The first-ever World Performing Arts Festival will be staged in the central coastal city of Da Nang from July 1-7, providing a good opportunity to promote the Vietnamese stage arts.

Director Le Quy Duong  

In the following interview granted to Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, Director Le Quy Duong explained the reason why Da Nang city was selected to host the festival and shared his thoughts on the current situation of Vietnam’s stage arts.

Director Duong was recently elected to the International Theatre Institute’s Executive Council and President of the International Festival Forum’s Executive Board at ITI’s 35th World Congress in Spain last year.

Can you please give us a short introduction on the International Theatre Institute and the International Festival Forum (IFF)?

Director Le Quy Duong: The ITI was founded by UNESCO in 1948 with a mission to build a sustainable and equal connection among all countries in performing arts. After its 70-year development, the ITI now has 90 official members.

The IFF is a major forum of the ITI and UNESCO, serving as a coordinator, policy-maker and organiser of performing arts festivals around the globe.

How far has Vietnamese performing arts developed and integrated into the world, in your opinion?

Director Le Quy Duong: Vietnam possesses a unique and diverse repertoire of traditional cultural heritages and performing arts, and many of the heritages have been inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

However, Vietnamese stage artists should be provided with more favourable conditions and equip themselves with professional skills in order to join their international colleagues on the global stage and promote Vietnamese performing arts to the world.

Can you please reveal the reason why Da Nang was chosen to host the first World Performing Arts Festival?

Director Le Quy Duong: A number of countries submitted offers to host the festival, which will be organised on the occasion of the 70th founding anniversary of ITI (1948 – 2018). The festival aims to bring performing arts closer to each member country and region and contribute a voice of the world’s performing arts on humanities.

Da Nang has been chosen because the city is fully equipped with the necessary conditions to host major international events. It is a dynamic city which has gained major socio-economic achievements over the past two decades.

The city has established a venue for major international events, particularly cultural, arts and sporting events, entertainment and tourist activities. Located in the central region of the country and in the heart of the Asia – Pacific region, Da Nang has also improved its infrastructure and traffic system.

We share the view that performing arts should be staged in a land full of vitality, dynamism and a prosperous future so that the art form can fully represent its characteristics of connecting countries, peoples and civilisations for a better world.

However, there are certain difficulties facing the city in hosting the World Performing Arts Festival as it only has a few theatres of international standard and the city’s residents have not yet developed a taste for the performing arts.

What is the greatest benefit brought by the festival to Vietnam’s performing arts, in your opinion?

Director Le Quy Duong: We hope that the festival will not only bring together world class stage projects from across the continents, but also introduce excellent stage works from Vietnamese theatres and art troupes to our international friends, contributing to boosting the development and international integration of Vietnamese performing arts.

Nhan Dan