Meeting of artists of Base R

On October 19, at Conference Center 272 (Xuan Hoa Ward), Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee organized a meeting of artists from the Southern Central Bureau Base Area with the theme "Echoes of a time of fire and flowers".

The meeting aimed to pay tribute and honor artists who worked in the Southern Central Office's war zone - where culture and arts became an important front in the resistance war.

From the arduous years in the R battlefield, meaning the Southern Central Bureau Base, located in the Tan Bien area, Tay Ninh bordering Cambodia during the anti-American resistance war, artists brought their songs, poems, brushstrokes and plays to serve the soldiers, contributing to the spiritual strength of the Southern army and people in the resistance war against the US to save the country.

Meeting of artists of Base R - photo 2 — Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy expressed gratitude to artists at the meeting.

Base R once gathered many famous artists such as Tran Huu Trang, Ly Van Sam, Giang Nam, Hoai Vu, Nguyen Van Bong, Anh Duc, Ho Bong, Nguyen Quang Sang, Huynh Phuong Dong, Trang The Hy, Diep Minh Tuyen... From this place, many revolutionary songs were born and still resonate today.

The program featured exchanges between prominent artists: Musician Pham Minh Tuan, author of the immortal songs The Country , Unforgettable Song , City of Love and Nostalgia ; Poet Hoai Vu, author of the poems Vam Co Dong , You at the Head of the River, I at the End of the River ; Painter Phan Huu Thien, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, who grew up at the Liberation Art Gallery;

With artists Hong Cuc, poet - critic Le Quang Trang, poet Tran Thi Thang, architect Khuong Van Muoi, director Nguyen Minh Tri, ... and young artist Dinh Nhat - bamboo flute artist, face of "Progressive Youth following Uncle Ho's teachings nationwide" in 2023.

Besides the exchange part, the program also has special performances: Dong Vam Co , Tunnel Song , short play Where there is enemy, we just go , flute solo On the road to victory ... recreating a time of fire and flame of revolutionary art.

In a warm and emotional atmosphere, the stories and memories of veteran artists and writers blended with the songs of the younger generation, continuing the flow of revolutionary culture and art. “Echoes of a time of fire and flowers” are not only memories, but also an affirmation of the enduring vitality of Vietnamese art – art for the Fatherland, for the People.

Meeting of artists of Base R - photo 4 — Performing arts at the program

The Central Office for Southern Vietnam was a part of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party, directly leading the resistance war against the US to save the country in the South.

The Central Office for Southern Vietnam always identified the culture and arts in the bases and liberated areas on the battlefields of the South and the extreme South Central Coast as the culture and arts of the resistance war. Units of the arts sectors serving the resistance war such as: singing, dancing, music, painting, photography, cinema, information, press, etc.

The consistent viewpoint of the Central Office for Southern Vietnam is that liberation culture and arts is an important front, with the task of serving the political and ideological work of the army and people of the South.

Liberation culture and arts have made important contributions to defeating war strategies and limiting the damage, defeating the imperialist policy of cultural enslavement in South Vietnam.

Meeting of artists of Base R - photo 5 — Musician Pham Minh Tuan and artists interact at the meeting

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy expressed that today's meeting has a very profound and sacred meaning.

This is an opportunity for the City to express its deep gratitude to the artists who lived, fought, and created art amidst fierce bombs and bullets, to "overcome the smoke of bombs, sing in the fire of bullets", to encourage the fighting spirit, and to light up the belief in victory in the hearts of cadres, soldiers, and the People.

Meeting of artists of Base R - photo 7 — Artists and writers "shake hands and congratulate each other", together recalling "a time of fire and glory"

"You, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, are living witnesses of history, the ones who turned art into spiritual strength, turned songs, poems, dances, and brushstrokes into weapons that contributed to the great victory of the nation.

Although many people have fallen, leaving their youth on the battlefield, the names and contributions of you, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, will forever be engraved in the hearts of the people and of the City named after Uncle Ho. Your works are not only an artistic heritage, but also a spiritual heritage, an endless source of inspiration for generations of artists today.

"I would like to send my most sincere and deepest gratitude to all of you, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, who have contributed to revolutionary art and to the Fatherland," Ms. Dieu Thuy emphasized.