Ho Chi Minh City Creative Awards: Motivation for artists to continue contributing

The play "Comrade" won the gold prize at the first Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival.

Notably, the field of literature and art has 9 outstanding works, reflecting the constant creativity of artists in the City named after Uncle Ho.

Affirming value with a public process

The publication of the list of works before the award ceremony is a new feature, aiming to listen to more opinions from the community.

The award not only honors but also becomes a strong motivation, encouraging artists to continue creating and contributing valuable works, contributing to enriching the cultural life of the city.

According to Ms. Phan Kieu Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs, after the preliminary round and evaluation by the council of various fields, 60 products were proposed for selection.

Through the evaluation process, the City-level Award Council plans to award a total of 52 awards to outstanding works and projects. Of which, the field of Economic Development won 9 awards; National Defense - Security 6 awards; State Management 7 awards; Communications 6 awards; Literature and Arts 9 awards; Science and Technology 9 awards and Creative Startup 6 awards.

The Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award is a typical award presented by the City People's Committee to encourage initiatives, scientific works, technical solutions, cultural and artistic works that contribute to the overall development of the city.

Each winning author or group of authors will receive a Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, a Certificate and a prize money, with the first, second and third prizes worth VND200 million, VND150 million and VND100 million respectively.

This year, the Literature and Arts sector has the following works: Spoken play Comrade; Architectural work Landscape of Military Hospital 175; Dance play Phan Ngoc; Memoir Following the Footprints; Spoken play Thirst for Peace; Song Continuing the Story of Peace; Dance play Traces of Time; Oil painting Overhead Road and Photo Book Pride of Ho Chi Minh City.

Outstanding works at the Ho Chi Minh City Creative Awards

The play Comrade (author Le Thu Hanh, directed by People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau - Quoc Thinh) is a work invested by the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association, won the gold prize at the first Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival in 2024.

“Comrade” is the way party members of the same party address each other, showing unity in ideology and ideals. During the two resistance wars, members of the Communist Party of Vietnam fought side by side, and their comradeship became sacred when they went through life and death together.

In times of peace, when ordinary life with work and personal concerns prevail, the value of “comrade” is sometimes forgotten. However, over time, the profound meaning of “comrade” is affirmed, not only in war but also in the consensus and solidarity in building a prosperous Vietnam, with the common ideal of a country of “rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization”.

The work will be introduced at the Busan Theater Festival in April 2025, this is an opportunity for the play to spread to the world. People's Artist Tran Ngoc Giau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association shared: Mr. Jungnam Lee, Chairman of the Busan Theater Association, has seen the play Comrade twice.

After seeing some other plays at the first Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival, Mr. Lee decided to invite Comrade to participate in the Busan Theater Festival.

The dance Phan Ngoc (choreographed by Ha Thanh Hau) is an artistic work imbued with the cultural identity of the Southern region. Phan Ngoc is the voice of the Bong Roi artists, it is the concern about fate, about human life and the pressures when dedicating to and preserving a long-standing form of folk culture.

But above all, it is the passion for the profession, the determination to practice and shine of the gifted talents in the halo of a type of national cultural heritage imbued with the Vietnamese soul in the South. The work was awarded the A prize at the 8th Ho Chi Minh City Open Dance Festival in 2024 organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Dance Artists Association.

The memoir Following His Footsteps by writer Trinh Quang Phu is also a remarkable work. The story is about the life and revolutionary journey of President Ho Chi Minh, divided into 5 chapters with important stages in his life.

The work is not only a literary work of historical value but also a way for the younger generation to better understand Uncle Ho's sacrifice and dedication to the cause of revolution and national independence...

In addition to the 9 works mentioned above, some other notable works include: Ho Chi Minh City River Festival (economic development field); "Flower Season Offering to Uncle Ho" Festival (State Management field); "Pho Day 12.12" program, "Proud of the National Flag", "Lighting up the sea with fishermen" (Media field); Thieng Lieng community tourism model (Creative Startup field)...

Over the past half century, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously developed, becoming the largest economic, cultural and creative center in the country. Literary and artistic works have created a solid foundation for the city's culture, while affirming the important role of literature and art in improving the spiritual life of the community.

The Ho Chi Minh City Creative Award is a recognition and honor of the contributions of literary and artistic works in maintaining, preserving and promoting unique cultural values.

The 4th Ho Chi Minh City Creativity Award not only has artistic value but also reflects the city's constant desire for creativity and innovation.

With each awarded work, the Ho Chi Minh City Creative Awards will enhance the value of works of art, while promoting the artist community to create and continue to contribute works of timeless value.

The award ceremony will be held on April 25 at the City Theater, as one of the events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/giai-thuong-sang-tao-tpho-chi-minh-dong-luc-thuc-day-van-nghe-si-tiep-tuc-cong-hien-20250325082303419.htm