Ho Chi Minh City Literature and Arts: 50 years of accompanying and shining with the heroic city

On the morning of October 18, at the Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Officials, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee held a conference to summarize 50 years of Ho Chi Minh City's literature and arts after the country's reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025).

Before attending the conference, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang and other leaders and delegates visited the press and publishing exhibition area. Photo: QUOC THANH

Attending the conference were comrades: Tran Luu Quang, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee; Le Quoc Phong, member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee; Tran Thanh Lam, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission; Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Head of the Steering Committee to summarize 50 years of Ho Chi Minh City literature and art after the country's reunification; Duong Anh Duc, Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee...

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang and other leaders and delegates visited
Press and publishing exhibition area. Photo: QUOC THANH

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang visits the display area of ​​Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper in the press and publishing exhibition space. Photo: QUOC THANH

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang and other leaders and delegates visited
Press and publishing exhibition area. Photo: QUOC THANH

Over 50 years of construction and development, Ho Chi Minh City's literature and arts have always played a pioneering role, accompanying the cause of building, protecting and developing the city. With the close leadership and direction of the Party Committee and the city government, literature and arts have continuously grown, affirming their position as a major cultural and artistic center of the country, contributing to spreading profound humanistic values, nurturing aspirations and fostering the unique cultural identity of the heroic city.

Innovation from leadership thinking, creating a solid foundation for development

Right after the country's reunification (April 30, 1975), the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee paid special attention to directing and issuing many important policies and resolutions on cultural and artistic development, concretizing them into policies, mechanisms and resources suitable for each development stage of the city and the country.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang and other leaders and delegates attending the conference

The work of propagating and thoroughly grasping the resolutions and directives of the Central and City Party Committees has been widely deployed among artists, cadres, party members, civil servants, public employees, workers and the people. The city focuses on building infrastructure, cultural institutions, investing in improving the effectiveness of state management, and at the same time paying attention to building a team of artists with steadfast political will, sensitivity, sophistication, and attachment to the revolutionary cause.

In particular, aesthetic education , traditional art education, and history education are focused on and included in schools to foster patriotism, nurture the soul, and shape the personality of the young generation.

Traditional art performance at the conference. Photo: QUOC THANH

Over the past half century, the system of cultural institutions in Ho Chi Minh City has been continuously invested in, upgraded and gradually innovated in its methods of operation. Many large-scale cultural works have been formed, such as Tran Huu Trang Theater, Sen Hong Stage, Phu Tho Multi-purpose Circus, etc. Along with that, the system of museums, libraries, relics, and cultural heritages has been upgraded; grassroots cultural institutions have gradually improved the spiritual life of people in rural and suburban areas.

Besides the public system, Ho Chi Minh City also encourages socialization and creates conditions for private units to participate in building and operating cultural institutions to meet the increasing enjoyment needs of the public.

Literature and art go hand in hand with history

Ho Chi Minh City is a gathering place for many artists and writers from all over the country. Since April 30, 1975, many valuable works have been born, leaving a deep impression on the public such as: the reformed opera Nguoi ven do by Minh Khoa, the memoir Que huong tunnels by Vien Phuong, the film script Canh dong hoang by Nguyen Quang Sang, poems about fighting the enemy by Che Lan Vien, the song Mua Xuan tren Thanh Ho Chi Minh by Xuan Hong, Bai ca khong quen by Pham Minh Tuan, the statue of Uncle Ho with children by Diep Minh Chau...

The successor force and the young generation of artists continue the tradition, creating many works of artistic and ideological value, deeply reflecting the breath of life, arousing pride and love for the homeland and country.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang visited artists attending the conference. PHOTO: QUOC THANH

The city has organized many large-scale creative awards and campaigns such as: Ho Chi Minh City Literature and Arts Award, Creative Award - Promotion of "Studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style", Ho Chi Minh City Creative Award... along with artistic activities serving people in remote areas, border soldiers, islanders and overseas Vietnamese.

Many art programs of exchange and integration have been organized such as the Ho Chi Minh City - Gyeongju World Cultural Festival, Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Do International Music Festival, River Festival, Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival... Since then, the image of Ho Chi Minh City as a dynamic, creative, and rich in identity has increasingly spread strongly to the world.

Preserving heritage, developing artists

The city focuses on preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, especially intangible heritages recognized by UNESCO, through performing and teaching programs of folk arts. Socialization of arts activities is increasingly developing with many outstanding programs such as "A O Show", "Suong Soi", "Ngay Vaa Ngay Xua", major plays such as Kim Van Kieu, Chiec Ao Thien Nga, Ke Nut Chestnut, To Anh Nguyet, Doi Co Luu...

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has nearly 97,000 people working in the field of culture and arts, nearly 17,670 cultural enterprises, contributing about 5.7% of GRDP annually. The city has 8 specialized schools, training more than 4,000 students each year, contributing to building a solid team of successors.

Comrade Duong Anh Duc, Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, delivered a report at the conference. Photo: QUOC THANH

Speaking at the conference, comrade Duong Anh Duc, Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, emphasized: "Entering a new development stage, Ho Chi Minh City continues to identify literature and art as a field with a particularly important role in building people, building the spiritual foundation of society, contributing to the sustainable development of the city". The city aims to promote propaganda work, raise awareness and leadership capacity of all levels on literature and art; perfect mechanisms and policies to attract and promote talents; synchronously invest in the system of cultural institutions; link the development of literature and art with the preservation and promotion of fine traditional cultural values ​​of the nation.

Along with that, the city focuses on strengthening the fight against and refuting harmful cultural products, protecting the Party's ideological foundation; orienting healthy aesthetics, especially for the young generation. At the same time, effectively implementing the Cultural Industry Development Strategy for the period 2025 - 2030, gradually turning culture and art into an important service economic sector, contributing positively to economic growth, improving the quality of people's spiritual life, building a civilized, modern and humane Ho Chi Minh City.

The city always pays attention to implementing social security policies, taking care of the lives of artists, especially the elderly, those in difficult circumstances or those who have made many contributions. Along with that, reward mechanisms and encouragement of artistic creation are implemented synchronously, creating motivation for artists to contribute.

The group of artists in Ho Chi Minh City is growing stronger and stronger, currently having nearly 6,000 members, of which 26 people were awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize, 95 people were awarded the State Prize, and hundreds of artists were awarded noble titles.

Besides great achievements, the city's literary and artistic activities also face many limitations: cultural infrastructure is not commensurate with the scale of a special urban area; there is a lack of large-scale cultural works; the work of promoting works is still weak; the incentive policy is not attractive enough; the team of theorists and critics is lacking the next generation; a part of the management staff still has limited expertise.

Traditional art performance outside the conference hall. Photo: QUOC THANH

Artists attending the Conference took a souvenir photo with Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang. Photo: QUOC THANH

The impact of market economy, international integration, and the explosion of digital technology also pose many new challenges in shaping standard values ​​and protecting traditional cultural identity from foreign cultural flows.

50 years, a proud journey of Ho Chi Minh City literature and art. With a solid foundation and strategic vision, the city’s literature and art will continue to shine, contributing to building Ho Chi Minh City into a creative, civilized, modern, and humane city – a major cultural center of the country and the region.

Speaking at the conference summarizing 50 years of literature and art in Ho Chi Minh City, People's Artist Dao Ba Son emotionally shared: "50 years is not long in the history of the nation but it is enough to affirm the bravery, intelligence and soul of the city's artists. In difficult times or in peacetime, we are still creative, still find joy in contributing to preserving identity and nurturing the human soul. The achievements of literature and art today are the result of a journey of continuous efforts and creativity, vividly reflecting the appearance of a dynamic, modern city but still imbued with national identity. That is also the belief and motivation for the generation of artists to continue to contribute in the new period."

People's Artist Dao Ba Son emotionally shared at the conference summarizing 50 years of literature and arts in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: QUOC THANH

Representing the young generation of artists speaking at the conference, singer Vo Ha Tram expressed: “I am fortunate to be born and raised in the vibrant art movement of the city. Ho Chi Minh City is a land full of vitality, where young artists can create, contribute and spread artistic values ​​to the community. Today's generation of artists hopes to have more performance spaces, youth talent training programs and regular stages so that art can become closer to the public. We promise to continue to contribute with all our hearts, so that each melody, each work carries within it the pride and love of Ho Chi Minh City.”

HONG DUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/van-hoc-nghe-thuat-tphcm-50-nam-dong-hanh-toa-sang-cung-thanh-pho-anh-hung-post818692.html