holds over 800 blocks and 1,300 inscribed texts, featuring a diverse range of texts such as sutras, vinayas, treatises, commentaries, initiation verses, monastic regulations, and ancient graphic illustrations, which are extremely precious and rare.

Visiting Bao La Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative (Quang Phu commune, Quang Dien district), I met artisans who are hard at work keeping their professions and looking for new directions through their product design improvement. Many of their fine and quality handicraft products have been present in the world market.

Garden houses type 1, type 2 and type 3 will receive a grant worth of 1 billion VND, 800 million VND and 600 million VND respectively.

Hue’s artisans, being many in number, skilled, and dedicated to traditional occupations, have not only created many sophisticated and quality products but also contributed to preserving and developing traditional occupations over the past time.