An exhibition highlighting Vietnam ’scultural heritage opened at the Vietnamese Culture Centre in Franceon April 27.

Former President of the Senate of France Christian Poncelet,Vietnamese Ambassador to France Le Kinh Tai, Vietnamese Ambassador toUNESCO Van Nghia Dung and representatives from the Vietnam Department ofCultural Heritage, the Society of Vietnamese Expatriates in Franceand the Society of Vietnamese Students in France attended theevent’s opening ceremony.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Tai said the exhibit is a chance forvisitors to discover Vietnam ’s abundant cultural heritage and becomemore aware of Vietnam ’s efforts in preserving and developing it.

The Ambassador stressed that Vietnam has a 1,000-year old culturewhich is a combination of local traditions and foreign culturalquintessence.

The cultural identities of Vietnam ’s 54 ethnic minority groups areon display at more than 120 museums and nearly 40,000 historic andcultural relic sites across the country, said the Ambassador.

The country’s abundant and diverse culture was recognised by UNESCO,he said, referring to world cultural assets in Vietnam such as HueAncient Capital, My Son Holy Land, Hoi An Ancient Streets, Hue RoyalMusic and Bac Ninh Duet Songs.

The Ambassador did not forget to mention the presence of Frenchculture at historic edifices in Vietnam , namely the Hanoi and HoChi Minh City opera houses.

For his part, Poncelet highlighted the characteristics of Vietnam ’scultural heritage and pointed out that France and Vietnam sharemany similarities in culture.

It is these similarities that create a special affection for Vietnamamong many French people, Poncelet said, urging the two nations toboost bilateral relations in all fields in the coming time.


The exhibition was jointly held by the Department of Cultural Heritageand the Vietnam Culture Centre in France on the occasion of the 35thanniversary of the liberation of southern Vietnam and nationalreunification.

The exhibition will close on May 20./.