Lecture “Arts and Culture as the Basis of a Nation”

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Fri 30 Mar 2012, 6 – 8 pm
Conference room (6F Building D), National Library of Vietnam

From The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam:
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam proudly presents a lecture by Oriza Hirata, one of the most influential opinion leaders on the arts scene in Japan, on “Arts and Culture as the Basis of a Nation” in Hanoi on 30 March 2012.

In his thought-provoking book, “Geijutsu rikkokuron [lit. Arts as the Basis of a Nation]” (2001), Oriza argued that the key to restore Japan is in the attempts to put the arts as the basis of a nation, beyond the obsession of economic growth. His epoch-making vision in this book brought him the AICT (Association Internationale des Critiques des Théâtre) Critique Award in 2002.

Why should we put the arts and culture as the basis of a nation? How can we do so? In his lecture in Vietnam, Oriza will explain the reasons persuasively from his multiple experiences as a playwright, a director, a manager of a private-sector small theater and a professor for several universities, and will set out his concrete ideas and opinions on cultural policies for a nation from the first-hand experience as the former Special Advisor to the Japanese Cabinet (2009-2011).

In the very moments when the economics of Vietnam has been rapidly developing and the society has been drastically changing, we do hope that his lecture will provide you a good opportunity to re-think the position of arts and culture in Vietnamese society, and to consider how to shape the cultural policy in Vietnam.

A must-see lecture for arts and culture advocates is coming soon.

Languages: Vietnamese simultaneous interpretation.

Free  admission. 

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Ha Nguyen (Ext. 113) / Mr. Yoshioka (0123-384-4138)
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam TEL 04-3944-7419 www.jpf.org.vn