Cultural and Arts Management: Adapting Quickly in the New Era

The Vietnam National Traditional Theatre has a large workforce, which is an advantage to form a truly powerful national arts complex. (Photo: VNTT)

In recent times, the merger of provinces and cities has reduced the number of administrative units, focal points of agencies and units, and expanded the development space, creating favorable conditions for local culture and arts to affirm their identity and spread more strongly. This is a strategic opportunity to concentrate human, financial and material resources, thereby improving the quality of creation and performance. Local literary and artistic associations after the merger have the conditions to organize large-scale cultural events, surpassing old administrative boundaries, contributing to promoting local and regional identities to the world . This not only helps save administrative costs but also promotes cultural exchange, creating new vitality for traditional values, meeting the diverse needs of the public in the context of integration.

According to Decree No. 137/2025/ND-CP dated June 12, 2025 of the Government, the provincial level has the right to take the initiative in preserving heritage, organizing festivals and supporting local artists. From here, local cultural units after the merger quickly get into order, focusing resources on major projects such as preserving traditional arts or developing digitalized literature and arts. Moreover, the merger of mass associations, including literary and artistic associations into the Vietnam Fatherland Front helps artists have more opportunities to participate in the process of planning, building and perfecting policies, ensuring that culture is not only a product but also a driving force for social development.

However, some artists are concerned about the risk of local cultural identity being lost when units merge, or the difficulty in adjusting personnel according to the requirement of reducing at least 20% of the payroll from 2026. These concerns, if not handled promptly, can affect creative motivation and the quality of cultural and artistic products. Therefore, management must proactively adjust, enhance professional training, remove psychological obstacles, stimulate creativity, and ensure internal stability for the cultural and artistic system after restructuring.

According to experts' analysis, the merger of the three Vietnamese Cai Luong, Vietnamese Cheo and Vietnamese Tuong Theatres into the Vietnam National Traditional Theatre according to Decision No. 1270/QD-TTg dated June 24, 2025 of the Prime Minister has created a "revolution" in the preservation of folk arts. People's Artist Le Tuan Cuong, Deputy Director in charge of the Vietnam Cheo Theatre, shared: "The merger of the theatres does not obscure the identity of each art form, but on the contrary, it is a valuable opportunity for units to work together and share responsibility in building an increasingly strong and developed organization." Currently, the human resources of the three theatres after the merger are quite large, which is an advantage to help the National Traditional Theatre form a truly powerful national art complex, meeting the expectations of the Party and the State.

Cultural management must get closer to artists, turning post-arrangement concerns into creative motivation by building a democratic environment, providing psychological support and encouraging innovation.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen The Ky, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council

Faced with the requirements of the new situation, the management of culture and arts is posing challenges, requiring comprehensive solutions. Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Diep, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Literature, emphasized the need to make a decisive shift from administrative management thinking to creative thinking, encouraging innovation and maximizing the potential of literary and artistic entities. Institutional building needs to be associated with an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral vision - connecting literature and art with culture, economy, education and science and technology to create synchronous breakthroughs. At the same time, it is necessary to perfect the culture and arts management apparatus in a streamlined direction, clearly defining functions and tasks to reduce duplication and improve effectiveness and efficiency. This solution helps prevent the problem of wasted resources after the merger: through strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of the performance of units, ensuring that resources are allocated reasonably, avoiding the situation of "leveling".

In the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution, promoting the application of digital technology is a key solution to improve management efficiency. For example, storing cultural heritage through digital platforms (such as 3D databases for relics) not only helps preserve it long-term but also connects better with the public. Similarly, promoting culture and arts through social networks and VR (virtual reality) will expand the audience, especially the younger generation...

To address the challenges of restructuring the apparatus, management must focus on understanding the thoughts and aspirations of artists through regular dialogue mechanisms, promptly removing obstacles and shortcomings, retaining talented people, and avoiding "brain drain". Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen The Ky, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, emphasized: "Cultural management must be closer to artists, turning post-reorganization concerns into creative motivation by building a democratic environment, providing psychological support and encouraging innovation". Along with that, the State needs to pay attention to nurturing and developing a team of young artists, with preferential mechanisms for high-quality human resources.

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Source: https://nhandan.vn/quan-ly-van-hoa-van-nghe-thich-ung-nhanh-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-post907292.html