Part of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life Collaborative Project,“Light of the Blind,” a series of workshops, colloquia and Xẩm concert performances. The project aim is to create a deeper awareness and understanding of the healing possibilities of music for those struggling in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and to offer a forum for conversations between American and Vietnamese-American communities.
Many people were blinded during the Vietnam War (1955–1975). Some have attempted to heal their emotional and financial wounds and find hope in the ancient Vietnamese tradition of “Xẩm singing.” Xẩm or hát xẩm (xẩm singing) is a practice dating back to the 14th-century Trần dynasty, when it became popular in the Northern region of Vietnam. Itinerant blind musicians (xẩm xoan) traveled from village to village, singing epic, historical, humorous, and erotic songs, accompanying themselves on the đàn bầu (traditional Vietnamese mono chord instrument) or đàn nhị (two-string fiddle), or performing with other traveling instrumentalists.
7:00 PM - Short film on Madame Hà Thị Cầu, the last surviving artisan of Xẩm
7:30 PM - Xẩm Concert Performance with Xẩm Hà Thành Ensemble and Wesleyan University faculty and student performers (Jin Hi Kim, Komungo, Jane Alden and student percussionist)
8:15 PM Q&A with performers