The award ceremony and photo exhibition entitled “Heritage Journey 2024” took place on the afternoon of September 12 at the City Information - Exhibition Center at Number 93 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

The organizers award prizes to the winning photographers. Photo: Tina Do

Le Hoang Dung, Editor-in-Chief of Heritage Magazine and Head of the organizing committee for the Heritage Journey 2024 photo contest said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the award.

He said the annual contest serves as a valuable international platform to promote the image of Vietnam and its people to the world. It also provides an opportunity for photographers to hone their skills in photojournalism.

"After four months of submissions, 'Heritage Journey 2024' received entries from 156 domestic and international contributors, totaling 411 photographs, more than double the number from last year," he said.

"The top 10 photographic works and collections from the contest will now be honored at this year's Heritage Photo Awards and displayed at Heritage Journey 2024," he added.

Nguyen Duc Hoang's photo work "Red-shanked Douc Langur - treasure of Son Tra" wins special prize in the Landscape/Destination Tourism category.

Notably, the Special Award in the Culture and Heritage Category (Single Photo) was awarded to artist Phan Huy Thiep for his work entitled 'Wooden-head Puppetry'. Doan Hai Trung won the Special Award in the Culture and Heritage Category (Photo Collection) for his essay 'Tru Son Pottery Village'. Meanwhile, photographer Pham Van Thanh took home the Magazine Cover Photo Award for his work "The Beauty of Cat Ba Island."

Ten single pictures and photo sets that have won awards are on display in the "Heritage Journey 2024" photo exhibition, which runs through September 16.

The exhibition also includes 30 additional photographs taken during two photo tours organized by Heritage Magazine in cooperation with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thai Nguyen Province and Land Rover Vietnam.

In addition, the contest organizers have announced a charity auction program entitled "Photos of Love". Proceeds from the auction of the photographic works displayed in the exhibition will be donated to the Yagi Fund, which supports recovery efforts in the northern provinces affected by the recent typhoon.

Below is the award-winning photo collection entitled "Wooden Puppetry" by photographer Phan Huy Thiep:

Wooden head puppetry is an ancient folk art form performed every year during the Dai Bi Pagoda Festival in Nam Giang commune, Nam Truc district, Nam Dinh province, held from the 20th to the 22nd of the first lunar month.

Accompanied by traditional percussion rhythms, folk artists perform a dance with 12 wooden head statues in honor of Zen Master Tu Dao Hanh, revered as the father of water puppetry in Vietnam.

Legend has it that 12 wave gods once flooded the land and harmed the people. Zen Master Tu Dao Hanh used his magic to subdue six of these gods and drove the other six out to sea.

Since then, puppet shows have been held annually to entertain both the Zen Master and the local community.

Wooden statues with white faces represent mandarins and wise men, while those with green faces, wide mouths, and large noses symbolize fertility and growth. Statues with pale yellow faces represent the wet rice culture.

Wooden head puppetry reflects the spiritual culture of the wet rice civilization of the northern delta.