General Secretary attends the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; Party Central Committee Secretaries: Head of the Party Central Committee's Propaganda and Education Commission Nguyen Trong Nghia, Chief of the Party Central Committee Office Le Minh Hung; Party Central Committee members: Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, and many other leaders and former leaders of the Party and State attended.

On this occasion, many leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front sent congratulatory flower baskets.

Attending the ceremony were delegates representing more than 40,000 artists from 5 generations, including majors (literature, theater, fine arts, music, photography, cinema, dance, folk arts, ethnic minority arts, architecture), currently active in 10 Central Professional Associations and 63 provincial and municipal Literature and Arts Associations nationwide, along with the Vietnam Literature and Arts Creation Support Fund.

In his speech reviewing the establishment and development of the Union over the past 75 years, Associate Professor, Doctor, Musician Do Hong Quan, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, emphasized that the First National Literature and Arts Conference, which took place from July 25-27, 1948, in Doc Phat village, Yen Ky, Ha Hoa, Phu Tho, was considered the first Congress of the Vietnamese revolutionary literature and arts organization with the mission of gathering artists of all generations, classes, and ethnic groups in all regions of independent Vietnam, in order to unite with the entire people to contribute to the implementation of revolutionary tasks, protecting and building the new regime.

The Vietnam Literature and Arts Association has changed its name to match the growth of its staff and organizational maturity over the years. From 1995 to present, the Association has officially been named the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations.

Vietnamese literature and art have also won many prestigious awards in international art competitions and festivals, contributing to helping people around the world understand the country, people and culture of Vietnam; building a bridge of friendship between the Vietnamese people and people around the world.

Over 75 years of construction and development, the Vietnamese literary and artistic community has been awarded noble prizes by the Party and State: First Class Independence Medal, First Ho Chi Minh Medal (1987), Second Ho Chi Minh Medal (2008) and Gold Star Medal (2018).

As of May 2023, 136 artists (authors and co-authors) have been awarded and posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts; 665 artists (authors and co-authors) have been awarded and posthumously awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts. Hundreds of artists have been awarded the titles of Hero of Labor, Hero of the Armed Forces and noble medals: Independence Medal, Ho Chi Minh Medal, Labor Medal. 452 artists have been awarded the title of People's Artist, 2,621 artists have been awarded the title of Meritorious Artist.

Speaking at the ceremony, the artists expressed their pride in the glorious tradition of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations over the past 75 years. The enthusiastic comments of the representative artists comprehensively, fully and deeply mentioned the heroic history of formation and development, the precious and glorious tradition and the great and very important contributions of the former National Salvation Cultural Association, as well as the Union of Literature and Arts Associations today and the country's artists over the past 75 years.

Responding to the requirements of cultural revival and building Vietnamese people in the new era

Speaking at the Anniversary Ceremony, looking back over the past 75 years, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was pleased to see that artists and writers under the common roof of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations have had impressive developments and growth, contributing greatly to the creation of cultural products, meeting the people's increasingly high demand for enjoyment, bringing culture deeper and deeper into all areas of social life; deserving to be the core force in creating cultural values, a team of artists and trusted soldiers of the Party, State and people. With the results achieved, literature and art have made an important contribution to the task of building a cultural environment, building people; fighting against all wrongful manifestations, creating a healthy atmosphere in society.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed, congratulated, commended and thanked the great contributions of the country's artists and the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations.

The General Secretary stated that our Party has always affirmed: "Literature and art are very important and especially delicate fields of culture; they are essential needs, expressing people's aspirations for truth, goodness and beauty; they are one of the great driving forces, directly contributing to building the spiritual foundation of society and the comprehensive development of Vietnamese people" in the period of promoting industrialization, modernization, proactively and actively integrating internationally to develop the country quickly and sustainably.

To create conditions for the development of Literature and Arts, the General Secretary emphasized that the Party and State always encourage all exploration, respect the creative freedom of artists, build specific mechanisms and policies for literature, arts and artists in accordance with the socio-economic development of the country. The Party, State and people always wish, expect and demand that the team of artists produce more works of higher ideological and artistic value; reflecting truthfully, deeply and comprehensively the reality of our country in the period of innovation, integration and development.

The General Secretary pointed out that Vietnamese society in the period of renovation and deep integration is taking place very dynamically, rapidly and with many new issues emerging, much different from before, during the war and the period of bureaucracy and subsidies. That requires each artist to renew himself, to have both courage and alertness; and to have new qualifications, vision, ways of thinking and methods of expression in artistic creation, in accordance with the practical requirements of development in Vietnam today.

“More than ever, artists must stay close to life, dare to enter the spearheads of life in agriculture, industry, services, on the market and the security, defense and foreign affairs fronts; go to remote areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas and islands to discover and reflect new factors, good practices, new issues arising in life, actively and responsibly participate in social tasks, especially the fight against corruption and negativity, contributing to building a civilized, elegant and humane Vietnamese socialist people. Only then can our literature and art have good works that touch people's hearts and are necessary for the public and for society,” the General Secretary emphasized.

The General Secretary shared that in our time and life, there are many things to say and write about, but the important thing is how to say and write? Literature and art must illuminate life, not just be a place where life manifests itself. Literature and art nurture and elevate people, not just a place to express personal feelings... The General Secretary hopes that artists will realize and clearly express that to be worthy of the people's trust, love and new hope; do not let mediocrity haunt you. Artists need to constantly learn and draw good lessons from previous generations to continue to go further and more firmly. The lesson is still: Great aspirations, noble ideals, harmonizing the beat of one's heart with the beat of the whole nation's heart, struggling with the rich, vibrant reality of people's lives, not just falling into personal moods, gnawing at one's thoughts, being pessimistic, using tricks instead of talent, looking at life with a narrow perspective, even considering literature and art simply as a hobby, entertainment or a game, a trivial passion.

The reality of literary life in our country and in the world shows that only with great aspirations and ambitions for creativity can we go far and be sustainable. The ultimate goal of an artist is a good work, with high ideological and artistic value, reflecting the soul and character of the nation, the great and powerful things of humanity and predicting the future!

The General Secretary requested that Party committees and authorities at all levels, from the central to local levels, need to be more deeply aware of the important role and position of culture, literature and art in the cause of innovation, construction and protection of the Fatherland; always encourage, promote and create the most favorable conditions for cultural, literary and artistic activities through mechanisms and policies such as: financial support, opening creative camps, field trips, discovering, training and nurturing artistic talents; mobilizing all resources, both material and spiritual, so that culture, literature and art can develop strongly and contribute more in the coming years.

The Union of Literature and Arts Associations, Vietnam Literature and Arts Intellectuals, with the experience gained over the past 75 years, continue to strengthen consultation for the Party and State; coordinate with Party committees, authorities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and organizations, continue to thoroughly grasp and better organize the implementation of the Party's policies and guidelines on building a contingent of intellectuals, artists, developing culture, and building Vietnamese people.

The Union of Literature and Arts Associations continues to advise, consult, and criticize in the process of building and perfecting mechanisms, policies, and legal documents with specific criteria to discover, attract, employ, use, reward, and honor talented intellectuals and artists, in order to build a strong team of artists, ensuring quantity and quality, with a suitable structure, meeting the requirements of cultural development, and building Vietnamese people in the new development stage. The Union of Literature and Arts Associations has a plan to arrange and use intellectuals reasonably; has a policy to discover, train, and foster young talents; and pays attention to the work of encouraging and honoring artists with outstanding achievements in literary and artistic creation activities.

The Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations from the central to local levels strengthens the organization, improves the efficiency of operations; advises on the development of mechanisms and policies, creates favorable conditions for artists to operate and contribute to the development of the country; continues to innovate the content and methods of operation to further improve the quality and efficiency of operations; does a good job of political and ideological work for artists so that they are more deeply aware of their glorious responsibility to the Fatherland, the people and the nation. The Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations at all levels unites, strives, works creatively, and fulfills its responsibilities well; strengthens the work of political training as well as professional ethics for artists; encourages them to make many talented and intellectual contributions to the development of the country's noble culture, literature and arts.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed that the Party, State and people always expect and firmly believe that the Union of Literature and Arts Associations and the Vietnamese artists will always accompany the nation and the Party's renovation cause; continue to promote its precious and glorious revolutionary tradition; promote innovation and creativity, better meet the requirements of the cause of cultural revival and building Vietnamese people in the new era.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Presidium of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, Associate Professor, Doctor, Musician Do Hong Quan, Secretary of the Party Committee, President of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, presented Professor, Doctor Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam with the "Commemorative Medal for the Cause of Vietnamese Literature and Arts".

According to VNA