Community role in preserving cultural heritage

Professors, doctors, scientists, and researchers gathered in Hanoi on October 7 to discuss the community role in preserving and promoting the value of Thang Long-Hanoi cultural heritage.

Hanoi has 5.175 historical and cultural sites in 29 districts and communes, including 1,165 recognized at national level and over 1,000 sites at municipal level. Especially, the Hoang Thanh Thang Long historical site has been recognized by UNESCO as the world’s cultural heritage.

Many historical relics are now in degrading conditions, not to mention the original ancient beauty of these relics, including Tram Gian pagoda, has been changed.

Delegates emphasized the important role of local management and people in preserving and promoting the value of relics.

According to statistics from the Thang Long-Hanoi Cultural Heritage Association, the community has provided 70 percent of funding for upgrading historical sites.

Associate Professor Dang Van Bai, Vice President of the Thang Long-Hanoi Cultural Heritage Association, said that cultural heritage is a valuable asset inherited from many generations that helps connect the national community, serving as a core of national identity and providing a foundation for creating new cultural values and boosting cultural exchanges.

Bac Giang honoured with official titles

An October 6 ceremony in the northern province of Bac Giang has ushered in the fifth Culture, Sport, and Tourism Festival and officially accepted important titles from UNESCO and the Prime Minister.

The ceremony was attended by former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, as well as other officials, provincial and municipal leaders, and international friends.

UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Katherine Muller Mari was also among the guests.

Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan congratulated the Party Committee, administration, and people of Bac Giang on UNESCO’s official world heritage recognition of Buddhist woodblocks at the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda. He also highlighted a prime ministerial decision including the locations of the Yen The Uprising in the list of National Relic Sites.

Both forms of recognition affirmed the significance of the history, culture, and heritage of Bac Giang, rewarding local preservation efforts that have spanned generations.

Deputy PM Nhan praised the work Bac Giang has invested in protecting national cultural values and urged the province to effectively exploit the potential of official recognition  as a means of encouraging sustainable development.

NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong bestowed the National Relic Certificate for the cluster of relics associated with the Yen The Uprising. Deputy PM Nhan also presented a certificate recognising 16 communes in Hiep Hoa District, Bac Giang Province, as safe zone No 2.

UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Katherine Muller Mari presented UNESCO’s World Documentary Heritage certificate, authoritatively classifying the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda’s woodblocks as part of the world heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vinh Nghiem Pagoda is known as the "grand temple". It was a major Buddhist centre of the Tran Dynasty and played an important role in the lives of the three founders of Truc Lam Zen Buddhism (Tran Nhan Tong, Phap Loa, and Huyen Quang).

10,000 people participate in ‘Let’s Sing Along’

Over 10,000 people sang and danced together in Hanoi on October 7.

Holding their hands they performed a number of famous local and international songs, setting an all-time record for a community art programme entitled ‘Let's Sing Along’.

Some popular singers, namely Minh Quan, Thai Thuy Linh and Anh Khang, also joined them in hiphop, flashmob, dancesport and football acts.

The programme, held for the first time by the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, served as a new playground for the youths to convey the message of peace to people across the country.

Exhibition recalls the days and nights of Hanoi’s 1972

A photo exhibition themed around “Hanoi’s Days and Nights in 1972” will be held from October 11-November 9 at the French Cultural Centre in Hanoi.

The event, organised by the French Institute of Oriental Studies’ Professor Olivier Tessier, will showcase images of Hanoi taken during the 1972 US B52 aerial bombardment of the city.

The exhibition thoroughly details the campaign, introducing each stage of the battle based on a timeline including targets and strategies, air force statistics, materiel and human losses, and the eventual negotiation process.

Dr Olivier Tessier, one of the leading researchers on the Thang Long Royal Palace, was honoured with the 2012 “Bui Xuan Phai - For the Love of Hanoi” Award. He also collects photos and ancient maps of Hanoi across the 19th and 20th centuries.

Old classic drama scripts found

A collection of 204 old tuong (classic drama) scripts, written in Han Chinese and Vietnamese Nom, have been found in the central city of Da Nang.

City Culture Department deputy director Tran Quang Thanh said yesterday the collection was found at the house of the late cultural researcher Nguyen Van Xuan.

They would have been published between 1802-45, Thanh said.

"Researchers from the city's Han Chinese and Vietnamese Nom Scripts Centre will come to appraise the collection soon," he said.

"We plan to store the ancient scripts and translate them into Vietnamese before showing them."

Meanwhile, the city had agreed to fund conservation of the scripts and the department had submitted a plan for their restoration.

‘Vietnamese Impression’ held in Paris

An art exhibition titled ‘Vietnamese Impression’ opened in Paris on October 7 to introduce the traditional costumes of ethnic groups.

There are many photos of mountainous women in colourful dresses and men in the plain ao the (gown) and khan xep (turban) and a wide range of interesting objects to make visitors understand more about their customs, beliefs and spiritual values.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts, said this is a unique and expressive show of Vietnam’s diverse customs.

The traditional dresses are unique cultural features of its 54 ethnic groups, she added.

Food inspires art at children's exhibition

An exhibition of children's drawings will be on display at the Ha Noi Children's Palace until next Saturday.

The event, co-organised by the Embassy of Mexico and the palace, features 42 drawings of Mexican children living abroad and 42 Vietnamese children living in Hanoi.

The Mexican drawings are part of a children’s drawing contest titled This Is My Mexico organised by the Institute of Mexicans Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico. The contest involves thousands of Mexican children as well as children of Mexican origin living around the world.

The theme this year was Traditional Mexican Cuisine: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Vietnamese children were invited to illustrate what Vietnamese food means to them.

Art exhibition opens to commemorate Steve Job

An art exhibition entitled ‘Think Different’ opened at the National Library, 31 Trang Thi Street, Hanoi on October 5 to commemorate the late Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs on the occasion of his first death anniversary.

The opening ceremony was attended by Italian ambassador to Vietnam Lorenzo Angeloni and Deputy Public Affairs Officer from US Embassy in Hanoi, Michael Turner.

Showcasing 21 lacquer paintings by painter Bui Van Khoa and a statue by sculptor Le Dinh Quy, the exhibition featured Steve Job’s life with seven milestones, representing seven significant improvements to the US IT industry over the past 35 years. The exhibition is made up of five sections including ‘The Vision’, ‘Pisces’, ‘Blue box’, ‘The Artists’ and ‘My Hope’.

Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011) was a Syrian-American entrepreneur and widely recognized as the charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution and will be forever remembered for his influential innovations in the computer and consumer electronics fields.

He was not only co-founder of Apple Inc (with Steve Wozniak in 1976), but also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; and became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar.

The event, organised by Doctor Nguyen Duc Tien and the US Embassy in Hanoi, aims to honour his contributions to information technology. The exhibition will run until October 7.

VNN/VOV/VNS/ND