The piece "Media sharing" by the photographer Le Khac Thanh

Encouraging the fighting spirit against the pandemic

“The color of your shirt is as pure as the white clouds / The color of my shirt is as green as the mountains / The color of our Motherland burns brightly in our hearts / On the front lines without bombs and storms… We aspire to fuel life / Standing together to fight against the virus pandemic…”.

Pressing the keys, the musician Doan Phuong Hai sang the lyrics of the song "The color of angels' clothes", which he had just set to music from the poem written by Hoi Manh Phong to praise the medical teams and doctors who silently devote themselves to their patients. The smooth melody, at times gentle, at times lively, shows the burning desire of people on the front lines so that children can soon go to school and the factory continues to manufacture...

The fight against the pandemic is a new and hot topic of interest to Doan Phuong Hai. Last year, he composed 3 songs: "Flames of Faith", "We hope to go to school" and "Loving arms of the motherland". Continuing this line of composing, this year, he released heart-moving songs: "You've got me on the front line", "The color of angels' clothes" and "Faithful front line" (setting music to Hoi Manh Phong's poem).

The musician Doan Phuong Hai shared: “Real life always gives artists emotions to compose. To me, the fierceness of the pandemic, the days when compatriots across the country struggled against the disease, especially the frontline forces, brought me the most emotion. I want to use music to share and praise the silent sacrifice of the police, army, and medical staff in the pandemic center."

Amid the battle against the epidemic, Trang Thuy, a writer, volunteered to join the logistics team in the quarantine area. These vivid experiences helped her to write compositions: "Before saying goodbye", "Experience from Truong Bia quarantine site", "Towards Saigon from the loving heart of Hue" and "Diary of the quarantine days".

These are realistic and humane pages about the compassionate spirit of Hue people towards the people in the South. They are the records of Hue as the rear in the middle of the fight. They recall the hardship and even danger of the force on duty at the quarantine area and the suffering and hard work of the mothers and sisters in the volunteer kitchens... They all volunteered to contribute to the fight against the epidemic.

“During the complicated escalations of the COVID-19 pandemic, me, as a writer, feel that I have a responsibility towards the times. I want to use my pen to share and sympathize with the pain and loss of those who were unfortunate in the pandemic. I want to accompany volunteers who are working together with the government every day to contribute to the fight against COVID-19," the female writer confided.

The artist's heart

Sharing the feelings of the Vietnamese people towards the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in the past year, artists and writers had also "dashed " into this war and experienced firsthand to collect documents and images and nurture emotions for their creations. Many songs, poems, paintings, and photographs were born, highlighting the frontline doctors and nurses, those fighting against the pandemic day and night, and the people's pain before the pandemic. These works of art have touched the hearts of readers.

With a wish to promote the fighting spirit against the pandemic through literature and art, the Union of Literature and Arts Associations launched and organized a literary and artistic creation camp on the topic of COVID-19 prevention and control in 2021. The camp helped to fuel the creative enthusiasm as well as conditions for artists to experience the reality to learn and compose on this topic.

With the participation of 17 artists, 186 works were born; in which there are 18 songs, 52 literary works, and 116 photos, showing the creativity and abundant emotions of artists facing the times.

Musical works with the pervasive power of lyrics and melodies always accompany the government and people in every stage of the fight against the pandemic. Prayers, loving sympathy, simple dreams of peace create strong encouragement in this tough battle. Phan Van Thanh, a song writer, has completed 10 songs with high quality and artistic values in just a short time, bringing love, support, and spiritual encouragement of “waiting for tomorrow” for a radiant future is close.

Many poems, notes, essays, and short stories are timely shared and encourage the medical staff, doctors, volunteer forces, and the people on the frontline. Creative inspiration is accompanied by responsibility and emotions when facing the reality of life. This is both an effective way to raise awareness as well as provide meaningful spiritual support.

Luu Ly, a poet, in the article "Orders from hearts", expresses the spirit of great national unity; and she affirms: "I believe that truth will rally the hearts of people in a country to love one another”.

Actively creating and ensuring safety against the disease, the photographers Truong Vung, Nguyen Dang Hanh, Hoang Van Phuoc, Le Khac Thanh, Nguyen Trung Thanh have completed many works with high quality of art and contents, closely following the reality of life during the epidemic days, such as activities of the logistics team in the quarantine area, the spirit of support and volunteering of the police, army and people; activities of medical staff; the scenes of people's daily life in the days of the pandemic crisis...

Le Vu Truong Giang, writer, Chief of the Office of the Union of Literary and Art Associations, said that the topic of COVID-19 always attracts the attention of writers and artists. Many works have been published, showing the constant efforts of creativity, being a source of spiritual support, encouraging the forces on the front lines in the fight against the pandemic, sympathizing with the people the difficulties in life, labor, production, etc.

Artists and writers are "soldiers" on the ideological and cultural front; so, the works of artists and writers at this time will have a great effect on promoting the fighting spirit of everyone.

By Minh Hien