On the afternoon of December 02, 2022, at the Cultural Center of Nghe An province, the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Nghe An province coordinated with Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports to open the painting exhibition “Ho Xuan Huong – Talent and Mystery”. This was one of the series of activities to honor and celebrate the 250th birth and 200th death anniversary of Poetess Ho Xuan Huong.
Attending the opening ceremony were Mr. Bui Dinh Long, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee; Vo Van Dung, Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee; Tran Thi My Hanh, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Nghe An province; Comrade Tran Thi Van Anh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, etc.
The delegates cut the ribbon to open the exhibition
Ho Xuan Huong (1772 – 1822) whose real name is Ho Phi Mai, is originally from Quynh Luu, Nghe An province and grew up in Thang Long (now Hanoi). At the young age, Ho Xuan Huong was famous for being hard-working, intelligent, and talented in poetry. She is a talented and unique poetess in Vietnamese literature, once honored as the queen of Nom poetry. Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry has made literary life exciting, receiving hundreds of articles, hundreds of different opinions of researchers and literary critic theorists about her poetry. Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry is diverse and multi-colored, not only a unique literary and cultural phenomenon in the Middle Ages, but also representing the divinity and dignity of women with global universality. Referring to Ho Xuan Huong is referring to a unique personality, an unusual talent, a special literary phenomenon. Her life and writing career have left a deep mark on the national literature, having “amazed both contemporaries and posterity with her extraordinary poetic genius“. It can be said that Ho Xuan Huong’s poetry is a challenging and confident voice in life, and at the same time, a deep sympathy for the miserable women under the old regime, just like her going through many incidents and unlucky love affairs. That is why most of her poetic works have gender equality content, fighting for women’s liberation. Therefore, her life and career have become the inspiration for many works of literature, painting, theater, and music. Many streets and road in major cities and provinces throughout the country were named after her.
The delegates visiting the exhibition
On November 23, 2021, within the framework of the 41st General Assembly of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris (France), UNESCO approved the list of “Cultural celebrities and historical events for the year 2022-2023”, in which, the poetess Ho Xuan Huong is the first Vietnamese woman to be honored in this time. This is an international affirmation and appreciation for the values of culture, art, creativity in literature as well as the timeless thought on gender equality and women’s liberation of the poetess Ho Xuan Huong.
The exhibition displayed more than one hundred paintings by domestic artists, helping viewers better understand about the profile, life and career of poetess Ho Xuan Huong. At the same time, it affirms her contributions to the cause of women’s liberation, in particular, and Vietnamese literature in general.
The exhibition attracted a large number of spectators
The exhibition is displayed beautifully and scientifically, attracting a large number of Nghe An people to enjoy. Thereby, it contributed to promoting the image of people and culture of Nghe An province in particular and of Vietnam in general, and at the same time arousing and promoting the traditional cultural values left by the predecessors in general and the poetess Ho Xuan Huong in particular.
Thanh Binh