New Delhi showcases India’s cultural vestiges in Vietnam

New Delhi’s Indian Council for Cultural Relations opened a photo exhibition on Indian cultural vestiges in Vietnam on February 8.

The seven-day event displays 50 photos featuring the temples, towers, and statues of the ancient kingdom of Champa.

The photos were taken by India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee President Geetesh Sharma and Committee Secretary General Kusum Jain during their visits to Vietnam.

Sharma and Jain said the photos prove there once existed a kingdom of Hindi/Champa people in the central coastal region between Binh Thuan and Quang Nam provinces.

Over the past 40 years, Sharma has supported the Vietnamese people in their struggle for national independence as well as in the country’s national construction efforts. He is heavily involved in the recent delegation exchanges strengthening trade and cultural ties between India and Vietnam.

He explained the exhibition aims to help the younger generations of both countries recognise their cultural similarities, contributing to the consolidation of India-Vietnamrelations.

Sharma has also written books on the Vietnam-India relationship, including one on bilateral relationship since its establishment.  

Danang City People’s Committee Chairman Van Huu Chien sent a letter congratulating  Sharma on the exhibition, citing it as a worthwhile addition to the traditional relationship between the two nations.

Chien is confident that Sharma will made a greater effort to promote relations between Danang and Indian partners.

Historic Hanoi: A 3D journey back in time

An exhibition of 3D images of the capital city of Hanoi is open to visitors in the courtyard of the Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi every day from 6pm until 9pm.

This is the result of years of painstaking research of a group of 30 young architects together with support from local historians, who want to document the changing face of Hanoi throughout the ages using 3D technology.

“No other country in the region has held on to its unique heritage quite in the same way as Hanoi,” said Bodo Klingenberg, the hotel’s General Manager. “The result is a very special city that still offers many glimpses into the past with architectural gems at every turn and a cityscape that has not yet given way to soulless, international conformity and modernity.”

Entry to the exhibition is free.

2013 Book Street Festival opens in HCMC

The third annual book street festival themed “books and 54 ethnic groups” began on February 7 along Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 streets of Mac Thi Buoi, Nguyen Hue, and Ngo Duc Ke.

Twelve prestigious publishers from all over the country are represented at the festival.

Its displays include 223 books on the culture, clothes, and historical sites of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.

The festival also showcases 207 books on Vietnam’s borders, seas, and islands.

E-books have become part of the festival in response to readers’ demands.

Ngo Duc Ke Street introduces 94 children’s books, including some published in the 1940s, while Mac Thi Buoi Street has a book café where visitors can quench their thirst.

The festival will last through to February 13.

Plan approved to preserve Stone Plateau

Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan has just approved the master plan for preservation of the Work Geological Park in Dong Van Stone Plateau in 2012-2020.
 
The master plan covers four stone mountainous districts of Ha Giang Province (Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh and Quan Ba), with a total area of 2,356.8 km2.

Accordingly, the Dong Van Geological Park will be preserved and developed as a natural museum displaying indigenous geological, biological, cultural and historical features of Viet Nam through numerous topical parks.

A geological park will be built in Meo Vac District while a geo-ecological park established in Yen Minh and Quan Ba Districts.

Investments will be made here in order to develop a community-based economic and tourism zone of national significance.

There will be four tourism centers in the zone, including the Dong Van History and Culture Tourism Center; the Meo Vac Bordergate Scientific Tourism, Adventure and Trade Center; the Yen Minh Green Urban Eco-tourism Center and the Quan Ba Entertainment Center.

Numerous activities during Bac Ninh Culture – Tourism Week 2013

Bac Ninh Culture – Tourism Week 2013 will be organised from February 18 to 27 (9 to 18 of the first lunar month of the year of snake).

The Bac Ninh Culture – Tourism Week will  include the Bac Ninh tourism and trade fair, Lim Festival, Love Duets Competition, Spring Newspaper Festival, an ornament exhibition, folk games, motor parade along the Duong River, Kim Duong Vuong Festival and Do Temple Festival.

The Bac Ninh Culture – Tourism Week highlights an art programme “Returning to the land of Love Duets” with the theme “The Origin of Spirit” which will be organised on February 14 at Kinh Bac Culture Centre.

This year’s art programme “Returning to the land of Love Duets” will mainly target promoting the image of the people and land of Bac Ninh and advertising the cultural and spiritual tourism products of the land of Love Duets.

In response to the National Tourism Year 2012 Red River Delta – Hai Phong 2013, Bac Ninh province will join activities in Haiphong, such as an photo exhibition themed “New Rural Areas”, a national art photo exhibition themed “Discovering Red River’s Civilisation”, performing and promoting Bac Ninh Love Duets, Red River Delta gastronomy and Red River Delta public art festival.

Welcoming the Year of Snake 2013 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

Many folklore cultural activities to welcome the Year of Snake 2013 will be held at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology on the occasion of Tet festival.

Diverse cultural activities such as creating Dong Ho folk prints, calligraphy writing, enjoying Tay ethic minority group cuisine and water puppetry performances, will take place at the museum on the fourth and fifth day of the first lunar month (Feb. 13 and 14, 2013).

Especially, folk art performances and games, and ethnic minority cuisine will feature the participation of ethnic groups like the Dao, Khomu, Xa Pho, San Chay, Hmong and Thai from the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai.

Folk games common on Tet holidays include swinging, tug of war, walking on stilts, and others. Traditional foods of ethnic minorities will be available to visitors.

The museum is located in Cau Giay district, Hanoi, about twenty minutes by taxi from the city centre. It is both a research centre and a public museum exhibiting information on the ethnic groups of Vietnam. The mission of the museum includes scientific research, collection, documentation, conservation, exhibition and preserving the cultural and historic patrimony of the nation’s different ethnic groups.

The museum also serves to guide research, conservation and technology that are specific to the work of an ethnographic museum. In its planning for the future, the museum intends to present the cultures and civilisations of other countries of South-East Asia, as well as further afield./

Diverse cultural activities nationwide welcome Year of the Snake

Many cultural activities such as fireworks shows, art performances, cultural exchanges and exhibitions have been held nationwide to welcome the Year of Snake 2013 and the 83rd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (Feb.3).

In Hanoi, art performances will be held in centres of districts and towns. Especially, on the lunar New Year's Eve, a stage performance by the Hanoi Cheo theatre will take place at Ngoc Son Temple and fireworks will be set off at 29 places.

A festival to mark the 224th anniversary of Dong Da victory and a ceremony to receive the title of special national relic status for Co Loa historical relics will be held on the fifth day of the first lunar month.

Diverse festivals, including Huong Pagoda Festival in My Duc district, Co Loa Temple Festival in Dong Anh district, Soc Son Temple Festival in Soc Son district and Two Sisters’ Festival in Me Linh district, will open on the sixth day of the first lunar month.

In the northern province of Quang Ninh, fireworks will be set off at 11 localities and will be broadcast live on the provincial television network. After the fireworks, a festival to mark the lunar New Year will be held.

In the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, the provincial Department of Education and Training has held a ceremony to mark the 83rd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and a poster exchange on the Communist Party of Vietnam and studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s example in ethics. After over one month, the exchange programme received 582 posters from schools. The organizing board presented six awards to schools in the locality.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the city People’s Committee held a meeting with consulates, economic-commercial and cultural representative offices, offices of international organizations. City leaders sent New Year's congratulations to international friends and thanked the international community for active contributions for Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

In the southern province of Tay Ninh, 130 art performances and film screenings will be held for people in border and remote areas and soldiers at border guard posts. In addition, traditional dragon dances, pioneer art performance festivals and singing festivals will be organized.

In the central province of Quang Ngai, fireworks will be set off in the mountainous district of Tra Bang and island district of Ly Son for the first time. In addition, spring newspaper festival and book exhibition are being held from February 3rd to 14th. Films will be screened in communes in six mountainous districts and the island district of Ly Son.