Switzerland casts plaques of Ha Long Bay in bronze

In preparation for the Official New7Wonders of Nature inauguration ceremonies, Switzerland is being casting two plaques of Ha Long Bay in bronze.

The plaques, 1.2m high and 1m wide, weighing around 100kg each will be sent to Vietnam before the holding of ceremonies in Hanoi on April 27 and in Ha Long City on May 1 with special art performances.

They will be placed in Hanoi and at the Bai Chay tourism site in Ha Long.

The NewOpenWorld Organisation has sent a sample of the plaque to Vietnam for consideration, hoping that Vietnam will invite representatives from 6 other countries which have wonders of nature to attend the ceremonies to share experience in protecting and preserving wonders of nature.

Ha Long Bay was officially recorgnised as one of five new world wonders of nature but two wonders of Indonesia and South Africa have remained to be crosschecked.

Ponagar Festival 2012 sparkles in Khanh Hoa

The 2012 Goddess Ponagar Festival opened on April 11, in the central coastal city of Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province, attracting more than 6,000 pilgrims and visitors.

At the opening ceremony, various traditional Cham dances were performed, including fan and ceramic dances featuring melodies from Saranai panpipes and Ghinang and Paranung drums, traditional Cham musical instruments.

Earlier in the week, the release of ten thousand smaller and 20 large colourful lanterns was held on the Cai River, to pray for citizens and soldiers who contributed to the cause of national construction and defense.

The event is the biggest religious festival of Khanh Hoa province this year, with many cultural rituals on display which are unique to the Cham people.

The festival is held annually from the 20th to 23rd of the third lunar month, to commemorate the Goddess Thien Y A Na, Holy Mother of the Cham community in the Southern Central and Central Highlands regions.

Applicants invited to take part in Miss Sport Viet Nam

Vietnamese women aged from 18 to 26 are invited to take part in the contest.

20 candidates will be selected in the final round to compete for the titles of Miss Fashion, Miss Perfect Body and Miss Talent.

The final ceremony will be held in August at Ba Na Hills in Da Nang City. People interested in participating can find more information about the contest at www.misssport.vn.

The contest, first organised in 1993, aims to honour health, beauty and talent in women's sports. —

By smoking on catwalk, model raises debate

Thanh Hang, a well-known local model, has stirred a public debate after she smoked during a recent catwalk performance.

At the Elle Spring Summer 2012 Fashion Show last week at the Ho Chi Minh City Zoo, Hang, who walked as the leading model for the collection by designer Do Manh Cuong, stunned audiences watching the show by smoking during her time on the stage.

In explaining the act, designer Do Manh Cuong said Hang’s smoking was an expression for the collection’s concept of the lonely and desperate mood of a young girl who broke up with her boyfriend.

“It was just an e-cigarette, not a real one. It was only a tool to transfer the artistic concept of the collection to audiences,” Cuong added.

Though many audience members agreed that the smoking made the catwalk more fanciful, the incident has still raised eyebrows among the public.

Vo Van Nam, vice director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism said that at the rehearsal before the show, Hang did not smoke. The managing agency only learned of the incident after news about it was posted.

He added that the cigarette was not a real one, though the audience was nonetheless shocked by the image of a model smoking on a catwalk.

He also expressed the concern that the incident could be a precedent for bringing banned goods into art performances.

According to Nam, although tobacco products are on the list of goods banned from advertising, the department has been confused by the case, since it needs time to consider if smoking on a catwalk is advertising.

Artists should be aware of how their actions affect the community, Nam said. “If they violate the law, for example by showing their body on a catwalk, they will be fined.”

In March, the culture department fined local model Thai Ha VND5 million for exposing most of her breasts in a skimpy outfit at an advertising event.

Earlier, Quang Binh Province’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism announced a VND3.5 million fine against the organizer of the “Night of Beauties” charity music show, in which many performers were criticized for donning skimpy costumes last August.

First digital photo, sign show opens doors in HCM City

The first international C to be held in the country opened yesterday at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Products on displays include digital cameras, camcorders, photo finishing and processing equipment, video and film technology, moving-image displays, digital message boards, camera facilities, professional audio equipment, lighting equipment and broadcast automation.

Besides introducing the latest technology to consumers, the event offers an opportunity for local and foreign businesses to exchange information and seek business partners, according to Bui Van Huyen from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The event is organised by Eifec Co Ltd and Exporum, one of the leading exhibition organisers in South Korea. It closes on Saturday.-

Hue spends VND1.6billion on upgrading exhibition house

The Thua Thien - Hue Provincial People’s Committee has approved a VND1.6billion (US$80,000) plan to upgrade an exhibition house in Hue where sculptural works by the late artist Diem Phung Thi are displayed.

In 1994, the Diem Phung Thi Art Exhibition House was inaugurated at 1 Phan Boi Chau Street. The place shows 175 works of Thi, who was listed in The Arts of the Twentieth Century category of the French Larousse Dictionary in 1991.

In 1946, Diem Phung Thi graduated from the Ha Noi Dentistry University and began to study sculpture in 1959.

In 1992, she became an Academician of the Austria–based European Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts.

In the last years of her life, she returned to Viet Nam and opened an exhibition room at the Vietnamese - French Culture Exchange Institute in HCMC, as well as several exhibitions in Hanoi.

She passed away in Hue in 2002.

Local station brings classic movies back to TV

“Little House on the Prairie,” the renowned 1990s American TV series, will be broadcast for the second time in Vietnam starting this weekend after its premiere in the country in 1996.

The 200-episode series, purchased by the Vietnam Film Import-Export and Distribution Company (Fafilm Vietnam), is scheduled to be aired at 8pm on SCTV 16, starting from April 15.

Adapted from the best-selling series “Little House” by American writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, the movie stars Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert and tells a touching story about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.

First aired in the US in 1974, the film received many awards, including Outstanding Cinematography in Entertainment Programming for a Series for the episode titled "The Fighter" at the 1978 Emmy Awards; Best TV Script for the episode titled "May We Make Them Proud" at the 1981 Western Writers of America Spur Award; and Best Young Actress in a Drama Series for Melissa Gilbert at the 1984 Young Artist Awards.

“Little House on the Prairie” is part of Fafilm Vietnam’s project to bring to the country classic movies including “Romeo and Juliet,” “Gone With The Wind” and “Casablanca,” all of which have been favored by local audiences both young and old.

Clip about Hue National High School causes stir

A video made by local students about the Hue National High School has caused a stir on the internet due to its pure content and scenes depicting the beauty of the century-old school.

Directed by 21-year-old Nguyen Chi Long, a former student of the school, the video titled “Our Fairytale” tells the story of the romantic and pure love of a student couple modified with the background music of the songs “You and Me” and “Today is A Fairytale” sung by American singers Lifehouse and Taylor Swift, respectively.

The clip also features areas of the school like the library, pool and the beautiful maple tree in the school yard, each of which are unforgettable for the school’s students.

“Our Fairytale” has received more than 120,000 views with 1,620 likes from Youtube users since being released ten days ago.

“This video clip is dedicated to our beloved Quoc Hoc, to all the people who have been or will be in this school, and to everyone who has loved this little place,” the clip’s creators wrote on Youtube.

"This has been a fairytale for those who have been in love here and have been loved here. It's our fairytale for a lifetime,” they added.
Most viewers commented that the video brought back school time memories.

“This is a good way to recall memories for people who left the school. Watching this clip, I see a fairytale in our modern life,” Romantica2101 said.

Still, some said they would prefer the video to have Vietnamese background music.

“I think they should use Vietnamese songs,” ZinNhock commented.
The clip’s director said this is the first time his group has filmed anything, so the work certainly has mistakes.

“We have no experience, no technique. The only thing we have is the love of our school,” Long added.

France remains important partner of Hue Festival

Ségolène Royal, president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council of France, last Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on culture and tourism in cooperation with Nguyen Van Cao, chairman of Thua Thien Hue province’s People’s Committee in the central city of Hue.

In the memorandum, the regional council pledged to participate in the Hue Festival 2014 to expand the size of the festival so that more local residents to enjoy the event.

In addition, the region will help Thua Thien-Hue improve the quality of human resources for the tourism sector, the value of heritage sties and the management of international cooperation, as well as strengthen eco-tourism and upgrade traditional houses.

The Poitou-Charentes Regional Council of France has been an important partner of the Hue Festival since it began in 2000.

The biennial Hue Festival is an important cultural and tourist festival with a range of scheduled events including exhibitions of fine art and numerous other cultural activities that highlight Vietnam’s unique cultural identity.

Only half way, Hue Festival already a success   

Within the first three days of opening, from April 7-9, Hue Festival had attracted 65,000 tourists, including 30,000 from overseas and boosted hotel capacity by over 87 per cent.

Hue Festival has over the years become a national and international cultural and tourism event, attracting thousands of domestic and foreign visitors and creating vast media curiosity.

In 2010, the Festival received funds amounting to VND10 billion, while in 2012 the funds reached VND17 billion. All these funds for organising the festival came from private businesses and philanthropic individuals, not so much from state funds.

The Festival is a good opportunity for businesses to advertise their profits and develop further profitable commercial contacts.  

The “Dem Phuong Dong” (Oriental Night) event, one of the highlights of Hue Festival, staged every night from April 8 to April 14, presents a range of artistic performances of Court music and dance, traditional songs from Hue as well as its cuisine, and exotic royal dishes.

The Oriental Night also harboured the unique cultural values of other countries in the region with a fashion show featuring traditional costumes from Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Mongolia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia as well as Vietnam.

The ancient royal palaces in Hue seemed to travel back in time on the evening of April 10, with flags, sparkling candles, lanterns and the aroma of incense in the air, giving visitors a taste of life as a Royal during the Nguyen Dynasty, from 1802-1945.  

Beside Oriental Night, the “Dem Hoang Cung” (Royal Night) began on April 10 in the ancient Palace. More than 800 tickets each worth VND 600,000 had been sold out.

Visitors not only were enjoying the Vietnamese royal food but also managed to take part in some of the scenes, such as the princess’s procession and the changing of the guards’ ceremony.  

They also enjoyed watching the performances “Princess returning home”, “Memoir of the female servant”.

Earlier that day, the first international drum and percussion instrument festival gathered together hundreds of Bronze and Royal drummers, the Tay Son war drum group and musicians playing Tay Nguyen gongs.  

Also as a part of the Hue Festival, there are performances by 40 art troupes from Vietnam and 28 other countries and territories.  

An exhibition of photographs is being held at the Royal Palace, with 29 photos of Hue by Vietnamese photographer Dao Hoa Nu and 60 more focusing on Vietnam, its countryside and its people, by Japanese photographer Teruyo Iwahiro.

HCM City tourism festival attracts businesses

Seventy-six travel operators, hotels, and transport and tourism businesses are attending a tourism festival which opened at the 23/9 Park on April 12.

The festival, which runs until April 15, is expected to attract more than 300,000 visitors.

This is a good chance for the city’s tourism sector to exchange experiences and coordinate with partners to promote its landscapes, special tourism and cultural products, craft villages and festivities.

HCM City introduced a southern fruit festival, Nghinh Ong festival, HCM City - 100 interesting things and a series of other festivities, such as Oc Om Boc festival of the Khmer ethnic group, Kate festival of the Cham ethnic group, and a festival of the Chau Ro ethnic group.

Businesses also offered promotional tours and new tourism services. For instance, Saigontourist is presenting more than 300 special domestic and foreign tours, including those designed for elderly people.
 
Latin Reggaeton Night at D7 restaurant

A Latin music and dance program themed ‘Latin Reggaeton Night’ will take place at 8:30 p.m. at Au Lac do Brazil Phu My Hung restaurant in HCMC’s District 7 on Saturday.

A Churrasco menu is available to diners before the night begins. After that, Warapo, a famous Latin music band from Cuba, will thrill guests with love songs and animated dances.

The restaurant is located at 36/19-21, Sky Garden 2, Pham Van Nghi Street in District 7.
 
The Cold Room at  Zero Station

Uu Dam, Pham Tran Viet Nam and Nguyen Duc Tu are developing a pilot art project called Raw Ideas with an installation exhibition that includes video arts called ‘The Cold Room’ at Zero Station, 288 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3.

The experiment, which is underway, sees the three artists turn the ground floor of Zero Station into a cold room littered with ice sticks. Nam puts on the ice sticks coffins with cross figures and drops of fresh blood, while Dam has created a fallen electricity pole with interlacing wires, presenting the risks of life.

Dam also makes a video clip with a number of people putting on raincoats and walking by together on the street. “In any society, people have invisible and solid relationships and they will link together into a block which will run into a defined direction,” he said.

Each work in the cold room is made for visitors to freely imagine and perceive in their own way. And at the same time, each visitor can become a part of the exhibition which finishes up on Tuesday.
 
Deep Roots’ Cuban folk, dance sound comes to Hue, Hanoi

Deep Roots troupe will bring its Cuban folk melodies to Hue Festival on Monday, Hanoi Opera House on April 20 and Military Theater in Hanoi on April 21.

Deep Roots will introduce to audiences a colorful show, featuring Cuba’s musical history. Audiences will make a journey through different periods of African and Cuban culture, from colonial times with the appearance of black slaves on the South American island to animated Salsa dances.

The shows will bring audiences an insight into Yoruba religion with images of typical goddesses via rhythms, dances and costumes such as Eleggua, Yemaya Shango, Oshun and Oggun.

The Deep Roots troupe was founded in 1974 and is renowned worldwide. The troupe attracts audiences with its mixture of folk music and contemporary dance such as ballet, rumba, danzon, cha cha, mambo, bolero and salsa casino.

For tickets, contact the Art Performing Center on the sixth floor, 32 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District.