The Gong Show
When I was a young boy my family would give me pots and pans to bang on. Never did I imagine that in another part of the world this fun and constructive use of my time would actually be considered music! Tonight I attended a really cool exhibition about this very thing at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi. VME is, by far, the coolest museum in Vietnam! So cool that I’d probably live there if I could! But anyway, back to the gong show, right? Tonight launched an exhibition of archival photos taken in Gia Lai Province way back before my pot banging concerts began. Like one would expect, it started with a bunch of speeches expressing gratitude for the cooperative effort it took to put on the exhibition… Yadi yadi yada! I kinda zoned out during that part, and might have “gonged” people off stage to fast forward things on a bit if I could. After that exciting portion of the event came to a completion the whole crowd of people moved upstairs to view the photos. It was a bit of a squeeze to get by all of the TV and photojournalists, but eventually I managed to land myself in front of some great pics! My favorite was a really old photo of a group of men in a long Ede communal house. Though I’ve been in the same kind of house at the museum’s outdoor exhibition, it was much more meaningful to see it full of Ede people, and not just tourists. There were a number of really amazing photos of people dancing around while beating gongs. Surprise! There were also some pretty interesting photos of a water buffalo sacrifice. I guess that last part could leave people wondering if the gongs might have some sort of association with a dinner bell… You know, like: “Gong! It’s time to eat!”. However, that’s definitely not the case. The Bana, Ede, Mnong, Jarai and Ma peoples are really into the art of gong music, and would likely gong me off this page for suggesting otherwise. So, if you get the chance, head on over to the museum to check out this fascinating exhibition! It’s on until February 7th, 2010.
