Hue photographers take photos on Huong Tra hydroelectric reservoir. Photo: Pham Van Ty

Growing stronger

From about 100 people in 1975, the VNS team in Hue now has over 700 members, active in 8 specialized associations under the Hue City Union of Literature and Arts Associations. Hue VNS both preserves traditional values ​​and absorbs modern trends from the world. Freedom in creating literature and arts is increasingly expanded, allowing VNS to experiment with diverse topics and new forms of expression.

Research critic Pham Phu Phong affirmed: “There has never been a time in the history of Hue literature that has had such a large group of writers as in the past half century, including the time when Hue was still the golden center of the whole country, with the achievements of Chinese and Nom literature and witnessed the bustling transition in the transitional period of national language literature. The atmosphere of innovation has opened up a vast horizon for artistic creation.”

Discussing the achievements of Hue poetry from the perspective of potential and creative force, Critic Ho The Ha commented: “After 1975, the team of poets reunited in the great festival of the nation. Hue was once known as the land of poetry, music and painting, the place that witnessed this joyful reunion atmosphere. It is from the vivid reality of life and people that determined the poetic quality of a literary era taking place in peacetime. The new values ​​of poetry were crystallized from this land rich in potential, so that in a moment it became a special strength”.

In the field of music, with thousands of musical works created, Hue musicians have contributed to reflecting the gradual development in all areas of social life. Meanwhile, each project to preserve and promote the value of Hue royal dance has always been implemented synchronously and brought about practical results. This has brought a new vitality to Hue royal art in general, and Hue royal dance in particular. Hue contemporary dance is also developing rapidly, being highly appreciated by experts.

Photography has played an important role in preserving and promoting traditional beauty, from ancient architecture to local cultural festivals, contributing to preserving the important cultural and historical values ​​of the ancient capital. Like the two major cultural and artistic centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hue fine arts have had positive changes from internal movements, changing perspectives, opening up to a flat global world, and then integrating into the art trends taking place in the region and globally.

A fairly active and effective activity is folk arts. Discussing the promotion of Hue folk cultural values ​​in cultural development, Dr. Tran Van Dung, Vice President of the VNDG Association said: “In recent times, folk cultural heritages have been recognized for their value, protected and promoted effectively, making an important contribution to historical education and cultivating fine cultural traditions. The Association also builds and promotes the values ​​of Hue folk culture to the world through international exchange and cooperation activities.”

For more new achievements

In addition to appreciating the achievements, we should also frankly acknowledge that, compared to the period of resistance war and national construction, the cultural and artistic activities in the period of national renovation are somewhat stagnant, lacking works with high artistic generalization, with the ability to appeal, move, encourage, and motivate the entire people to join forces and unite. That is also a major concern of all Vietnamese and Hue artists.

To have more new achievements, there needs to be more new creations on the efforts of innovation. In order to have real "harvests" and contribute their strength in promoting the transformation of the modern art system of Vietnam, Hue VNS cannot stop at the explorations as before but need to push the explorations to become more diverse and more stable. The explorations need to be more in ideology than just technical experiments.

The country is entering a new stage of development - the era of national growth - with determination and belief in a strong Vietnam, Hue city is not outside of that new spirit and new aspiration. VNS Hue city, more than ever, needs to make creative efforts, making literature and art go hand in hand with the development aspirations of Hue and the country.