From overcoming thorns to... saying hi
Exactly 1 year ago, on October 31, 2023, at the National Assembly, Delegate Do Chi Nghia (Phu Yen delegation) made the above comment with great concern. After only 2 nights, BlackPink achieved a revenue of 13.66 million USD (more than 333.4 billion VND), equivalent to half of the target of the Vietnamese performing arts industry by 2030.
The problem here is that BlackPink is too successful in terms of revenue or is the performing arts industry target for 2030 ($31 million) according to the Vietnam cultural industry development strategy for the period 2020 - 2030 still too low, not worthy of the potential?
It must be admitted that success does not come naturally, nor is it entirely due to luck. BlackPink's success story is typical of a long-term campaign, an effort to promote the Korean cultural industry in a comprehensive, scientific and systematic manner.
Culture is not just performing arts. I watched the Korean film "Parasite" over and over again and was not surprised when it won a resounding victory at the 2020 Oscars. Recently, there was another shock when female writer Han Kang won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.
There have been many articles about what we need to do, what can we learn from the success of the Korean cultural industry? If we copy them, the possibility of failure is very high. The problem is to find the right and suitable formula.
With performing arts, it seems that Vietnam has found its own way, in a version of itself, absorbing the successes of foreign formats while blending them with Vietnamese identity.
The music industry in Vietnam is witnessing a strong explosion with a series of big shows, especially the two famous live shows "Anh trai say hi" and "Call Me by Fire". Experts' assessment is: "These events not only bring Vietnamese music to new heights but also affirm a promising future for the country's music performance industry".
First, let's look at the audience: The "Call Me by Fire" live show brought together 37 exciting performances with the participation of 32 artists, bringing a top-notch music party to the 20,000 audience members present. Notably, 20,000 tickets for this show were sold out after only 90 minutes of opening, an impressive number reflecting the strong interest of the public in Vietnamese music. Meanwhile, "Anh trai say hi" was no less attractive when this concert attracted a huge audience of more than 25,000 participants.
The success of "Call Me by Fire" and "Anh trai say hi" comes not only from the quality of the music but also from the harmonious combination of Vietnamese spirit and creativity in the stage design. Both shows have affirmed their position thanks to their grand scale, carefully invested sound and lighting effects and outstanding performances.
These two shows, along with a series of other recent shows, have proven one thing: For Vietnamese performing arts, organizers and artists have "dared to play", and audiences have "dared to spend".
Dare to play is shown in the careful preparation for each performance, from stage set-up to advanced sound and lighting systems, every detail is meticulously taken care of. Dare to play is also shown in the artistic quality of the programs.
Dare to Spend is the story of Vietnamese people being able to spend millions of dong, equivalent to half a month's salary of a civil servant, to enjoy a show.
There is still a “but”
But it must be admitted that the success of the two shows mentioned above only stops at the greeting, at “say hi”. Thousands of obstacles still need to be overcome to have sustainable development “in the house” – that is, the domestic market before thinking about stepping out into the world.
We have many lessons that bloom and fade quickly, have aspirations but lack in-depth preparation to step out into bigger playgrounds.
10 years ago, there was a similar fever for football. The U19 Vietnam team was successful with Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh... succeeded in a number of tournaments and created an "unprecedented" fever with sold out football tickets and a very strong social effect.
It is too early for Vietnamese football to expect the World Cup, forgetting that success must come from building a foundation, not from temporary phenomena.
The question is, will Vietnamese showbiz with its feverish art programs follow in the footsteps of football with the U19 team 10 years ago?
When developing the cultural industry, including the performing arts industry, it is necessary to identify the main “thorns”. That is, the lack of high-quality human resources, Vietnam still lacks experts with specialized skills in the fields of art, creativity and cultural management. Art and cultural training schools have not yet met the demand for internationally competitive human resources.
Infrastructure is not yet synchronized. Despite the development in big cities, the infrastructure system serving the cultural industry such as theaters, museums, exhibition halls and performing arts areas is still lacking and not up to international standards, especially in rural areas.
The cultural sector in Vietnam has yet to attract strong investment from both the State and the private sector, making it difficult for creative projects to access finance, especially shows that require large investments.
We are aiming for the cultural industry to account for about 7% of GDP by 2030, which is about over 50 billion USD, but although we have put forward a strategy for developing the cultural industry, the development policy is not yet synchronous and lacks a long-term strategy, leading to difficulties in shaping a clear development path for artists and cultural enterprises.
As National Assembly Deputy Do Chi Nghia said: "The important thing is to have worthy works, there must be worthy policies, and we must create creative space for artists to create."
Opportunity to grow
Faced with challenges, the opportunities for developing the cultural industry have never been clearer. Looking at the success of the two famous live shows "Anh trai say hi" and "Call Me by Fire", we can clearly see the intention to create "a wonderful harmony between national culture and modern music processing thinking". Going to the end of the nation will meet humanity. Vietnam has a long-standing culture with a rich heritage from cuisine, music, traditional arts to national cultural values. This is a great source of inspiration for developing unique and creative cultural products, attracting the attention of both domestic and international audiences.
Another advantage is the large and expanding consumer market. With a young population, the cultural and entertainment market in Vietnam has strong growth potential. Vietnamese consumers have an increasing demand for entertainment, art and creative products.
The development of digital technology brings great opportunities for Vietnam's cultural industry. Online platforms such as social networks, streaming services and e-commerce make cultural products easily accessible to domestic and international audiences, while reducing distribution costs. The trend of using high technology in artistic creation such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and digital music has helped Vietnamese cultural producers expand their creativity. New and modern cultural products easily attract the attention of young consumers and international audiences.
Despite difficulties in human resources, infrastructure, and investment, Vietnam’s cultural industry still has the opportunity to develop strongly thanks to its cultural richness, support from the Government, and the expansion of its consumer market. Taking advantage of modern technology and international cooperation will help Vietnam exploit the full potential of its cultural industry, ready to shine from home to the world.
