The ongoing Vietnam Culture Week in Belgium, which showcases cultural exchange activities between the two countries, will close on Sunday, October 19.

The event, held at the Silly Cultural Center in the Belgian province of Hainaut, opened last Friday with an exhibition of photos on Vietnam and its people, and a traditional Vietnamese festive drum performance.    Workshops will also feature videos on the histories of Hanoi and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and photos of the Southeast Asian country’s world-famous locations, including Ha Long Bay, the Hue Imperial Capital’s Monument Complex and Hoi An Ancient Town, all of which have earned UNESCO recognition as World Heritage Sites.

The Silly Cultural Center will also host cuisine classes, in which participants will be shown by expat Vietnamese instructors how to enjoy and make such Vietnamese delicacies as “pho” (noodle soup with beef or chicken), “cha gio” (fried spring rolls), and “goi cuon” (salad rolls).

The cultural week is set to wrap up with the screening of “Mui Du Du Xanh” (The Scent of Green Papaya), a film by Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung.

The film won the Caméra d'Or prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, and was the first (and still the only) Vietnamese movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film that same year.

A documentary by Chistian Verot titled “À la découverte du Vietnam – Au Co et Lac Long Quan” (Discovery of Vietnam – Au Co and Lac Long Quan) which features Vietnam’s stunning landscapes and cheery people will also be shown at the closing session of the cultural week.

Vietnam and Belgium first forged diplomatic ties in March 1973.

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