US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and Two Decades of Cooperation with Vietnam

In celebration of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage’s Day (November 23) and 20 years of the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), the US Embassy in Vietnam in cooperation with Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum (VNFAM) and the Center for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage (under the auspices of the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam) organized an exhibition and a workshop in Hanoi.

At the opening of the exhibition. Source: VOV

The photo exhibition themed “The US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation - Two Decades of Cooperation with Vietnam”, is getting underway at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi, featuring images from 16 cultural projects from across the country funded by the AFCP since 2001.

US Ambassador Marc Knapper said at the opening of the exhibition: “Over 20 years ago, the US State Department announced a brand new program to help preserve culture around the world and came to be known as the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). Cultural conservation projects funded by AFCP are present all over Vietnam from the North to the Central and the South.

The US strongly supports Vietnam's cultural heritage and helps Vietnam preserve its cultural heritage for future generations. I hope the two countries can continue to cooperate in 2023 and have more opportunities to deepen the relations and friendship between the two countries, for the sake of peace and the interests of the people of both countries."

Director of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, Nguyen Anh Minh shared that in 2005, with the financial support of the AFCP, the museum has successfully preserved and repaired two seriously damaged lacquer works. Those are the works "Hoi Chua" by painters Le Quoc Loc, Nguyen Van Que in 1939 and "Bac Nam mot nha" by painter Nguyen Van Ty in 1961. The timely and practical support of the AFCP has contributed to preserving these two precious works.

The exhibition will last until November 26.

Wooden devotional objects which are red-lacquered and trimmed with gold at the Thai Binh Provincial Museum were restored and preserved under AFCP in 2011. Source: US embassy Hanoi

A lacquer painting has been preserved by the AFCP Foundation since 2005. Source: Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum

Earlier the same day, a workshop themed “US and Vietnam: Working Together to Conserve Vietnam’s Cultural Heritage” has featured renowned experts in cultural heritage preservation in Vietnam and abroad as well as former recipients of AFCP grant funding, who discussed their experience implementing cultural heritage projects under the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.

Through sharing of information about AFCP and other funding sources, the program raises awareness on the importance of mobilizing additional sources of technical and financial support in preserving and managing cultural heritage sites in Vietnam, especially for those in danger and in need of urgent action.

The US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) supports projects to preserve a wide range of cultural heritage in less developed countries, including historic buildings, archaeological sites, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts, and indigenous languages and other forms of traditional cultural expression.

Since 2001, AFCP has supported over 1,000 projects to protect and preserve global cultural heritage in more than 650 communities and 133 countries. In Vietnam, the AFCP has awarded funding for 16 cultural heritage preservation projects across Vietnam, over USD 1.2 million for the past 20 years.

Preservation of statues and other objects at Dau Pagoda in Bac Ninh province. Source: Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum

The US embassy also invites interested and eligible organizations to submit proposals for the 2023 AFCP grants competition. The AFCP supported projects include the restoration of historic buildings, assessment and conservation of rare manuscripts and museum collections, preservation and protection of important archaeological sites, and the documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques, traditional music, and indigenous languages. Project awards range from US USD 10,000 to USD 500,000.

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