Bringing Vietnamese Ao Dai to all five continents

Members of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden received the decision to establish and launch the club. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

The launching ceremony of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden took place on September 14 (local time) in Helsingborg city, the area with the largest Vietnamese population in southern Sweden. This is a meaningful event taking place on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic relations (1969-2024).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, Permanent Deputy Director of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Conservation Support Fund, Head of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club, presented the Decision to establish the Club and presented gifts to the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam expressed her pride, emotion and hope that the image of Vietnam Ao Dai will always be preserved, honored and spread to overseas Vietnamese in other countries as well as to many international friends.

Ms. Khuc Thi Dau - Vice President of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club announced the decision to establish the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

In a letter to the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Kingdom of Sweden Tran Van Tuan sent warm congratulations.

“For generations, the ao dai has become a cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people, a source of pride for our nation. For women, the ao dai adds to the traditional beauty and charm of Vietnamese women. Therefore, preserving the ao dai heritage is also preserving the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people,” Ambassador Tran Van Tuan affirmed.

The Ambassador expressed: “I hope that the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden will make every effort to preserve and promote the value of Ao Dai heritage in the Kingdom of Sweden, on the one hand helping to preserve Ao Dai culture in the Vietnamese community in the area, on the other hand further promoting the image of Ao Dai to local people, contributing to promoting cultural exchange and strengthening solidarity between the people of the two countries.”

Ambassador Tran Van Tuan said that the Vietnamese Embassy in Sweden will accompany and support Vietnamese associations in the area in general and the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden in particular in carrying out activities to preserve and promote the value of Ao Dai heritage.

Vietnamese Ao Dai fashion show at the launching ceremony. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

Speaking at the launching ceremony, President of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden Tran Thi Oanh said that since the establishment of the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club, the aspiration to honor the beauty of Vietnamese women's ao dai has spread to provinces and cities, many clubs have been established, expanding in scale, appearing in many European countries. Recently, the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club in France and Belgium was launched on September 7. It is expected that by mid-2025, the Vietnam Ao Dai Heritage Club will be launched in 18 countries.

According to the President of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden, this will be a cultural link to preserve Vietnamese identity, attract the participation of Vietnamese women in provinces and cities, from there plan activities, organize programs to promote Ao Dai in other countries; organize seminars and scientific conferences on Ao Dai, create the basis and conditions to contribute to completing the dossier to submit to UNESCO to recognize Ao Dai as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Ms. Oanh also believes that the ao dai is not only a symbol of cultural tradition, the gentleness, grace and dignity of women; it is an indispensable outfit in solemn festivals of the family, community, on New Year's Eve, important anniversaries, weddings, and family formation of oneself and relatives...; the ao dai is also a work of art, a delicate craft, an endless source of inspiration for artists and designers.

On the occasion of the establishment of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Sweden, Dr. Phan Bich Thien, President of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Europe, sent a congratulatory letter.

The Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Europe was established under the Decision dated August 8, 2024 of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club. The launching ceremony of the Vietnamese Ao Dai Heritage Club in Europe is scheduled to take place on September 26 in Budapest (Hungary).

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/dua-ao-dai-viet-nam-di-khap-nam-chau-229547.html