Memories of a time of great fire and flowers
“I stood silently in the cells of Pleiku prison, Buon Ma Thuot exile, in front of more than 3,600 graves with names, as well as unnamed graves in Gia Lai province’s Martyrs’ Cemetery... Every inch of land, every tree, every blade of grass here has the souls of countless martyrs. My parents died in the war, my mother also suffered from imprisonment and suffering. That personal pain in the common story of the arduous but resilient struggle of historical heroes made me even more moved,” Meritorious Artist Phi Yen - a member of the Liberation Art Troupe in the past, emotionally shared while standing in the middle of the Central Highlands today.
“Only by going, coming, and touching memories can one have a comprehensive view of the harshness of war and the everlasting value of the Day of Southern Liberation and National Reunification,” Meritorious Artist Phi Yen shared.
Each piece of land sings the song of its origin/ Embracing its body, soaked in blood, full of resentment/ Layers of people fall for you/ Become an epic poem to protect the homeland… Setting foot on the land that was once a place of bombs and bullets, a dead zone during the war, writer Nguyen Thu Ha wrote these emotional verses.
She confided that today, standing among the prisons built by the French colonialists and later upgraded by the Americans, she could clearly imagine the brutality of the enemy back then and felt even more sorry and admired the communist soldiers.
“The vast cemeteries and prisons in the Central Highlands still tell of the blood shed…”, the female writer choked up.
Artists visit Ta Thiet base
According to comrade Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diem, Deputy Head of the Department of Science, Culture, Arts - Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, the journey back to the source is an opportunity for the city's artists to deeply feel the heroic, indomitable examples and great sacrifices of their ancestors.
“We believe that feeling the historical lessons in every piece of land, every person, every blade of grass, every tree branch in the majestic Central Highlands will help today's artists have more materials and emotions to continue composing and performing works of high value about revolutionary history and traditions,” emphasized comrade Ngoc Diem.
Light the fire of dedication
Walking on the trails between the Ta Thiet National Special Relic Site (Ta Thiet base), sculptor Tran Dinh Thang, a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association, was moved because he felt that each space and artifact was recreating a part of the life and arduous but extremely heroic fighting of the past.
Before the trip back to the source, Mr. Tran Dinh Thang was awarded second prize in the Campaign to compose, stage and promote literary and artistic works towards the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification, for the monumental sculpture called Peace , inspired by that source of gratitude and pride.
Walking among the artists, listening to the gratitude resounding in her heart, People's Artist My Uyen, Director of the Small Stage Drama Theater (Stage 5B), shared that the Central Highlands not only marks a vestige of a time, being the gateway to protect the South, but has now become a destinationto educate patriotism and gratitude for the next generation.
After the play Comrade produced by the Small Stage Drama Theater in 2024, People's Artist My Uyen is making efforts to find new materials to continue to create works that convey messages of pride and patriotism to the audience. For her, this journey to the Central Highlands is of great significance as it contributes to igniting the creative fire for herself and young artists.
The sun and wind of the Central Highlands still blow on the old roads and traces. Stories from red addresses, historical revolutionary relics... have become traditional cultural pieces, connecting localities that were once battlefields with Ho Chi Minh City. Artists have had the opportunity to touch memories, connect the depth of the old years with intense creativity to continue writing heroic epics through music, theater, cinema, painting, poetry...
The journey “Following the Footsteps of the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising” organized by the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee took place at the end of May in the provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Binh Phuoc. The trip had 108 representative artists and writers from many generations of the city.
TIEU TAN
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cham-vao-qua-khu-de-khoi-nguon-sang-tac-post797878.html
Comment (0)