VIETNAMESE CULTURAL NIGHT IN NORWAY

Continuing the success of Vietnamese cultural promotion activities in Ireland, on the 13th September 2016, the Exhibition and art performance "The Essence of Viet Nam" was taken place at the solemn Logan Gamle Theatre in Oslo, Norway. The event is in celebration of the 71th anniversary of the Independence Day of Viet Nam and the 45th anniversary of establishing the dipomatic ties between Viet Nam and Norway, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Embassy of Viet Nam in Norway.

At the Opening Ceremony of the event, H.E. Le Khanh Hai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam said that Norway is one of the few countries that have supported Viet Nam in developing its culture through the Transposition with the participation of 12 leading art units of the two countries in order to assist the development of classical music and strengthen the ability of Vietnamese cultural and art managers , contributing to improving the cultural life and the art enjoyment of the public.

Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai expressed her pleasure that the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Viet Nam and Norway is expanded and strengthened  in many fields in the recent 45 years since the establishment of the dipomatic ties on the 25th November 1971. She also extended her thanks to the Government and people of Norway for their kind supports and assistance to Viet Nam during its war against the US and in the cause of constructing and developing the country, and the facilitation for the integration process of the Vietnamese community in Norway.

Participating in the performance, H.E. Madam Tone Skogen, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, congratulated the Vietnamese Government and people on the occasion of the 71th anniversary of the Independence Day. She emphasized the fine friendship and multi-faceted cooperation of the two countries, in both bilateral and regional and international multilateral forums, such as marine products industry, energy, climate change response, United Nations reorganization, gender equality, culture and tourism. The two countries are currently building their partnership in the coming time to further strengthen the multi-faceted cooperation, as stated in the Joint Statement on the occasion of the visit of Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg to Viet Nam in April 2016.

The audiences and Vietnamese in Norway at the event were deeply impressed by the diverse art performance by the Viet Nam Contemporary Art Theater and the National Music Institute, introducing the cultural features of the regions in Viet Nam as well as intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO as the world heritages. Especially, the audiences enjoyed the familiar Norwegian songs and music brought by Vietnamese artists. The ceaseless applause from the audiences and the deep emotion of Vietnamese people in Norway when hearing the loveable melodies of their home country made a great success to the performance, contributing to promoting Vietnamese culture in Norway and boosting the friendship and mutual understanding between the two nations.

In the business trip to Norway this time, Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai and Ambassador Le Thi Hoang Mai as well as the delegates from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had a meeting with H.E. Madam Tone Stogan, State Secretary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The two Sides reviewed their cooperation activities and cultural exchange in recent time, especially emphasized on the effectiveness of the project Transposition by which Norway sponsored to Viet Nam in the field of cultural development as well as the positive affects of the project Soccer for the youth supported by Norway that is being implemented in Hue, Viet Nam. Madam Stone Stogan highly appreciated the efforts of Viet Nam in developing its socio-economy in recent years and expressed her wish that the two sides would continue to be truthworthy partners of each other in the cooperation activities in the future.

At the meeting with State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture of Norway Bård Folke Fredriksen,  Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai exteded his sincere thanks to the Ministry of Culture of Norway for close collaboration in cultural and sports exchange programs. On this occasion, Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai requested Norway to support Viet Nam in nominating candidates to the UNESCO Director General. Besides, the two Sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation in the fields of art education, heritages preservation, physical education in schools and high performance sports.

Trần Hải Vân