A cultural programme entitled “Once in a 1,000 years: an Australian Gift to Hanoi” with a series of free exhibitions, concerts and cultural exchanges kicked off on April 15 in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.

The four-day programme is being organised by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam in partnership with the Hanoi People’s Committee.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Australian Ambassador Allaster Cox expressed his pleasure that through exhibitions and free performances featuring Indigenous Australian culture, the people of Vietnam and Australia will have the opportunity to increase their understanding of each country’s cultural traditions on the occasion of the upcoming celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

At the function, Ngo Thanh Hang, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, thanked the Australian Embassy and the sponsors, as well as businesses operating in Vietnam , for their contributions to the programme, which she described as an invaluable gift, and symbol of the friendship between the two peoples.

The highlights of the programme will include a remarkable Balgo Exhibition, a Gala Concert titled “A Journey through Time” and an Outdoor Talkshow and Concert.

As the largest collection of Australian Indigenous works ever displayed in Vietnam, the Balgo Exhibiton, which will take place at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology from April 17 to May 12, features 26 paintings from 18 established and emerging indigenous artists from the remote Balgo region of Western Australia.

Meanwhile, an absorbing musical, visual and story-telling voyage through 60,000 years of Australian Indigenous culture, told by acclaimed solo artist/story-teller/dancer Jeremy Donovan and five established and upcoming performers from Indigenous Hip Hop Projects (IHHP), will be included in the ‘Journey through Time’ Gala Concert on April 17 at the Cultural Friendship Palace.

Jeremy and the IHHP performers will be joined on stage by Vietnamese university students with whom they have been exchanging experiences.

The Outdoor Talkshow and Concert on April 18 at the Cultural Friendship Palace forecourt will include free hip hop exchanges and performances, children’s games and painting classes, didgeridoo performances, and body painting with Jeremy Donovan and the IHHP members./.