Year 2010 marked a year of success for Vietnamese culture. Many cultural events attracted the attention of numerous audiences from inside and outside of Vietnam. In light of the New Year, we reviewed 10 outstanding cultural events in the past year.

1000th Anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi

The 1000th Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi was an extremely important event for the Hanoi capital in particular and for the whole country in general. The events for the 1000th Anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi constituted part of the main activities for cultural diplomacy in 2010.

On this occasion, many cultural heritage museums opened for visitors. The exhibition’s opening ceremony exhibited 1000 year-old historical objects from Thang Long - Ha Noi. The archaeological monument zone at 18 Hoang Dieu Street, Hanoi, was opened for the first time to exhibit "imperial treasures" by the Vietnam Historical Museum and to launch the Vietnam Cultural-Tourism Village of Ethnicities in Dong Mo, Son Tay, Hanoi.

Vietnam Cultural Heritage Was Recognized as a World Cultural Heritage

On March 9th, 2010, the meeting of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia-Pacific (MOWCAP) was held in Macau (China). 82 steles from the Le-Mac dynasties at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi were recognized and registered in the list of the World Memory in the Asia - Pacific.

On August 1st, 2010 in Brasilia, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO adopted a resolution to recognize the Imperial Citadel Center Area as the 900th World Cultural Heritage in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

On October 3rd, 2010, Dong Van Stone Plateau (Ha Giang Province) was recognized as an official member of the network of global geological parks by the Advisory Council of the Global Geological Park Network (GGN) at the European Geologic Park Network Conference in Lavos, Greece.

On November 16th, 2010 in Narobi, Kenya, the 5th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO formally recognized the Giong Festival in Phu Dong Temple and Soc Temple as a world heritage.

“Harvest Season”: International Prizes

In 2010, Vietnam was awarded many international prizes in different fields such as music, film, architecture and photography.

The highest prize for architectural heritage conservation in 2010 from the International Union of Architects (UIA) was awarded to Investment Projects for preserving and renovating Chu Quyen communal house (Chu Minh commune, Ba Vi district, Hanoi).

2010 was also a good year for Vietnamese photography. The 30th black and white art contest and the 32nd photo contest for young photographers was jointly held by the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), and the Department of Fine Arts, Photography, and Exhibition in Vietnam from the 1st to the 8th of August with participants from 42 countries. Out of 24 FIAP awards, the Vietnamese photographers won three: the World Cup for Young Art Album for artists under the age of 16, the gold medal for Young Art Album for the 16-21 age group, and the gold medal for the black and white Overcoming the Difficulties Album (Photos).  Along with the FIAP awards, there were also 17 individual awards. Vietnam won three: one gold and two bronze medals. With this award, Vietnam reached to the top 10 award-winning countries.

Awards were also given to Vietnamese films. The film "Bi, Don’t Be Afraid" by Director Phan Dang Di, won five international awards. The film "Doi vo" was awarded the Laurel Wreath - the highest award at the International Film Sport Festival in Milan, Italy.

The 1st prize in the 39th UPU World Mail Writing Competition in 2010 was awarded to Ho Thi Hieu Hien. Ho Thi Hieu Hien is from a secondary school in Tay Son, Da Nang and had written a letter to Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The 1st Prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition in Singapore was awarded to Hoang Pham Tra My of Vietnam.

The First International Film Festival in Vietnam

The first Vietnam International Film Festival (VNIFF) lasted for 4 days, from the 17th to the 21st of October. It was held in Hanoi and attracted the participants of 67 films from 18 nations and territories. Although this was the first VNIFF, many famous filmmakers and famous Vietnamese actors and actresses were present. The award of best film was awarded to “Sandy Castle” from Singapore. Nhat Kim Anh (who acted in “Long thanh cam gia ca”) of Vietnam won the best main actress prize and “Always Beside You” director Nguyen Thi Kim Hai won the award for best documentary film.

Vietnamese Beauty Crowned “Miss Asia”

In July 30th, the Global Beauties came to Vietnam to award the Miss Asia crown to Miss Huong Giang. Before becoming Miss Asia, Huong Giang passed an independent jury comprising of 15 experts from many countries around the world.

Vietnam Circus Won the Gold Medal for the First Time in the International Circus Festival in Spain

From February 18-22, the Vietnam Circus Federation participated in the 3rd Albbacete International Circus Festival in Spain. This is a prestigious annual festival which attracts many circus artists. However, the circus artists of Vietnam successfully passed the stage "Superman" (picture) and won the gold medal. They also won the award for audience favorite (voted by 10,000 audiences.)

Dramatic Literature and Arts Associations

The past year included effective operations from literature and arts associations, including the union of literature and arts associations.

The Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Association conducted the tenure VIII (2010 - 2015) conference with an assessment of the 10 specialized associations and set out specific directions. Poet Huu Thinh, chairman of the Vietnam Writer Association, has become the president of tenure VIII.

The Literature and Arts Award in 2010 was awarded to 98 compositions of authors from 46 of the provincial literature and arts associations in the country. There was one A prize, 12 B prizes, 28 C prizes, and 29 consolation prizes. The A prize was awarded to the song, "The Sun Wheel", music by Thanh Son (Dien Bien) and lyrics by Mai Lieu.

Last October, the Union of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association had their first exhibition which gathered many quality compositions from 10 different associations. The association also held a meeting to consider its award for outstanding composition of its members in recent years.

Foreign Cultural Activities Were Held In Vietnam and Abroad

Many cultural diplomatic activities were held. Examples include Vietnam cultural week in Germany (from August 28th to 29th, 2010), Belgium (from September 1st to 4th, 2010), Egypt ( Feb 2nd  to 24th), Cambodia (from Oct, 24th to 30th 2010), and Japan (from Sep, 17th to 22nd 2010).

Many other outstanding activities occurred, such as French cultural week in Vietnam (from November 23rd to 27th), Venezuelan cultural week in Vietnam (October 18th to 23rd), Japanese cultural week in Vietnam, and Russian cultural days in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Many international orchestras performed in Vietnam such as the Asean Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Norway, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and the Trossingen Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, the Symphony Orchestra also performed in the U.S. and in France.

The U.S. also honored the film career of Director Dang Nhat Minh. The showcase of Vietnamese films took place from the 5th to the 14th of November in the U.S. Many different types of films were featured. In addition to the 10 events above, Vietnamese culture in 2010 also featured many events and festivals throughout the country.