As the country’s creative cultural hub, Hanoi has worked tirelessly to integrate traditional cultural values into contemporary life, turning heritage into a resource for tourism and cultural industry development. The emergence of new creative spaces featuring water puppetry, Ca tru and Xam performances, as well as traditional craft villages, has added locally distinctive products and breathed new life into Vietnamese heritage.

Among these spaces, Cadao Collective has become as a destination where visitors can explore local heritage through multisensory experiences combining performances, talks, cuisine and cultural discovery.

The initiative also demonstrates how Vietnamese businesses and artists respond to the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on Vietnamese culture development, which prioritises introducing cultural values, promoting international integration, honouring cultural identity, and bringing into play heritage values to enhance the country’s soft power.

A special heritage space

At Cadao Collective, visitors can experience three distinctive heritage art forms of Hanoi – Xam, Ca tru and water puppetry.

Artists from the Tay Ho Puppetry Guild stage unique performances featuring shadow and water puppetry against a backdrop of contemporary folk music. Meanwhile, the Thai Ha Ca Tru Guild, which has been maintained by seven generations of artisans, showcases the depth of an art form inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

The “Xam Show” features such melodies as “Xam 36 Pho Phuong”, “Vui nhat co cho Dong Xuan”, “Xam diem hue” and “Muc ha vo nhan” performed by People’s Artist Xuan Hoach, Master of Arts and artisan Ta Hanh, and artist Tran Koong. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The Xam space allows visitors to enjoy traditional melodies first-hand while meeting and interacting with veteran artisans to learn more about this distinctive Vietnamese folk art.

Nguyen Hoai Thu, Chairwoman of Corex Business Solutions JSC, said Cadao Collective was created to connect traditional arts with modern life. As the implementation of Politburo Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on Vietnamese culture development is being pushed ahead, creative spaces now have more favorable conditions to run, thereby preserving and promoting the nation’s arts and heritage.

The space is subtly divided into three areas – the village, the street, and the home. The first floor recreates a village setting, featuring innovative water puppetry performances that are regularly refreshed to create a genuine artistic environment for artists. The next is the street area, which introduces specialties such as tea and coffee and, particularly, an open kitchen where handcrafted chocolate with distinctly Vietnamese flavours is made. The top floor is dedicated to Ca tru and Xam singing, performed in a free-spirited “for pleasure” style, where veteran artists, young performers and audiences can interact in an intimate atmosphere, Thu said.

The organiser stressed that craftsmanship is the soul of Cadao Collective. The entire puppet theatre, decorative details inspired by Ly- and Tran-dynasty patterns, and the puppets themselves are designed and handcrafted from fig and jackfruit wood by artisans. The organiser aims to completely handcraft all chocolate without machinery by 2026, seeking to showcase Vietnamese artistic skills and prevent machinery from diminishing human creativity.​

The “Puppetry Show” is performed by artisans and artists from traditional puppetry guilds. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

A destination for promoting traditional culture

With more than 16 years of experience in traditional culture, from architectural planning to script writing for major shows such as “Dat nuoc Thien Hung Ca” and “Roi mo”, Thu hopes to create cultural destinations with depth and broad appeal.

Beyond targeting international visitors from markets such as Europe, the Republic of Korea and Japan through partnerships with travel agencies, Thu said she is particularly encouraged by the strong interest shown by Gen Z and Gen Alpha people in traditional cultural values that are being renewed and adapted to contemporary life.

“This is an encouraging sign. We are not only introducing Vietnamese culture abroad; more importantly, young Vietnamese people are showing that they truly love their heritage. We hope travel companies will connect with these new creative cultural spaces in Hanoi and include them in tours for visitors,” Thu said.

Those working in the cultural sector like Thu hope state agencies will soon introduce more specific support policies such as providing working spaces for artists and facilitating their access to funding. Such measures, they said, will encourage stronger investment in preserving and promoting the nation’s cultural heritage while helping develop more attractive spaces and products to meet the demand of international tourists visiting Hanoi./.

VNA