HÀ NỘI — A performance gathering 2,000 artists from around the nation opened the first Vietnamese Brocade Festival on January 14 in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông.

With the title ‘Brocade Culture – Convergence of Quintessence’, the programme reflected the role of brocade in the culture and life of the country’s ethnic minority people.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc attended the opening ceremony and stressed that brocade expresses the cultural identity, sophisticated skill and aesthetics of ethnic people.

“Brocade is not only used to make costumes,” he said. “It expresses opinions of the ethnic people about the world; it’s a cultural product and preserves traditional customs of the ethnic communities.”

He also pointed out the need to promote the economic value of brocade: “Each brocade cloth contains an interesting story of history, culture, beliefs and aesthetics. It is necessary to present brocade culture in tourism activities.”

Prime Minister Phúc acknowledged the huge potential of brocade and suggested it should be applied widely in the fashion industry.

The three-day festival will include an exhibition of brocade culture, a cuisine space, a brocade fashion show, a seminar, a street festival and presentations of traditional rituals.

A highlight of the festival is the fashion show of 20 local and foreign designers including Ngọc Hân, Vũ Việt Hà and Đỗ Trịnh Hoài Nam. Miss Universe Việt Nam H’Hen Niê also displayed brocade designs during the event.

The festival is a chance to honour, preserve and promote the value of brocade, a traditional product of ethnic groups. The festival is one of the activities held to celebrate 15 years since the establishment of Đắk Nông Province.

Apart from Vietnamese artists, the festival also draws the participation of troupes from Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Nguyễn Minh Quang, vice director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and vice chairman of the organising board, said the festival honoured the unique values of brocade and the vitality of brocade in the lives of ethnic people.

Brocade has a strong attachment to the life of ethnic people from their birth, he said.

“The festival provides a chance to enhance the solidarity and mutual understanding between the ethnic groups in the country,” he said. “Through the cultural activities, foreigners also understand more about a handicraft of minorities that has been preserved for centuries.” — VNS