Traditional Music Classes

By Binju Sitaula, Zhang Jianhua
KATHMANDU, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Nepali folk culture specialists stressed over conservation of traditional folk music in order to maintain Nepali cultural identity worldwide.

"In the name of modernization and westernization, our folk music is being extinct in every minute," said Dr. Govinda Acharya.

Dr. Acharya, specialized in Nepali folk culture, said "though culture is to some extent changeable, it is not just changing in context of Nepal, rather we are not preserving our tradition."

Dr. Acharya, who is also a member of Nepal Music Center (NMC) which is a non-government organization promoting Nepali music, teaches Nepali culture course at Dang Campus in mid-western Nepal.

He, as a culture researcher, did the job of regional coordinator for selection of music from Nepali ethnical groups during "International Folk Music Festival-2008" ended on Saturday.

During the closing ceremony of folk music festival on Saturday evening, Dr. Acharya told Xinhua that "what our student learn in music class is either Indian music or western music, there is still no identification of Nepali folk culture.

He thinks study and research in ethnic groups can help to identify typical Nepali folk music. However, initiation of this work has been taken by NMC. As a part of this, NMC has organized four days long "International Folk Music Festival-2008" in Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Dr. Acharya is not satisfied with nowadays folk music. In his point of view, the present day's folk music has just created considering market.

"What market demand are being served as folk music in these days, these folk music are artificial," he said.

He likes to call nowadays folk music as "polished gold". "Real gold can only be found in villages where our eyes have not reached," he said.

Moreover, he accused the government of being centralized within capital. "Government should take steps to preserve Nepali folk culture," he said, adding "culture ministry in Kathmandu can not preserve culture of Far-West and East."

Dr. Acharya's opinion is similar to that of Santosh Sharma, co-coordinator of the international folk music festival. Sharma who is also the president of NMC and managing director of Music Nepal.

Sharma said, "time has come to conserve Nepali folk culture to hand over these cultural values to the coming generations."

The Nepali government is also positive toward this festival and did support the organizers by providing historical places to perform, he said, adding "but we also hope for financial support from the government."

Talking to Xinhua, he said that 50 percent of modified folk music, 30 percent of classical and 20 percent of modern pop has got space in Nepali music market. However, traditional folk music representing various indigenous groups has not been recorded yet for commercial purpose.

"Recording for documentation, at least, is a must to preserve our identity internationally," Sharma said.

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