GENERAL SECRETARY TÔ LÂM SPEAKS AT THE MEETING WITH DELEGATES OF
ARTISTS AND WRITERS OF THE NATION. PHOTO: VGP
Party and State leaders, Political Bureau members, former Political Bureau members, Secretariat members, former Secretariat members, Central Committee members, former Central Committee members, leaders of departments, ministries and branches,
Artists and writers,
Delegates attending the conference,
Today, I am very pleased to attend the meeting with representatives of the artists and writers- the excellence, quintessence, the essential force to create and to spread national culture. With all the affection, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to send to the artists and writers present here as well as the artists and writers across the country the respectful greetings, warm greetings and best wishes.
Comrades, artists and writers,
Culture is a special product of the people and the nation. Preserving and promoting the strength of culture is the field that any country must pay attention to because this task is closely linked to social development, enriching the spiritual life of the people and the effective operation of the state. Lenin pointed out that improving cultural level is one of the most urgent tasks that communists must do after gaining power.
In 1943, in extremely difficult circumstances, our Party had not yet gained power but had the Outline of Vietnamese culture, which showed the strength and role of culture in the Party’s cause, demonstrating the belief, optimism and victory of our Party and our people. Up to now, more than 80 years after its birth, the Outline of culture still retains its value in life. Hồ Chí Minh- the genius leader of our Party, after reading the Declaration of Independence giving birth to the new Việt Nam state, emphasized “Now that our country has gained independence, we need to have a culture that is in harmony with science and in line with the aspirations of the people,” with the affirmation that “in the process of building the country, there are 4 issues that need attention, and must be given equal importance: politics, economics, culture, and society.”
According to Uncle Hồ’s point of view, “Culture must light the way for the nation to go,” national culture and new people must be built and developed in accordance with the times, with the new strategic development goals of the country. Right after liberating Điện Biên, Uncle Hồ sent young people to the Soviet Union and China to study culture, literature and art, to study at schools of fine arts, film, music… so that we have today’s generation of veteran artists and writers.
Perhaps no one is more optimistic than the artists and writers. As early as 1945, when our army was just one year old, musician Văn Cao had created works about Việt Nam Air Force, Việt Nam Navy, Việt Nam Police… or in 1949 Văn Cao saw “layers of troops marching like waves/ layers of troops coming” to liberate the capital. We have works from the early days of the government affirmed the inevitable victory of the Revolution.
Since the Party and the Government were established, our Party and State have always paid special attention to artists and writers, issued resolutions, mechanisms and policies, created all favorable conditions and spaces for the development of literature and art, so that artists and writers can immerse themselves in social life. In response, artists and writers has grown stronger, making especially important contributions to the revolution of the Party and the revival of the nation.
During the two long-term resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, which were full of hardships but extremely glorious and proud, many artists and writers, holding weapon with their creation, stood side by side with all classes of people and the nation, ready to dedicate themselves, bravely sacrifice, and took the lead on the ideological and cultural front; created works, heroic epics that inspired, encouraged, and motivated, creating the unparalleled strength of the entire nation in the fight, protection, construction, and development of the country. Through poems, literature, songs, music, painting, films, plays, etc., familiar authors such as Hồ Chí Minh, Sóng Hồng, Tố Hữu, Văn Cao, Phạm Tuyên, Lưu Hữu Phước, Hoàng Vân, Đỗ Nhuận, Nguyễn Thi, Tô Ngọc Vân, Tường Vy, Trà Giang, etc. and many other famous artists and writers spread the revolutionary spirit to all parts of the country, praising the bravery and encouraging the fighting spirit of our army and people on the battlefield, becoming a great source of encouragement on all fronts, leaving a deep impression in the hearts of the people, leaving valuable cultural heritage, helping future generations better understand the value of independence, freedom, and the sacrifice of their ancestors.
During the campaigns, despite hardships and difficulties, artists and writers still joined the battle, were present on the battlefields and in the battles, and had meaningful on-the-spot compositions, expressing optimism and confidence in the victory of the Party, people, army and soldiers. Artists and writers together with the entire people and army “cut through Trường Sơn to save the country”, creating great victories “famous in five continents, shaking the earth”, unifying the country, so that our country “has never been as beautiful as today” on April 30, 1975.
In the process of building and developing the country, spreading throughout the vessels of the country like blood cells, artists and writers continue to reflect and affirm the colorful vitality despite sacrifice and hardships, in all regions and all professions, creating works imbued with cultural and humanistic values, adding vitality of aesthetics and art, creating spiritual resources for the country on the way to prosperity and beauty, especially the beauty of the Vietnamese soul.
We are moved and proud of the works that crystallize the talent, the soul, responsibility, dedication, and commitment of generations of artists and writers; Works that encourage and motivate the entire people and army, marking the unforgettable years of the country, strongly demonstrating the stature of the Lạc Hồng descendants, nurturing national pride, pride in the Party and the glorious Fatherland; Works that exalt and glorify new factors, examples of selfless labor, production and fighting. We honor artists and writers- those who wholeheartedly follow the Party’s ideals, wholeheartedly serve the Fatherland, serve the people, unite to fight against the plot of “peaceful evolution”, voluntarily become soldiers on the cultural front, volunteer to live and create in the most arduous and fierce fronts of the Fatherland, attach flesh and blood with the people, immerse in challenges, considering them as the aspiration, the reason for living, the happiness in life.
With their great contributions, the revolutionary artists and writers have become the Party’s cultural army, the core factor that creates the new cultural strength and depth, promotes the formation and development of the socialist-oriented cultural industry, constantly nurtures the spiritual life of the people, contributes to the enrichment of the nation’s long-standing and unique culture, glorifies the country; have been awarded noble awards and titles by the Party and the State, and above all, has entered people’s hearts, becoming a valuable and intimate spiritual baggage of our people.
On behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to express my deep gratitude, warmly congratulate and commend the achievements in the literary and artistic activities of the artists and writers over the past 80 years.
Comrades, artists and writers,
Besides the achievements, we frankly admit that compared to the period of resistance war and national construction, literary and artistic activities in the period of national renovation have been slowed down, lacking enthusiasm; lacking works with high artistic generalization, with the ability to call, move, encourage, and motivate the entire people and army to join, unite, and be determined to implement the strategic policies of the Party and State. The literary and artistic foundation has not yet vividly and fully reflected the reality of the renovation and international integration, traditional cultural values have been lost; confused, passive, not proactively absorbing the quintessence of human culture, not promptly preventing the “poisonous wind” of foreign culture from invading national culture.
Many products follow the trend of petty and temporary entertainment; some incite low instincts; some eagerly embrace foreign artistic views that are unselective, far from the function of truth, goodness, and beauty; has not fulfilled the noble mission as a torch of humanity, a torch of intelligence and culture to illuminate, guide and create healthy and progressive values and lifestyles. Some artists and writers are still passive, lacking in aspiration, not committed, even degenerate in political ideology, have warped thinking, follow trivial tastes, follow immediate personal interests, fall into depravity, violate the law. The artistic environment sometimes and in some places has not really created a source of inspiration, not contributing to arousing the aspirations and passion of artists and writers.
In the creation, performance and spread of literary and artistic works, there are still many works and activities that have not demonstrated progress and national identity. The number of works is large but few have high artistic value in terms of ideology and aesthetics. Theoretical and art criticism activities are still backward and show signs of decline, have not solved problems of life, are far from reality, rigid, have not performed well the role of guidance and coordination;
The education and development of artists and writers is still inadequate, weak, disappointed, and uneven, some literary and artistic associations are slow to innovate their content and methods of operation, and are confused in gathering, coordinating, and promoting the potential of artists and writers.
Comrades, artists and writers,
Our country is standing at the door of history to enter a new era, an era of development, prosperity and reaching. To achieve the great goal, it requires the efforts of the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army under the leadership of the Party, in which the contribution of literature and art, artists and writers plays a particularly important and urgent role. The Party, the State, and the People look forward to and believe in the evolution, strong rise, and positive contribution of artists and writers in the new revolutionary period, with the following 3 proposals:
First, strongly increase the contribution and dedication of artists and writers in implementing the strategic goals of 100 years under the leadership of the Party, 100 years of the founding of the country, with 3 specific contents: (i) Strive to create a new collection of lifetime, meaningful works, vividly reflecting the reality of the new revolutionary period; illuminating life, having the power to move emotions, calling on the entire people and army to implement the Party’s policies; arousing and gathering people’s hearts, multiplying people’s strength, together with the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army, creating an invincible strength to bring the Vietnamese revolutionary cause to new heights; actively contributing to the construction of human civilization.
(ii) Focusing on building socialist people. The most noble mission of the revolutionary artists and writers is to create cultural personality and build socialist people. Through good works, to sow good things in the hearts of readers and viewers, to nurture the soul, emotions, perfect the personality, morality, intelligence, bravery and confidence of Vietnamese people, to guide people towards the values of truth, goodness, and beauty; to eliminate and purify bad and evil things; to orient and lead the people towards noble values, a bright future, and righteous aspirations.
(iii) The basis for implementing the above contents is very promising. The cause of renovation after 40 years with its position and strength, opportunities, fortune, including risks and challenges is providing artists and writers with valuable materials, new motivation, the foundation for strong evolution, for the birth of great works with values in ideology, art, humanity, attracting the public; everything is ready and the concentration of talent, enthusiasm, aspiration to commit, correct and strong innovation of artists and writers is the key point for the values of culture, art, spirit, and character of Việt Nam to reach far, fly high, approach and integrate into human civilization. Our goal is that literature, art, and culture must serve the people, the people have the right to enjoy because life is not only about food and clothing but also requires spiritual life to be improved and enjoyed. What do we think when a part of the people are not only not full, not warm but also hungry for culture and art?
Second, focus on building literature and art under the leadership of the Party worthy of the nation’s rise, with three basic pillars: (i) Building artists and writers who are truly steadfast revolutionary soldiers on the Party’s cultural and ideological front. Focus on building artists and writers with healthy thinking, correct stance, loyal to the Party’s ideals, closely attached to the fate of the nation, to the cause of innovation, to the people’s working and productive lives, wholeheartedly serving the Fatherland and the people; having a deep awareness of the noble artistic mission and vocation; having a correct working manner, pure ethics, enduring hardships, and simple; fighting against being separated from the people, from reality, from politics, from labor; always cultivating political ideology, revolutionary viewpoints and stances, knowledge, life experience, and understanding; have great aspirations and ambitions for creativity, dare to innovate, be sharp, strong, and enthusiastic in describing, praising, and criticizing; actively penetrate, constantly delve into reality, and truthfully reflect every aspect of life, especially topics that serve the goal of building an increasingly developed and prosperous country, for a prosperous and happy life for the people in accordance with the Party’s policies. Artists and writers must constantly follow the rhythm of life and the breath of the people, blend in with the country, dare to go into thorny, complicated, and sensitive issues of the community, go to remote, isolated, disadvantaged areas, areas of ethnic minorities, border areas, and islands, discover and reflect new factors, good practices, and new issues arising in life, and actively and responsibly participate in social tasks. The life experience of artists and writers must reach out to all regions of the Fatherland; must beat with the heartbeat of the Fatherland.
(ii) Regarding the work, it must have identity, high socialist ideological and artistic values; reflect the soul, style, and character; arouse the spirit, national pride, great and strong things of the people and predict the future; have the ability to spread socialist ethics, be beneficial to the public, and create cultural strength to help the nation eternal. The task of preserving and promoting national culture and folk culture is extremely important because national culture is identity, folk culture is tradition.
(iii) Art must be simple and have soul, have spirit, easy to understand, easy to absorb, easy to absorb, at the same time must be good, special, unique, attractive, widespread and convincing to the people; both promoting the traditional cultural values of the nation such as profound patriotism, humanity, rich in national identity, and being a true mirror reflecting the vivid reality of the breakthrough and rise of the country and the nation in the new era. Art creators must understand the strategic policies that the Party is leading the implementation, understand the situation of the country, understand the life of the people, on the basis of Marxist-Leninist aesthetics, Hồ Chí Minh thought to have works that reproduce life in a simple and sincere way; both encouraging, motivating, inspiring, arousing the desire to build a prosperous and happy country, and daring to criticize, denounce the wrong aspects, not ignoring the thorny corners. Only when art reflects the true and correct reality, can art be flourish and only then can artists and art have an audience, reach the hearts of the public, survive over time and become valuable.
Third, strongly innovate the management, development, incubation, training and promotion of literary and artistic talents. The Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress needs to have a Central Resolution on the development of culture and arts in the new stage. The Secretariat, the Central Committee of Việt Nam Fatherland Front, the Central Propaganda Department coordinate with relevant agencies to study and promptly advise on the effective implementation of the “National Target Program on Cultural Development for the 2025-2035 stage”; implement the national cultural goals until 2045; review the implementation of Resolution No. 23 dated June 16, 2008 of the Political Bureau on “Continuing to build and develop literature and arts in the new stage” and study and promulgate the National Strategy on building literature and arts in the new era, the era of national development; Identify specific goals and targets for works, for building and developing the socialist-oriented cultural industry, for the mechanism of nurturing, fostering and promoting literary and artistic talents, and for contributions to human civilization. Strongly innovate leadership and management methods, create all conditions for artists and writers to deeply penetrate the vibrant reality of the country, accompany and closely connect with the creative labor of our people in all areas of life, and enhance patriotism in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Innovate policies on benefits, use and honoring the talents of artists and writers on a comprehensive, strict, scientific, impartial, transparent and timely basis, creating excitement and trust in society, consensus and solidarity among artists and writers; have specific tasks and creative movements according to the Party’s strategic policies.
The National Assembly, the Government, the Party Committees, and relevant agencies need to coordinate to remove knots in laws, mechanisms, policies, budgets, finance, investment, etc. to create resources and space for artists and writers to freely create and compose. However, along with that, we must fight against warped, degraded, and uncultured ideologies. In addition, we must focus on training and fostering talents and a strong human resource for artists and writers to serve the new era of the nation.
Comrades, artists and writers,
President Hồ Chí Minh told that “Culture and art are also a front. You are soldiers on that front, artistic soldiers have the duty to… serve the Fatherland, serve the People… Artistic soldiers need to have a steady stance, correct ideology… Regarding creation, we need to understand thoroughly, connect with, and go deep into the lives of the People… Culture and art, like all other activities, cannot stand outside, but must be in economics and politics.” Our country is entering a new stage of development, with determination, new spirit, belief and aspiration for a strong Việt Nam, with great expectations for contributions from political power to create literature and art, artists and writers.
The Party, the State and the People believe that, promoting the glorious tradition, artists and writers of our country will certainly have new achievements, conquer new heights in artistic creation, constantly foster and build an advanced Vietnamese culture, imbued with national identity, creating endogenous strength for the country’s development and actively contributing to the development of human civilization.
I am truly moved by the sentiments of the artists and writers present today. I would like to thank the artists and writers for attending and speaking, expressing their responsibility to the country, to the people and to the culture and art of the nation.
On the occasion of the upcoming New Year 2025 and the Spring of Ất Tỵ [year of snake], on behalf of the Party and State leaders and on my own behalf, I wish all delegates, artists and writers all comrades good health, happiness and success.
Sincerely thank you!
SOURCE: VTV ONLINE NEWSPAPER