Hue 2002 : The door wider for cultural exchanges
With the participation of nine countries including Vietnam, Festival Hue
2002 has become a regional and international forum of culture and art,
posing many new issues concerning the relationship and cooperation
between different cultures
Festivals mean meeting. Before
the start of the festival, Philippe
Bouler, production director of
Festival Program of France,
remarked, "This time, the
festival will be more diverse and
attractive because many
countries other than France and
Vietnam also participate in the
event.
. Art troupes coming here will have the same goodwill, aim at the
communication, respect each other, and develop the beauty of culture
and art according to the characteristics of each country." Truong Thu
Dung, head of the Chinese traditional drama group, also acknowledged,
"We come to Hue as a representative for the characteristics of Chinese
culture, the top of which is the traditional drama. Moreover, we hope to
see many common voices for the regional and international cultures and
arts in Hue. For us, festivals mean meeting, performing together and
learning from each other."
In that spirit, art troupes of eight Asian countries and France joining the
festival actually tried to have their best performances. Many visitors and
Hue residents who seemed to be familiar with the traditional musical
cultures of Laos, Thailand or China which are sagacious or literary and
philosophical were surprised to see the performances. The spectators
were more satisfied with the performances of the French groups for their
expression of national culture. Jean-Luc Courcoult, director of the Royal
De Luxe troupe, said, "Our play does not bring about a philosophical
lesson, but is only ordinary stories in life. Therefore, we performed very
naturally. In return, Hue residents, who are not very extroverted,
expressed their complete satisfaction. We were very pleased with that
when we came to perform in Hue."
Apart from their shows, art troupes participated in activities to study and
discuss schools and views of art together. French troupes had meetings
with the art troupes of Indonesia and Thailand to strengthen
cooperation-for-development relations. For these troupes which have
different views and tendencies of art, Festival Hue is also a chance for
them to meet with each other. Laurent Ganier, a typical artist of the French
electronic music, told the press that he saw many new and good things in
the French art troupes which performed at the festival, even the troupes
whose performance styles are most contrastive to him. Kim Duk Soo,
head of South Korea's Samulnori percussion music group, said with the
opportunities for meetings from the festival he would have more
interesting songs and shows in the future after he had met Thai dancers
and heard the sounds of the t'rung (a Vietnamese musical instrument
made of bamboo pipes) and styles of Hue folk songs in Hue. Nguyen
Xuan Hoa, director of the Service of Culture and Information of Thua
Thien-Hue Province, and vice chief of the festival organizing board, said,
"Watching the art troupes of many countries, we discover many strengths
and weaknesses in our cultural attitudes and artistic characteristics.
This
is a chance with which we see ourselves better instead of praising and
criticizing our products."
Wait for the next event. However, the targets of artistic exchange of art
troupes still have differences. "We did not succeed in the advertising,
having put more emphasis on festivals than arts. Visitors went to the
shows out of curiosity rather than enjoyment of art," Hoa remarked.
Most important, the meanings of cultural and artistic exchanges at the
festival were expanded to public stages according to the OFF program
system. Le Viet Xe, head of the festival organizing board, asserted that
this program system itself is the soul and vitality of Festival Hue 2002.
However, due to the insufficient advertising and public awareness, the
festival did not attract as many spectators as expected.
Festival Hue 2002 is actually the second test for the stature of Hue for
festivals, so shortcomings are unavoidable. Like a baby who falls before
being able to walk, Vietnam should see and meet important requirements
of the festival, especially the communication and convergence of different
cultures, the mixture of old and new, tradition and modernity, and what we
have and should have. Only when we do that well will Festival Hue
gradually grow stronger," Nguyen Xuan Hoa said.
By Nguyen Duc - The Saigon Times Weekly - May 25, 2002.
Good for Hue
Festival Hue 2002 gives Hue City many experiences in organizing a
festival
After 12 days and nights of
Festival Hue 2002, the organizing
board delightedly announced to
the press that the number of
people joining artistic programs
and attending other social,
cultural and traveling activities in
Hue City amounted to one million.
Of these, 17,000 were foreign
tourists and 58,000 were
domestic tourists. The number was 3,5 times that of Festival Hue 2000. Le
Viet Xe, head of the organizing board, has said this was a cheering result
although the festival was still considered the second rehearsal for Hue to
learn from the techniques of organizing a festival.
The frequency of Festival Hue
2002's activities is also far bigger
than that of the first festival.
Almost 200 performances by 33
art troupes from nine countries,
including Vietnam, and more than
30 exhibition programs, cultural
and artistic community
ceremonies took place. A total of
148 high-profile performances
belonging to the IN program system took place at the Hue Imperial
Palace, including many by several countries such as Chinese traditional
drama, Japanese and Korean operas, and Lao and Thai ballets. More
than 1,550 professional and amateur actors and actresses of different
peoples and from different countries like Vietnam, China, France, Japan,
Korea, Thailand, Brunei and Somali were mobilized for these
performances. According to Xe, this festival really demonstrated the spirit
of cultural, artistic exchange, cooperation and development initially
planned. All the foreign art troupes at the festival expressed their
pleasure to come and perform in Hue, as well as to get together to
harmonize artistic viewpoints for future cooperation.
France, as a major partner in both cultural cooperation and festival
technology transfer to Hue, has fullfiled everything committed. With six art
troupes participating, and a series of other technical and costume units,
France established its own cultural image right at Festival Hue. "It is
apparent that France brought many highly-technical art troupes as well as
performances featuring the spirit of cultural exchange. It also aimed at the
humanity criterion instead of merely introducing the country's pinnacle of
art. That was why they succeeded," said Nguyen Xuan Hoa, director of
the Thua Thien-Hue Culture and Information Service.
However, according to the festival organizers, the top result of Festival
Hue 2002 is the success in Hue
people's eyes. "It must be said
that, Festival 2000 only attracted
the interest of part of
organizations, associations, and
related agencies in Hue. But with
this year's festival, Hue people
have known more about festivals
and have acted as insiders. They
watched the festival from opening
to closing, excitedly followed every program included in the festival," said
Xe.
According to the festival organizing board's notes, this was the first time
Hue streets had ever had traffic congestion due to surging numbers of
visitors. This was also the first time business patterns in Hue people had
ever been tapped, with makeshift food and drink areas at Nguyen Van
Troi Park, Bach Dang Street, and souvenir shops south of the Huong
River. More than 400 households voluntarily participated in popular
tourism patterns and 200 houses received guests. The Phu Mong tourist
spot at Kim Long, with the participation of seven Hue households,
received over 500 tourists. The festival's main programs in the opening
and closing ceremonies and the night show for the Vietnamese ao dai
drew tens of thousands of Hue residents. Many of them usually
expressed their viewpoints on the festival's activities.
"Things showed that Hue people had begun to be aware of their role as
the real hosts of Festival Hue 2002. This promises that Hue people's
potential will be much bigger in future festivals. Hue not only learned
festival technology through cultural and tourist exchanges, but showed the
sense of creativeness in organizing work by locals. Therefore, Festival
Hue 2002 showed better signals and more commitments towards making
Hue a typically Vietnamese festival city in the near future," asserted Xe.
By Duc Son - The Saigon Times Weekly - May 25, 2002.
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