HCM City festival features work by artists under-40

One-hundred artists under 40 years old will participate in the biennial Youth Fine Arts Festival, which will open at the HCM City University of Fine Arts tomorrow.

The artists, all from HCM City, will display 129 works in various genres, including painting, sculpture, graphic and installations. The organising board will award prizes to the 11 best works in different categories.

The two-week festival is organised by the city's Fine Arts Association, in co-operation with Viet Nam Fine Arts Association. It will take place at 5 Phan Dang Luu Street in Binh Thanh District.

Thai Nguyen celebrates with a cup

Brewing heritage: Traditional tea parties will be presented at the festival. — File Photo

As many as 3,000 tourists and members from the World Tea Association will join various activities, including exhibitions, international workshops on tea, beauty contests, tea tasting ceremonies and traditional art performances, during the five-day event.

Ma Thi Nguyet, provincial chairwoman, said that local authorities and enterprises had invested hundreds of billions of dong in renovating access roads to the Tan Cuong tea growing area.

More than 20 teashops have sprung up along the road to Coc Lake, a famed scenic spot located 15km southwest of the city centre.

The organising board has additionally mobilised 1,000 volunteers, mainly consisting of local students, to serve as guides during the festival.

"We will allow visitors to come to pick tea leaves for themselves, dry them and make a cup or two," said Tran Van Thang, a tea grower from the Tan Cuong Commune, "Specially processed tea, worth millions of dong per kilogramme, will also be on offer."

An art show in praise of tea culture will take place by Coc Lake tonight while another party will be organised on August 20 Square in the city on Monday night, where local tea growers, domestic and international tea enterprises and tourists can interact and exchange experiences.

With a total tea growing area of 17,000ha and an annual production volume of 120,000 tonnes, Thai Nguyen ranks second (after Lam Dong in the Central Highlands) in the list of the largest tea growing localities in the country.

The province has become famous for tea products, which have reached far away markets such as Russia, the Middle East and the European Union.

Hat xoan singing seeks recognition as UNESCO cultural heritage

Viet Nam's hat xoan ancestral worship singing, with its origins in Phu Tho Province, will be considered for recognition as a cultural heritage tradition by UNESCO.

The decision will be taken during the sixth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage from November 22-29 in Indonesia.

The UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage Department's Director Cecelie Duvelle said that hat xoan stood an excellent chance of receiving due recognition as an intangible part of national heritage. She added that Viet Nam was a dynamic country, full of awareness in preserving and developing its historic identity.

The singing tradition is one of 23 activities in need of urgent preservation and protection awaiting UNESCO recognition.

Indian experts set to help restore My Son Sanctuary

Experts from the Archaeological Survey of India are conducting a preliminary study of in the central province of Quang Nam in the belief that the site was a centre of Hinduism in Southeast Asia region and in an urgent effort to rehabilitate crumbling temples and towers.

This is part of a US$3 million restoration project funded by the Indian government that will begin in earnest next year to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and India.

Da Lat Flower Festival scheduled to open on New Year's Eve

One of the main sites for the Da Lat Flower Festival will be Doi Cu (Cu Hill), where the Da Lat Golf Course is located.

Doi Cu will open to the public from December 31 until January 29. The festival takes place from December 31 to January 3.

"A flower space covering 2.7 ha on the hill will display 100 kinds of Da Lat flowers," a press release from the organiser, the Da Lat Flowers Association, said. Visitors must buy tickets to enter the area.

The festival will also include 21 programmes, including a huge flower market, international flower exhibitions at the city's Flower Garden, a flower parade on the streets of Da Lat, music shows and a food festival.

The city organised three flower festivals in 2005, 2007 and 2010, attracting many foreign and local visitors.

Ten nominees named for Zing Music Awards

Cultural journalists have picked the Top 10 Artists of the Year for the Zing Music Awards 2011.

Nominees include top singers such as Ho Ngoc Ha, Dam Vinh Hung, Phuong Thanh, Thu Minh and My Tam. Ha currently tops the list with 33 votes while Hung and Tam share second place with 31 votes each.

Based on votes, experts and musicians will reveal the Artist of the Year at an awards ceremony on January 8, 2012, at the Hoa Binh Theatre in HCM City.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News