Vietnam Heritage Magazine (under Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association) recently opened a photo exhibition themed "2016 Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards –Rivers of Vietnam" at Nha Trang University (Khanh Hoa), featuring 100 photographs on the landscapes, cultural heritages and life in Vietnam.
Vietnam Heritage Magazine (under Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association) recently opened a photo exhibition themed "2016 Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards –Rivers of Vietnam" at Nha Trang University (Khanh Hoa), featuring 100 photographs on the landscapes, cultural heritages and life in Vietnam.
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| Hoi An Ancient Town at night (taken by Nguyen Sinh Long) |
The rivers of Vietnam
Apart from the four familiar subjects (nature, tangible culture, intangible culture, life), the organization board of the 2016 Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards incorporated into the awards a special subject – the rivers of Vietnam.
At the exhibition, the visitors can contemplate many photos of rivers throughout the country, such as Ban Gioc Waterfall fed by Quay Son River (Cao Bang), Huong River (Hue), Hoai River (Hoi An), and the rivers of the Southwest. The photos also portray the cultural features and daily life activities connected with the rivers, including boat racing festivals, fishing activities at sunrise, colorful floating markets (Can Tho), sunset on Mang Thit River (Vinh Long), houses of Khmer people by the river, buffaloes soaking in Re River (Quang Ngai), etc.
It can be seen that the entrants of the 2016 Vietnam Heritage Awards focused on depicting the tranquility of life by the rivers as well as cultural characteristics of the rivers. The picture of Vietnam’s rivers would be more complete if it included powerful images of Da River, red color of Red River, legendary Gianh River (Quang Binh) and Ben Hai River which were used as the borders during the partition of Vietnam in the past.
Other cultural characteristics
Beside rivers, the exhibition also introduces to the public many traditional cultural beauties of Vietnam. Visiting the exhibition, viewers can see the images of Fish Worshipping Rite of the people in the coastal areas of the South Central; Cannon Procession Festival (Dong Ky Village, Bac Ninh Province); Bay Nui ox race (An Giang); unicorn dance; people playing folk games during Tet holidays in the highlands; Du Tien Festival (swinging festival), bridge made of tiles (Hue); ancient mosses village gate, and so on. Undersea landscapes are also a new feature of the 2016 awards, showing the creativeness of the entrants.
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In addition, the pictures capturing the beautiful moments of daily life (people weaving silk, farmers wearing raincoat made of palm-leaves transplanting rice seedlings in drizzling rain, rice harvesting, etc.) make the viewers to have a sense of tranquility. “The exhibition displays many picturesque photos which surprise me and help me to know more about the beautiful landscapes and unique festivals over the country,” said Nguyen Thuy Linh, student of Nha Trang University.
The Vietnam Heritage Awards is organized annually since 2012, aiming to promote the natural and cultural heritages of Vietnam. The 2016 awards received 5,446 photographs of 507 Vietnamese and foreign entrants. 100 quality photos were selected to display at the exhibitions held nationwide. This year, Khanh Hoa has two photos exhibited, named “Summer on Cai River” and “Sunset at Heo Cave” (captured by photographer Do Tuan Ngoc).
Thanh Nguyen
Translated by H.N
