HÀ NỘI — “Sri Lanka in Hà Nội: A Cultural Fiesta” will give the Vietnamese a chance to discover the culture of the island country from April 27-29 at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum. 

The cultural festival will include art exhibitions, food and beverages, film screenings and stalls featuring Sri Lanka’s handmade products, offering people a Sri Lankan experience in a Vietnamese environment. 

“The festival has been organised by the Embassy of Sri Lanka to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the country’s independence as well as 48 years of diplomatic relations with Việt Nam,” said Si Lankan ambassador to Việt Nam Hasanthi Vrugodawatte Dissanayake at a press conference on April 23. 

“In collaboration with the Vietnamese Women’s Museum and the Hà Nội Small and Medium Enterprises Association, the festival will bring together some small and medium enterprises of the two countries for the first time,” Dissanayake said.

Sri Lankan products of small and medium enterprises, especially handloom fabric, batik, tea, spices, handicrafts and gems, will be displayed and sold at the three-day festival. The Hà Nội Small and Medium Enterprises Association will also set up stalls to introduce special products to Sri Lanka’s trade partners. One of the stalls will be Paper Quilling Thương Thương by Nguyễn Thị Thu Thương. 

Thương will sell souvenirs such as bookmarks and dolls handmade by people with disabilities at her small enterprise. 

The highlight of the festival will be photo and painting exhibitions by Vietnamese and Sri Lankan artists. 

Some 40 paintings and sketches by Sri Lankan artist Ravindra Ranasinghe will be on display. He is honorary assistant secretary of the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka and member of the Royal Photographic Society. He has been awarded many prizes in Sri Lanka and has won international awards, such as UGA Challenge Winner 2014 and FIAP gold medal. 

Renowned Vietnamese artist Văn Dương Thành will display some 45 paintings, including paintings on Sri Lanka. These paintings are selected from hundreds of artworks by Thành during her 35-year career. 

Popular as one of Asia’s talented female artists, Thành grew up in Hà Nội and studied at the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts.

Her artworks were displayed at the Vietnamese National Museum of Fine Arts for the first time when she was 20.

Another exhibition of photos by Vietnamese people who have been in Sri Lanka will be showcased at the festival, expressing reminiscence of their time in Sri Lanka. Documentaries and a motion picture will be screened to introduce the culture and tourism of Sri Lanka to visitors. 

At the inauguration ceremony on April 27, a travel book by popular Vietnamese travel writer Di Li, titled Bình Minh Ở Sahara (Sunrise on Sahara), which has a section on Sri Lanka, will be launched. The book will be introduced in Vietnamese by Saadi Salama, ambassador of Palestine to Việt Nam.

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum is located at 36 Lý Thường Kiệt Street, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hà Nội. — VNS