French wine, food showcased in HCM City

A French Wine and Food Fair will take place in Ho Chi Minh City on October 22-23.

The event, the first of its kind in Vietnam to be jointly held by the French Embassy and the Equatorial Hotel, will spotlight the best seven dishes and seven kinds of wine from different French regions such as AuA, Vins Descombe Vietnam , Daloc, Red Apron, Bacchus Corner and the Warehouse.

The event will include 14 stands for wine and two for other beverages.

Visitors will also have the chance to take part in traditional French games and live music.

The fair will now be held annually in the Equatorial hotel.

Exhibition revels in diversity

The cultures and diversity of Southeast Asia are on display in a new exhibition of lacquerware and Indonesian glass paintings entitled “A Glimpse of Southeast Asia” that opens at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.

The art of glass painting originated in Europe but was introduced to Indonesia in the early 20th century by the Dutch, flourished there during the 1930s. Artists paint on the reverse side of the glass, with the first stroke on the glass seen in the foreground of the image as paintings are viewed through the glass.

The new exhibition aimed to increase public understanding of the links among Vietnamese ethnic groups and those of Southeast Asia as a whole, which together form both a unity and a diversity of cultures, according to museum director Vo Quang Trong.

In preparation for the exhibition, museum staff travelled throughout the region collecting objects and materials, added Vo.

"We were met with excitement and collaboration from cultural institutions, museums, researchers, private collectors, and many people who are keen to preserve their cultures," he said.

The collections were particularly enriched by objects donated by Prof Kaneko Kazushige from Japan , Prof Le Thanh Khoi from France , and Rosalia Sciortino and O’ong Maryono from Italy . The resulting exhibition is based on a Vietnamese-French project entitled Enhancement of Vietnamese Museum’s Heritage, organised by the French Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.

Since 2005, French experts have participated in designing and giving professional advice on exhibit space. They have also worked with the museum staff on selecting objects, photographs and films, making suggestions, editing texts and captions, shaping the catalogue and designing graphic forms, said Christine Hemmet, curator of France ’s Branly Museum .

A Glimpse on Southeast Asia also celebrates the occasion of the museum’s 15th anniversary and will run through October 5 of next year. With the opening of the Kite Building , currently under construction, the exhibition will be expanded to include costumes and other exhibits on the religion, performing arts and social lives of the region’s ethnic groups.

Russian newspaper praises Hanoi’s grand festival

Sergey Afonin, a Russian journalist, praised the magnificent festival marking Hanoi’s 1000th birthday in the Tassovets newspaper, part of the ITAR TASS news agency, in its 2nd October issue.

The closing ceremony of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi was very impressing with music, spectacular light and traditional Vietnamese costumes, plus the thousands of artists involved in the event, said the author.

Bodhi leaves heal more than just the soul

Ten exceptional works of art made with authentic Bodhi leaves from India are awarded today on Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day, to 10 outstanding philanthropists who pledged to each fund 100 eye operations through Anh Sang Tri Tue (Light of Mind) charitable organization to sponsor eye surgery for disadvantaged Vietnamese children.

The art pieces were the first 10 out of 52 combining the holy leaves from Bodhgaya, India with Vietnamese lacquer commissioned by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and the Vietnam Buddhist Church.

They were on display at the “Bo de Hoa Tam” traveling exhibit September 22-24 at Bat Nha Pagoda in Danang, September 30 to October 2 at Tao Sach Pagoda in Hanoi and from October 8-10 at Xa Loi Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City to coincide with 1,000th Thang Long-Hanoi’s anniversary.

"The 52 pieces represent the weeks in a year," said Nguyen Doan Anh Khoa, exhibit co-organizer and marketing director of BODE Code Business Communications JSC.

“With the hope that through Bo De Hoa Tam, Buddha’s spirit will reach Vietnamese families, especially businessmen – who are under constant personal and professional pressure - and promote their inner peace and mindfulness,” he added.

In 2008 the artists made a pilgrimage to Mahabodhi Pagoda in India’s northern Bihar State, where the Buddha is thought to have attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree and a direct descendant of that tree is still worshipped by visitors from all corners of the earth.

PV