The 2024 Lancang-Mekong Cultural Activity, funded by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund (2024), officially commenced on Monday in Bagan, Myanmar, the state-run daily Myanma Alinn reported on Tuesday.

The program, which will run until Feb. 28, is organized by the National University of Culture and Arts (Yangon) under Myanmar's Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, the report said.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Myanmar's Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Daw Nu Mra Zan said that since the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) in 2016, its member countries have implemented various cooperation programs across multiple sectors, including the economy, society, and culture.

She added that this program has invited young people from the six Lancang-Mekong countries to create, preserve, and promote their traditional paintings, which are their cultural heritage, in accordance with their respective traditions, it said.

The program aims to preserve the Lancang-Mekong cultural heritage. Bagan, an ancient cultural capital in the region, has maintained close relations with the Lancang-Mekong countries for a long time. Therefore, holding this program in Bagan is particularly meaningful, she said.

As part of the program, artists from the regional countries will engage in outdoor hands-on painting sessions, paper reading sessions on traditional painting techniques, an art exhibition, and cultural study tours, the report said.