From mid-November 2019 to the end of November 2020, there were 10 literary and artistic associations at central level convening their congresses such as the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association of Ethnic Minorities, Vietnam Fine Arts Association, Vietnam Stage Artists Association, Vietnam Folklore Arts Association, Vietnam Musicians’ Association, Vietnam Cinematic Association, Vietnam Association of Architects, Vietnam Dancing Artists' Association, Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists and Vietnam Writers’ Association.
The congresses featured the participation of nearly 4,700 delegates representing nearly 20,000 members of the associations around the country. Party and State leaders attended and made speeches at all congresses.
Over the past five years, the Vietnam Folklore Arts Association has collected, compiled and translated nearly 4,000 folklore cultural and artistic works, of which 2,500 have been published, contributing to cultural development and enriching the spiritual and material life of people in many localities.
The Vietnam Fine Arts Association has launched 101 creation camps and 265 exhibitions featuring over 20,000 art works. Meanwhile, the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association held 13 composing camps and over 20 festivals for various stage forms. The Vietnam Photographic Artists’ Association has invested in improving the quality of its members and value of its photos. The international art photo contests have attracted a large number of photographers from various countries around the world.
The Vietnam Cinematic Association has opened many creation camps and invested in 1,313 scripts across various genres. There have been around 40 Vietnamese films and movies produced and released every year, attracting larger audiences. Many films reached box office revenue of hundreds of billions of VND.
The Vietnam Writers’ Association has launched 15 camps and its novel composition contest featured 176 entries. The association held a conference themed “Writers with the mission of great national unity” for the first time, gathering Vietnamese writers who were living abroad and those operating in the south region before 1975 towards national construction. The conference on promoting Vietnam’s culture and International Poetry Festival attracted the participation of delegates from 51 countries around the world, contributing to raising Vietnamese literature’s position in the cause of international integration.
However, literary and artistic activities have still revealed limitations and weaknesses over the past five years. The management of culture, literature and arts has not kept pace with the development of economic and social life in the country and around the world. The training and fostering of young talent, and the planning of key officials of the associations are still inadequate. The literature and arts’ role of prediction, advice, and social criticism has not yet been promoted. The important issues of social life and core characters are still blurred and absent in literary and artistic works, so that market entertainment trends dominated. There are not many excellent works that can vividly reflect the great achievements of the country’s Doi Moi (Renewal) process over the past 30 years as well as the glorious historical milestones during the cause of national construction and defence.
The Secretariat’s Directive No.31-CT/TW dated January 22, 2019, on the congresses of the literature and arts associations and Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations required that they must be important political, cultural and professional meetings for the associations’ members and artists. The congresses properly assessed the operation of associations and unions over the recent term as well as drawing profound lessons in the direction, management and operation, contributing to improving the professionalism, quality and efficiency of professional activities as well as discussing favourable conditions for artists and writers to create valuable works. The personnel selection for the new executive committees should be based on the inheritance and development of staff rejuvenation and gathering those who have high capacity. The Secretariat’s Conclusion No.58-KL/TW dated on September 12, 2019 noted that the ages of participants in the associations should not be over 65 years old. These are important Directives and Conclusions to fundamentally renew the operation of associations in the new situation.
Following the central agencies’ directions as well as the practical situation of the specialised associations, the coordination among relevant agencies has been carried out smoothly to promptly give announcements and instructions to literature and arts associations. The change of key personnel in associations was related to specific people who had high prestige and made great contributions. In addition, it was not easy to find key officials who were reputable and enthusiastic for the associations’ activities.
Complaints and denunciations have been handled in principle. The central agencies’ regulations and conclusions have been strictly implemented by the associations in coordination with the congresses’ steering committee. The rejuvenation of the leaders has been conducted carefully, receiving high consensus towards a new development period in the country’s literature and arts. Most of the congresses elected the expected number of members to the associations’ executive committees. Therefore, congresses have witnessed a strong transfer between the generations of leaders that is appreciated by many artists and public opinion.
It can be affirmed that the congresses of literature and arts associations were held successfully. But after all, the most important and thorough work is the creation of artists and writers. The quantity and quality of literary and artistic works proves the efficiency of the professional associations’ operations. These new opportunities are also new challenges, requiring the efforts from the associations, writers and artists to meet the people’s demand and become "soldiers on the cultural front”, contributing to the cause of national construction and defence.
