Complicated treasure: The gate of Duong Lam Village. There is a conflict between the aim of protecting old houses and the need to upgrade insfrastructure for the local people. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Preservation should accompany development,experts agreed during a conference on protecting and promoting culturalheritage in Hanoi.
The conference was recently held at the Hanoi Museum with theparticipation of many cultural managers and researchers. They delivered anoverall view on the current situation of cultural and historical vestiges inHanoi, pointed out shortcomings in the management of relics in the city anddiscussed solutions to preserve and promote heritage sites in the cityeffectively.
Hanoi is praised as a city of rich cultural heritage. Indeed, as a1,000-year-old city, Hanoi is the cradle of nearly 6,000 cultural andhistorical relics, counting to 2016. Over 2,000 relics have been recognised asnational heritage and provincial heritage treasures, according to Ngo Van Quy, ViceChairman of the municipal People’s Committee.
The heritage items and sites are diverse, including pre-historic militaryarchitecture (An Duong Vuong, built before 208BC); key areas from theresistance wars against the French and Americans; imperial architecture andartefacts from the Ly Dynasty (the 10th century) to the Nguyen Dynasty(1802-1945) and religious spaces, as Hanoi is a centre of different religionsincluding Buddhism, Mother Goddess worship and Catholicism.
There is huge potential to develop tourism and cultural research in Hanoi. Theheritage of the capital also provides inspiration for research and creativity.
"We acknowledge that cultural heritage is a foundation to developsocio-economy of the city," said Quy.
Le Thi Minh Ly, from the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, emphasised theimportance of sustainable development, especially in the field of culturalheritage. She said that heritage preservation requires comprehensive social andeconomic development, protecting the environment, peace and security.
"According to UNESCO conventions, we need to focus on preserving anddeveloping at the same time. That means that besides respecting and protectingcultural heritage, we are also concerned about the material and spiritual lifeof the people who live on the heritage sites, so we need to get the localsinvolved in all steps of projects to preserve and develop the sites and consultexperts during the process," shesaid.
That the capital city boasts a huge number of heritage sites is both a point ofpride and a challenge at the same time, according to expert Nguyen The Hungfrom the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism.
“We face many difficulties to strike a balance and harmony between protectingheritage and developing the society,” he said.
“There is a conflict between protecting the archaeological sites andmaintaining the rights of people living on the sites.”
He mentioned Duong Lam Old Village in Hanoi’s Son Tay town asa prime example. The local people demanded the right to build new houses orrepair their traditional houses because they can’t live in downgradedarchitectures that are hundreds of years old.
He offered some solutions, such as consulting domestic and foreign experts,raising people’s awareness of the value of heritage sites, developing moretourism products to bring profits to the local people, getting young peopleinvolved in protecting and developing the heritage sites, and improving theprofessionalism of people who work in managing and operating the heritagezones.-VNS/VNA
VNA