The launch took place Monday at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnologies in Hanoi. The fund aims to “support selected areas of Vietnam to be culturally diverse and with strong traditional cultural values and identity, especially amongst ethnic minorities,” a press release from the Danish Embassy states.
The fund will “give artists and ethnic minorities an opportunity to promote and develop traditional cultures on their own terms, for example through cultural houses at community level or bridging with contemporary art,” the release says.
An annual timetable will be set up for at least 60 activities in various regions of Vietnam, aiming to main-tain and develop regional and ethnic cultures, promote regional artistic activities, organize ethnic cultural events and festivals, conserve regional and ethnic cultural heritages and train ethnic artists by providing scholarships.
In the immediate future, six provinces with strong ethnic minorities and cultural identities will be provided with a total capital of US$350,000 USD in the 2006-2010 period. The beneficiary provinces include north-ern Ha Giang, Yen Bai and Lai Chau, central Quang Tri and Quang Binh and southern Soc Trang.
