2014 Toyota Concert Tour comes to Buon Ma Thuot

For the first time organisers of the renowned Toyota Concert Tour will bring this much awaited show to Buon Ma Thuot city in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak this August in response to the 2014 Tay Nguyen National Tourism Year.

This year’s programme, a combination of classical and contemporary music, will also be staged in Hanoi and HCM City, lasting from August 1-11.

The concert will be performed by the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) under the baton of Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji. It especially welcomes the participation of meritorious cello artist Tran Thi Mo and pop star Tung Duong.

The concert, which enters its 17th iteration, is co-organised by the Toyota Vietnam and the VNSO, aiming to contribute to the development of Vietnamese culture.

The proceeds will be donated to the Toyota Scholarships Fund for young musical talents.

Film week celebrates National Tourism Year 2014

Film screenings will begin on Thursday to celebrate the National Tourism Year 2014 - Tay Nguyen - Da Lat.

The screenings are organised by the Viet Nam Cinema Department, in co-operation with its partners, the People's Army Cinematography and Giai Phong (Liberation) Film Studio, together with local cinemas.

Two films, including Gio Rung Suong (Wind Blows through the Forest) and Gio Thien Duong (Wind in the Heavens), and nine documentaries, including Chuyen Cua Nha (Nha's Story) and Vi Su Binh Yen Cua Bien (For the Peace of the Sea), will be shown.

Produced by State-owned film studios, the films feature the topics of love, family and social problems, while the documentaries are about residents and soldiers who live on the Truong Sa archipelago.

The organisers will also deliver videos and DVDs of the films to people living in remote areas of 64 cities and provinces.

As part of the screenings, the public can meet the film producers, scriptwriters and actors. The screenings end on July 23.

Cultural programme features Dong Loc heroines

The Ha Tinh Province's People's Committee in co-operation with is partners will organise a special cultural programme to mark the 46th anniversary of the Dong Loc Junction Victory on July 24, 1968.

The two-day event, Dong Loc- Nga Ba Bat Tu (Immortal Dong Loc Junction), which will begin on July 23, will include celebrations around Ha Tinh and in the National Dong Loc Memorial Relic Area located in the province's Can Loc District.

It will include incense offerings to young volunteers who died at Dong Loc, an important place on the Viet Minh's North to South supply line. Each supply truck had to carry soldiers, food, and munitions where US aircraft heavily bombarded a 50-ha area.

Art performances to highlight the deaths of 12 girls, aged 17 to 20, who helped soldiers and later became legends, will also be included.

The event will be followed by a music gala staged by local traditional art troupes. Hundreds of heroic mothers, veterans and soldiers will be invited by the organisers. The gala will be broadcast live on Viet Nam Television's VTV2.

Library focuses on disadvantaged children

A library for disadvantaged children called Library of Dreams, funded by the HCM City Youth Union and Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper along with other partners, has opened in Lam Dong Province's Da Lat City last weekend. It offers hundreds of books, comics and videos featuring music, painting and photography.

The library's volunteers also provide free training in martial arts, foreign languages, and sports.

Play to bring courageous Hanoian resistance to life

A theatrical production will be staged by veteran director Doan Hoang Giang and the Ha Noi Drama Theatre highlighting Ha Noi's resistance against the French colonists.

Based on a script by writer Pham Van Quy, the drama Nhung Nguoi Con Ha Noi (Ha Noi's Offspring) will re-enact a historic period when Hanoians joined the national resistance in 1946.

The well-covered theme will be a challenge for Giang who is one of four known directors on the northern stage. The Ha Noi-born director is expected to face sell out crowds for his latest drama.

"The old story is perfect for the director to make his mark on directing. A huge stage will be set up to depict the scene of Hanoians undaunted by the task of protecting their capital," said Giang.

"The elegance and courtesy of Hanoians is expressed not only in their daily life but also in their fierce struggle. They dare to sacrifice their life to take up arms against the French," said Giang.

The drama will not focus on different social classes, but rather the common struggle felt by all Hanoians during the period when they protected the capital, said Giang.

"As a result, my stage will not focus on an individual".

Melodies extracted from popular songs Nguoi Ha Noi (The Hanoian), Thien Thai (Fairy Land) and Dan Chim Viet (Viet Nam's Flock of Birds) by famous musicians Nguyen Dinh Thi and Van Cao will accompany the dramatic scenes.

About 100 actors from the Ha Noi Drama Theatre will take to the huge stage. Giang is well recognised as one of the nation's top directors of huge stage productions. In 1984, he directed the drama Dien Bien Phu with 350 actors and with the stage set up to run from outside to inside the theatre.

"We will act out the drama embodying the spirit of Hanoians during this period in history, which is especially relevant now at a time when Viet Nam's seas and islands are being invaded," said Minh Hoa, one of the leading actors of the Ha Noi Drama Theatre.

The drama Ha Noi's Offspring will premiere at the end of this month. 

French photographer captures Central Highland images

French photographer Jean Marie Duchange is showcasing 34 photos of the Vietnam Central Highland region in the 1950s at an exhibition, which opened at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi on July 10.

The photos were taken during  his visits to the Central Highland region from June 1952 to July 1955 and were selected from nearly 200 photos that his daughter Évelyne Duchange and granddaughter Nadège Bourgoin presented to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

Museum Deputy Director Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thieu spoke highly of the photo collection, saying they help visitors know more about daily lives of ethnic minority people in the Central Highland region, as well as their architectural art, traditional customs and religious rituals.

The exhibition running until January 11 2015, also displays the camera that Jean Marie Duchange used to take the photos of Central Highlanders and landscapes.

Dong Son culture introduced in RoK

The Jeju National Museum is prominently displaying 400 artefacts from Vietnam’s bronze age Dong Son culture at an exhibition in the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The event focuses on three themes: “Pre-Dong Son Cultures”, “the Red River and Dong Son culture”, and “Cultures at metal age in central and southern Vietnam”.

On display are materials depicting the spiritual lives of the Dong Son people, their main economic industries (rice cultivation and metallurgy and bronze casting) and items related to the founding of the first state-Van Lang.

Special artefacts showcased include a bronze drum, bronze jar, jewellery, and hunting tools.

The Dong Son culture develops directly from pre-Dong Son cultures in the Red River, Ma River and Lam River valleys in northern Vietnam. It dated from the 7th century BC to the 1st century AD.

The organizing board said that the exhibition running until September 10, gives Korean and international friends an insight into Vietnam’s long-standing cultural and historical traditions. The next exhibition on Dong Son culture will be staged in the RoK’s Naju National Museum.

Exhibition helps raise youngsters’ patriotism

Hundreds of photos, documents and archives confirming Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty are being put on show at an ongoing exhibition in the northern province of Hai Duong.

Several objects expose China’s illegal placement of its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s waters, which has incurred a strong storm of protests both domestically and globally.

The event helps raise locals’ patriotism and determination, especially among the youngsters, to safeguard the nation’s sacred sovereignty over seas and islands.

It runs from July 14 to August 10.

Vietnamese navy’s first victory on photo display

A series of photos capturing seas, islands and naval soldiers are put on display in the central province of Nghe An, as part of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the first victory by the Vietnam People’s Navy.

On August 2-5, 1964, the Vietnamese navy attacked the US destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf, shot down eight aircraft and arrested the first

US pilot Everett Alvarez in northern Vietnam, starting the force’s tradition of “Winning the first battle”.

The display also vividly reflects the significance of sea and islands to Vietnam’s development, and the modernisation of the navy today.

On the occasion, the province also introduced a collection 60 photos featuring its contributions to the victory and the nationwide cause of safeguarding sacred sovereignty over seas and islands.

The exhibition will run from July 12-17.

Exhibition reflects HCM City painters' patriotism

The Ho Chi Minh City-based painters and cartoonists are expressing their patriotism about Vietnam's sovereignty through works on display at the city's Fine Arts Museum.

Bao Ve Bien Gioi – Bien Dao (Defend Vietnamese Borders and Seas) showcases 48 paintings and cartoons created by 35 members of the city's Fine Arts Association.

Ma Thanh Cao, director of the museum, said the paintings reflected the painters' feelings about the country's independence, peace and sustainable development.

The exhibition features images of soldiers guarding the country's sea waters as well as works depicting fishermen protecting their offshore ships to safeguard Vietnam's sovereignty in the East Sea.

It also includes copies of four old maps that show the country's sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly).

The event will remain open until July 17.

After the opening in the city, the exhibition will be moved to municipal colleges and universities, and the neighbouring provinces of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Binh Duong.

Venezuelan, Vietnamese artisans share traditional knowhow

Artisans from the Phu Vinh rattan and bamboo craft village in Hanoi on July 11 learnt about weaving techniques used by Venezuela's Warao indigenous people.

At a workshop in Hanoi, Warao artisan Lilisbeth Aguilera shared with her Vietnamese peers the traditional weaving techniques that Warao people use to create many products including bags, hats, slippers, baskets and jewellery. All the products are made from natural materials such as water hyacinth, fibrous plant curagua and seeds.

Araceli Garcia Reyes, director of the Venezuelan National Centre of Handicrafts and Fine Arts, informed the workshop of the handicrafts produced by different tribal groups living in Venezuela.

She also spoke about her government's policies to support Venezuelan artists to preserve and develop their skills, which contribute significantly to the multi-ethnic culture of the country.

Vietnamese painter and expert on handicrafts and fine arts Vu Hy Thieu also spoke at the workshop, which was part of an ongoing exhibition of

Venezuelan handicraft products at the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts.