Photo competition to spotlight VN's world heritage sites

HA NOI — Amateur and professional photographers will display their best images in a competition entitled Vietnamese World Heritages to be held in July.

Launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibitions in co-operation with the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA), the Natural Cultural Heritage Department and National Administration of Tourism, the competition aims to draw attention to the value of the nation's UNESCO-recognised world heritages.

UNESCO has recognised the imperial city of Hue, Ha Long Bay, My Son Sanctuary, the ancient town of Hoi An, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the citadel of Thang Long-Ha Noi, as world heritage sites, and nha nhac (royal court music), the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong culture, quan ho (love duet singing) in the northern province of Bac Ninh, ca tru (ceremonial singing), and the Saint Giong Festival as tangible or intangible cultural heritage.

The photo competition will award a first prize worth VND10 million and a gold medal from VAPA. Two second prizes worth VND7 million, three third prizes worth VND5 million, and ten encouragement prizes worth VND2 million would also be awarded, along with certificates from VAPA.

About 250 entries will be selected for display at an exhibition to be held in the central city of Da Nang on National Day, September 2, and in Ha Noi on Liberation Day, October 10.

Vietnamese and foreign photographers are being invited to submit entries, in colour or black-and-white. Images should be sized 30 by 45cm and not previously awarded prizes in other competitions held by the ministry or the association.

Contestants could submit up to 11 entries, which is the number of UNESCO heritage recognitions the nation has received, said competition organiser Vi Kien Thanh. All 11 photos can be taken from a single heritage site, he explained.

However, veteran photographer Van Tho argued, "Eleven photos cannot show the beauty of Vietnamese world heritage. I have taken many photos at the Giong Festival, and I propose that photographers be allowed to send more to the organisation." — VNS

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World heritage photo competition begins

HA NOI – Amateur and professional photographers will display their best imeages in a competition entitled Vietnamese World Heritages to be held in July.

Launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibitions in co-operation with the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA), the Natural Cultural Heritage Department and National Administration of Tourism, the competition aims to draw attention to the value of the nation's UNESCO-recognised world heritage.

UNESCO has recognised the imperial city of Hue, Ha Long Bay, My Son Sanctuary, the ancient town of Hoi An, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the citadel of Thang Long-Ha Noi, as world heritage sites, and nha nhac (royal court music), the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong culture, quan ho (love duet singing) in the northern province of Bac Ninh, ca tru (ceremonial singing), and the Saint Giong Festival as tangible or intangible cultural heritage.

The photo competition will award a first prize worth VND10 million and a gold medal from VAPA. Two second prizes worth VND7 million, three third prizes worth VND5 million, and ten encouragement prizes worth VND2 million would also be awarded, along with certificates from VAPA.

About 250 entries will be selected for display at an exhibition to be held in the central city of Da Nang on National Day, September 2, and in Ha Noi on Liberation Day, October 10.

Vietnamese and foreign photographers are being invited to submit entries, in colour or black-and-white. Images should be sized 30 by 45cm and not previously awarede prizes in other competitions held by the ministry or the association.

Contestants could submit up to 11 entries, which is the number of UNESCO heritage recognitions the nation has received, said competition organiser Vi Kien Thanh. All 11 photos can be taken from a single heritage site, he explained.

However, veteran photographer Van Tho argued, "Eleven photos cannot show the beauty of Vietnamese world heritage. I have taken many photos at the Giong Festival, and I propose that photographers be allowed to send more to the organisation." – VNS

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Ha Noi celebrates heritage listing

The Saint Giong Festival was one of three examples of Ha Noi's cutural heritage to be recognised by UNESCO during the past year. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — A ceremony has been held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ha Noi Municipal People's Committee and the Viet Nam National Commission for UNESCO to bestow UNESCO Certification recognising the Saint Giong Festival as a World Intangible Heritage.

The festival was the third element of Ha Noi's heritage recognised by UNESCO in 2010, joining the 82 doctoral steles in the Temple of Literature, and the Thang Long Royal Citadel.

"Ha Noi is proud to receive UNESCO certification. This recognises the efforts of past generations who handed down their heritage to the people of Ha Noi," said Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, deputy chairwoman of the Ha Noi municipal People's Committee on Saturday.

"The Giong Festival had all the necessary elements to be recognised as humanity's intangible cultural heritage, especially the element of community participation in preserving and promoting the value of the festival," said Katherine Muller‑Marin, head of the UNESCO office in Ha Noi.

She also emphasised that the festival had been deeply impressed by the inherited traditions of those residents living along the Red River.

During the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Le Tien Tho, announced a national plan of action to preserve and promote the nation's cultural values during 2011-15.

The ceremony also included a traditional art performance by local people. — VNA/VNS

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Experts praise Vietnamese folk values

Sing it: Don ca tai tu is performed for tourists in Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta. — VNS Photo Van Dat

HCM CITY — Don ca tai tu (music of the talented) should be recognised as an intangible heritage of the country to curb the impact of Western music's influence on indigenous musical forms, according to international scholars at a conference on preservation of the art form.

Speaking at the three-day event in HCM City, Professor Sheen Dae-cheol of South Korea said Don ca tai tu, which began 100 years ago, holds an important position in Viet Nam.

The history of Don ca tai tu is similar to Gagok of South Korea and Nanyin of China, both of which began as amateur music and developed into more sophisticated forms.

Don ca tai tu, however, has retained its original characteristics.

Because it does not require a stage, it quickly became popular in every corner of society and could be performed under a tree, in a house, on a boat, or under the moonlight.

The Korean professor said he was impressed with the musical instruments. Some of them have only one, two or three strings, such as the monochord, two-chord fiddle and the three-string fretless box spike lute.

"The feeling and soul of the Vietnamese people are embedded in tai tu music. The music, which is an invaluable heritage, applies the yin-yang theory of the East," he said.

"The value of gender equality is also mentioned in Don ca tai tu. Since it began, it has always been performed with the participation of both men and women. Everyone considers Don ca tai tu amateur music, but it is not amateur at all. It is noble amateur music. It deserves to be considered as a world cultural heritage," he added.

Dr Joe Peters of Singapore, who noted that Don ca tai tu was important to the Vietnamese people's life, said that video and audio clips on the art form could be found on the internet.

Prof Yamaguti Osamu of Taiwan's Nanhua University said improvisational music like Don ca tai tu appears in other countries, including India and, especially, Africa.

The music is transmitted orally and has no printed musical notation.

More recordings of the music must be done so that documents can be submitted to UNESCO and the art form can be approved and recognised as an intangible cultural heritage of the world.

Gisa Jaehnichen, a professor in the music department at University Putra Malaysia, praised the charm of Don ca tai tu and the instruments used in performance.

The music is traditionally played in informal venues, often in a close friend's home or in a neighbour's garden.

Its standard orchestra includes a dan tranh (16-string zither), a dan kim (two-chord guitar), a dan co (two-chord fiddle), a ty ba (pear-shaped, four-chord guitar), a doc huyen (monochord zither) and a flute.

Professor Tran Van Khe, musician Nguyen Vinh Bao, who are experts in Vietnamese traditional music, and other local artists said they were highly impressed about the knowledge of the foreign experts who spoke about Don ca tai tu at the conference.

Experts said that performing the music on a big stage or during tourism festivals, which has been done in recent years, was not true to its original nature. —VNS

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Fest to celebrate cultural heritage

Carved in stone: Stone steles at Ha Noi's Temple of Literature, which have been recognised as world heritage. — File Photo

HA NOI — A five-day festival will open at the Viet Nam Culture and Art Exhibition Centre this Saturday to mark the sixth Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Day.

Dubbed Hallmark of Thang Long – Ha Noi and the Youth with Vietnamese Cultural Heritage, the festival celebrates the country's rich past and young people's contribution towards preserving the nation's cultural traditions.

An earlier festival to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Thang Long Royal Citadel – which was recently recognised as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO – was a resounding success, organisers said.

On display during the festival will be artefacts belonging to the Thang Long Citadel that were discovered during the excavation of the fortress in 2002.

In addition, about 500 antiques dating from the Dong Son Culture (700-100 BC) to the Nguyen dynasty (19th-20th century) will be on show.

There will be also paintings and photos of Ha Noi, as well as publications and valuable documents kept at the National Library.

The festival has been co-organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the People's Committee of Ha Noi; the Ministry of Education and Training; and the Association of Viet Nam Cultural Heritage.

Among the activities that will take place during the festival will be a calligraphy demonstration, a display of traditional culture and arts, folk games, music and dances.

Researchers will also hold a workshop on the day to discuss the preservation of Ha Noi's tangible and intangible heritage, such as ca tru (ceremonial singing) and Thang Long folk dance.

A performance in honour of Viet Nam's cultural heritage will be broadcast live on Viet Nam Television from the Au Co Theatre.

The festival will run until next Wednesday. — VNS

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