Vietnam - Japan Cultural Exchange: Connecting the world through folk tales and music

On May 12, the Japan-Vietnam Goodwill Cultural Event series with the theme “Connecting the World through Folktales and Music” officially took place at the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence in Hanoi. This is not only a simple art program, but also a symbolic exchange project, promoting the deep friendship between the two countries through traditional languages ​​- folktales and music .

The event is an extension of the international project “Connecting Cultures with Folktales and Music” - the predecessor of the project “Japanese Comics/Folktales to the World” initiated in 2007. Over nearly two decades of operation in more than 20 countries, the project has used the combined power of storytelling, music and visuals to promote cross-cultural understanding, while raising public awareness of global issues such as peace,education , environment and health.

The highlight of this year’s program was the performance combining the Vietnamese legend “The Legend of Hoan Kiem Lake” with ancient Japanese poetry, through the storytelling of People’s Artist Le Khanh and the piano playing of artist Motoki Hirai. In addition, the string quartet from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra contributed to bringing the audience into an emotional cultural exchange space.

As the project’s Artistic Director, pianist Motoki Hirai is not only a renowned composer – who has performed in over 100 countries – but also an art ambassador appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Since the 1990s, he has been persistently bringing traditional Japanese music around the world, and this time, the destination is Vietnam – where he asserts that he has “felt the depth of culture through each folk melody”.

The event not only arouses love for traditional culture, the program is also a catalyst for future bilateral cooperation projects - especially in the fields of education and artistic creation./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/giao-luu-van-hoa-viet-nhat-ket-noi-the-gioi-qua-truyen-dan-gian-va-am-nhac-post1038235.vnp