Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony

Relations from Hanoi to Dresden date back to 1955. North Vietnam had just won its independence from France in a war full of sacrifices. The government of the GDR supported the construction of the newly founded democratic republic. Children from North Vietnam were to share the blessings of modern school education in East Germany. 150 nine- to 12-year-olds were invited to attend school in the small community of Moritzburg, near Dresden. The "Moritzburgers" were accommodated in the Käthe Kollwitz Heim. In 1957, a second group of children followed and was housed in the Maxim-Gorki-Heim. In 1959, the children returned to Vietnam. This program was the starting point of bilateral relations. Soon university students came from Vietnam to the GDR, then contract workers. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

In 1993, the Saxon Parliament established the Cultural Foundation of the Free State. Since 2013, the Cultural Foundation offers scholarschips for a three-month stay in Vietnam. The Hanoi School of Art generously allows the annual scholarship holder to interact with students during a one-week workshop. This helps immensely to get acquainted with each other and enables practical artistic exchange. That cultural exchange reaches some depth depends on the motivation and commitment of many people involved. In recent years, Saxon fellows have annually been invited to participate in the Month of Artistic Practice (MAP). MAP is the largest independent international art festival in Vietnam. It is organized by the Heritage Space Art Center under the leadership of Nguyen Anh Tuan. Artists from all over the world can apply, but they have to ensure the financing of their attendance by themselves. Thus, the participation of scholarship holders from Saxony is very welcome. Since 2013 these were: Christiane Baumgartner, Kai Hügel, Benjamin Badock, Stefanie Dorst, André Tempel, Daniel Rode, Phillip Poppeck, Till A. Baumhauer, Oscar Lebeck, Martin Haufe. The relationship between the Free State of Saxony and Vietnam goes beyond the annual sending of a scholarship holder. In 2016, the Museum für Bildende Kunst Leipzig took the exhibition STORYTELLER to Hanoi with works by Baumgärtel, Famed, Henriette Grahnert, Julius Hofmann, Rosa Loy, Ulf Puder, Neo Rauch, Christoph Ruckhäberle, Annette Schröder, Sebastian Stumpf, Michael Triegel. Cultural relations do not stagnate. In 2021 Leipzig and Ho Chi Minh City established a town twinning. This will also give new impulses to the bilateral cultural relations.

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