VietNamNet Bridge – Photos depicting intangible and tangible heritages of Viet Nam are on display at the Ho Guom Cultural Information Centre located in Ha Noi’s Old Quarter, which gathers many international tourists everyday.

Street art: Visitors enjoy photos at the exhibition. — VNS Photo Minh Thu

The exhibition showcases 100 photos comprising the winners of the Viet Nam Heritage Photo Awards 2017.

The photos are divided into five categories: Nature (landscapes, marine resources, forest resources, geological resources, plants, wildlife, the environment), Tangible heritage (architecture, sculpture, art, crafts, cultural-historical relics, antiques, and national treasures), Intangible heritage (music, dance, festival, folk games, religion), Life (daily life scenes, customs, practices, portraits), and Markets.

The organising board received nearly 3,500 photos sent by 66 photographers nationwide, according to Hoang Trung Thuy, chairman of the jury board.

“The participants followed the content required by the organising board and expressed the topics through their eye-catching pictures,” he said.

“The category that received the most entries was Life, in which photographers portray daily life from many interesting angles.”

“In the category Market, the entrants brought viewers to markets in different regions nationwide and expressed the identity, culture and customs of local people in each place.”

As well as individual photos, many authors sent photo collections to show visitors a panoramic view of Vietnamese heritage. One of the highlighted photo collections was taken by Nguyen Xuan Chinh, in which he reflected on the tu cai ritual of the ethnic Dao people in the northern province of Lai Chau.

“Tu cai is a very important religious ritual for the Dao people living in northern provinces,” said Chinh.

“It is the Dao counterpart to the maturity ritual. Normally all Dao boys over 10 are eligible for the ritual.”

The ritual is conducted by a well respected shaman. After that the young man is given one more name to use in the other world to communicate with the gods and ancestors. To the gods, ancestors and living villagers, he is now a mature Dao man and receives respect from his community.

“This is the unique culture and traditional custom of the Dao that should be preserved,” he said.

The competition was open to both Vietnamese and foreigners with the aim of collecting beautiful photos on the natural and cultural heritage of the country and promote the values of Viet Nam’s national heritage to the world.

The contest is held annually by the Vietnam Airlines inflight Heritage magazine and the the Việt Nam Cultural Heritage Association with exhibitions in public places, museums and universities, to celebrate the Viet Nam National Heritage Day on November 23.

After today, the exhibition will be organised on November 21-23 at the Viet Nam Culture and Arts Exhibition Centre, 2 Hoa Lu Street, Ha Noi.

Other exhibitions will be held in HCM City, Da Nang and the northern province of Hung Yen until March 30 next year. 

Traditional event: A photo from the collection by Nguyen Xuan Chinh, featuring the tu cai ritual of the Dao people. Valuable tradition: A photo from the collection by Nguyen Xuan Chinh, featuring the tu cai ritual of the Dao people. Coming of age: A photo from the collection by Nguyen Xuan Chinh, featuring the tu cai ritual of the Dao people.

VNS