HÀ NỘI — The British Council has announced three recipients who will receive financial support from the Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth project. 

The two-year pilot initiative in Colombia, Kenya and Việt Nam aims to explore the use of cultural heritage for growth to benefit all levels of society. 

A workshop held in Hà Nội under the project Future of Tradition. — Photo courtesy of British Council

Three recipients from the project’s phase 3 are musicians Ngô Hồng Quang and beatboxer Trung Bảo; film critic Lê Hồng Lâm; and filmmakers Lê Mỹ Cường and Thanh Nguyễn.

Quang and Bảo’s See the Sound is a multi-media project including documentary, a publication and various community events. Traditional musician Quang and underground hip-hop beatboxer Bảo will work together exploring memory and identity through parallel creative journeys in traditional Vietnamese music and hip-hop.

Saigon Cinema 1954-1975 by Lâm will research the films and filmmakers of the pre-1975 period in southern Việt Nam. The project includes a book release and a screening programme of restored cinematic works.

Cường and Nguyễn in co-operation with Việt Nam Television will follow a tuồng (traditional opera) troupe as they travel and perform through the Mekong River Delta to make a documentary.

The recipients are among 15 people in total who will receive money from FAMLAB (Film, Archive and Music Lab).

The previous recipients included the Future of Tradition; Hanoi New Music Festival; Viet Cine Corner; Action for H’Mong Development; Art Labour; and Cultural Community Discourse, among others.

The project has four rounds that will seek to create opportunities for communities across the country to contribute to, and benefit from, the safeguarding and reinvigoration of their cultural heritage.

The fourth round is now open for submissions until August 15.

The FAMLAB Fund gives £100,000 (about $121,000) to support projects that engage with the music or film heritage of Việt Nam through contemporary mediums and practices.

The FAMLAB Fund aims to support these projects by encouraging arts and cultural practitioners to explore innovative ways of engaging and interacting with new audiences via Vietnamese music and film heritage. 

Activities include research, documentation, conservation, training and capacity-building (including oral teaching techniques), experimentation and innovation, advocacy, policy and community dialogues, and support of the re-imagination and revitalisation of cultural heritage elements via contemporary practices. — VNS