A figure of Vietnam friendship

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As an independent poet, writer and artist, Quỳnh Iris Nguyên – de Prelle, born in 1981, is the founder of the Vietnam and Pacific Intercultural Center in Brussels (IVB). She organized numerous cultural exchange activities there such as meetings with Vietnamese artists, a program presenting rice growing and traditional cuisine based on Vietnamese rice with the Italian chef Fausto Grossi Terenzio, exhibitions on Vietnamese culture or even workshops on national gastronomy.

In October 2024, as a member of the “Les Engagés” Party, Quỳnh became for the first time one of the candidates of Vietnamese origin in the election of the People’s Council of the commune of Woluwe – Saint – Lambert of Brussels. “During my election campaign, I participated in and carried out numerous projects for the community, several of which are still in progress”she shared.

Although quite busy, she is ready to participate in cultural and community activities linking the people of Vietnam and Belgium. She is one of the founders of the Association of Vietnamese Businesses in Belgium (AEVB) which was created at the beginning of last November in the Belgian capital. “Quỳnh Iris Nguyên – de Prelle largely contributed to the birth of the AEVB. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the General Association of Vietnamese in Belgium for the 2023-2026 term”a dit Dao Hong Hai, vice-présidente of l’AEVB.

Cultural connections

During the Lunar New Year (Tet) in Vietnam, Quynh transformed his house into a small exhibition hall to introduce Vietnamese customs and customs to his family members. “This allows my Belgian husband, my children and my in-laws to better understand traditional Vietnamese culture. I am very happy to welcome Vietnamese Tet abroad”she confided. Since 2020, she has organized online exhibitions with the theme “The Philosophy of Vietnamese Tet”.

“Quỳnh has always been an active member of the General Union of Vietnamese in Belgium. Since the founding of the Vietnam and Pacific Intercultural Center in Brussels (IVB), she has regularly organized activities related to the promotion of Vietnamese culture in Belgium, by supporting the Viêt Happiness Station chain in the opening of the Vietnamese Library in Brussels, by organizing meetings with Vietnamese authors, by collaborating with numerous organizations and individuals to promote Vietnamese cuisine, or by encouraging donations to charitable programs of the Vietnamese community in Belgium in support of the Homeland…”underlined Kiêu Bich Huong, co-founder of the Youtube channel Viêt Happiness Station, an information channel for Vietnamese abroad, based in Belgium and founder of the project to install libraries in Vietnamese restaurants.

Attentive to contemporary issues such as climate change, gender equality, health and psychology of women and girls, Quynh Iris volunteers in social activities for the education of children. She participated in the programs of the Vietnamese Women’s Association in Belgium and the European Women’s Union. Since 2019, she has also participated in the “Walk for Climate Change” movement in Brussels with tens of thousands of people.

Before moving to Brussels, from 2003 to 2012, Quynh Iris worked in the independent film production and communications sectors in Vietnam. In 2007-2008, she received a Ford Fund Film Production Scholarship.

Literary works

Five of his collections of poems in Vietnamese Gemini (Gemini), Morning of negation (Negative morning), Water bearer (Aquarius), Climate change (Climate change) and Mutation season 21 (Variant 21) were released in Vietnam and put on sale online on the amazon.com website. These works have been presented in some American university libraries such as Harvard, as well as in Europe and Australia.

The poem Sadness in the tree (Sadness in the Tree) by Quynh Iris was adapted into a short film of the same name by Vietnamese director Hoàng Trân Minh Duc. It is one of the few Vietnamese short films to have been selected to be screened at the Short Film Corner of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Many of Quynh’s poems have been translated into French, English, Dutch, Arabic, Japanese, etc.

“I am very proud to read my poems in Vietnamese during cultural and poetry festivals in Brussels and in many other Belgian cities”she said.

She has proposed many philanthropic activities such as library donations to Bim Son High School (Thanh Hoa Province), Phu Son 1 School (Bac Giang Province) in Vietnam and the Friends for Vietnamese Kids program. ” in Belgium.

Quỳnh Iris Nguyen – De Prelle personifies a Vietnam-Belgium cultural “bridge”, helping to consolidate bilateral relations.

Hoang Phuong/CVN