Photo exhibition on Vietnamese communal houses in August

A communal house in Viet Nam

As many of 3,757 members of the Vietnamese Communal House Club have collected documents, organized field trips and taken photos to prepare for an exhibition on Vietnamese communal houses in August 2015 in Ha Noi.

All the members have a common feature which is a love and care for the preservation of national cultural heritages.

The Club has attracted lovers for Vietnamese people’s village culture through communal houses, activities at the houses and cultural places around the village temple. It was established by researcher, Nguyen Duc Binh who works at the Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in May 2014.

So far, it has gathered many folklore cultural researchers, photographers, architects, artists, sculptors and journalists who want to study the cultural values of Vietnamese communal houses.

They made field trips to collect documents and witnessed the real state of Vietnamese communal houses such as Tay Dang, Chu Quyen, Dong Vien, Cam Da ones in Ba Vi district, Ha Noi; Hang Kenh in the northern port city of Hai Phong; Hung Lo in the northern midland province of Phu Tho.

During the 8th field trip in the northern province of Bac Giang on June 28th, 2015, they will visit Lo Hanh-Hiep Hoa communal houses in Mac dynasty, Phuc Long-Viet Yen in Le Trung Hung dynasty, Dinh Huong stone mausoleum. Members will enjoy Cheo and Ca Tru singing performances at communal houses. The field trip will not only help member to be close to each other but also be an opportunity to further study the beauty and quintessence on fine arts and sculpture as well as village cultural life around the communal houses.

The exhibition on communal houses in August will display photos on the houses’ architecture and sculpture as well as the downgrade of ancient architectural works in Viet Nam at present. There will be also seminars on the value of communal houses, the preservation and promotion of village architectural works and village cultural space; and performances on folklore activities at communal houses.