Vietnamese artists exhibit works in Hong Kong

The nation's struggle to modernise without losing its traditions and culture is being given visual expression by six outstanding artists in an exhibition in Hong Kong entitled Viet Nam Now, opening next Friday and continuing through September 9.

Contemporary: A bronze sculpture by Nguyen Thi Chinh Le is among the works

to be displayed at the exhibition Viet Nam Now in Hong Kong.

Works by artists Ha Tri Hieu, Nguyen Thi Chau Giang, Nguyen Quang Thang, Le Quoc Viet, Chinh Le and Nguyen The Son include paintings of oil on canvas, silk paintings, bronze sculptures, 3D photography, and calligraphy.

Widely exhibited in Viet Nam, these artists are emerging on the international stage. Never seen before in Hong Kong, their works honour and preserve the past while adapting and integrating traditional subjects and techniques in ways that resonate with contemporary audiences.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a documentary on the lives of the artists and the issues they address produced by Art Viet Nam Gallery in association with documentary filmmaker Bill Perna of Perna Content.

Exhibition features Con Dao prison from 1930-1945

An exhibition on the Con Dao prison from 1930-1945 opened on Friday at the Ton Duc Thang Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Over 130 photographs, documents and artifacts are on display, offering insight into the undaunted spirit of revolutionary soldiers under the shackles of the enemy at the Con Dao prison from 1930-1945.

The exhibition is made up of three sections showcasing an overall view of Con Dao prison, the prison from 1930 to 1945, and Con Dao prison today.

Con Dao prison, part of the barbaric prison system in the past, was known as ‘Hell on Earth’, where the French colonialists and US imperialists imprisoned and brutally tortured Vietnamese political prisoners.

More than 20,000 revolutionary soldiers sacrificed their lives in Con Dao prison for the cause of national independence and freedom, including martyrs of the revolution such as Le Hong Phong, Nguyen An Ninh and Vo Thi Sau.

The exhibition will last until February 28, 2013.

‘Hanoi Carnival 2012’ to feature multi-national cultures

Hanoi Carnival 2012, featuring the various diverse cultures of several nations around the world will be held at the Indochina Plaza in Hanoi from August 25-26.

The cultural event will give visitors a chance to learn more about the various cultural traditions of Japan, South Korea, India, France, Russia and Vietnam.

They will also take part in a series of cultural activities such as folk games, performances of Kpop dance, flashmob dance and cosplay contests.

A multi-national fair with 70 display booths in various fields like fashion, accessories, handmade products and handicrafts is expected to attract a large number of young people.

Historic citadel to become cultural-ecological park

A project has been approved by the Prime Minister to preseve and restore Ha Noi's Co Loa Citadel and make the 860ha into a national historic site as well as a cultural and ecological park with gardens and green space.

Art show, auction to benefit orphanages

An exhibition entitled There's a Rocket will be held today to help raise funds for two orphanages, the Ha Noi SOS Village and Thuy An Village in Ba Vi District.

The exhibition will feature about 80 artworks by children from the two villages expressing their dreams about a better life, including embroidery and gemstone paintings.

The exhibition and auction will take place at the 3D Centre Building, Duy Tan Street, Cau Giay District, Ha Noi. The exhibition was set up by Rocket, a volunteer organisation of domestic and international students.

There are multiple roads to take with art

The ‘Multiple Roads’ of Pham Tran Viet Nam, Nguyen Van Du, Phan Thi Mai Phuong, Thuy Anh, Nguyen Anh Thao, Truong Cong Tung and Phan Anh is currently on show at Cactus Contemporary Art Gallery in town.

The young artists use varied materials to make their own works appear in different content and styles as well as express their views on art.

They also want to stress to visitors that the exhibition is a colorful mosaic painting made from nay works and that there are many roads to practice art.

In that multicolor painting, visitors will see many issues, many voices as well as many thoughts as one artist depicts criticism on negative social problems, another sees life as fragile as a ceramic pot, some tell their deep loneliness, one uses a brush to explore hell and another expresses their dreams in colors.

“I paint big-bellied men and some women to signify the dark side of the development of Vietnam’s society. Time by time, a character is formed, and is reformed by erasing, casting, shaping over all my canvases,” said Nguyen Van Du.

Phan Anh said that “The changes in one’s mind and body are their own calling. The act of conceptualizing and journaling them down by a medium is just like when we are only left with a trace of bread which crumbles, so that we can track back the time and the place that we have been to.”

Meanwhile, Thuy Anh said that “Painting is as simple as it should be. I like to paint what I want to see and it is not important if it makes sense or not. Space on canvas can be shaped to make it interesting, attractive and adorable.”

The show runs until September 8 at the gallery, 17/12 Nguyen Huy Tuong Street in Binh Thanh District.

Vu Lan Festival in Suoi Tien Park

For Vu Lan Festival, which is also celebrated as Mother’s Day in Vietnam, Suoi Tien Park will organize numerous activities. For a starter, over 700 Buddhist monks from HCMC and neighboring provinces will gather to recite prayers and make offerings as well as other Buddhist rituals. The life and the journey to find the truth and take the veil of the Buddha will be depicted. On these two days, guests visiting Suoi Tien will have a chance to enjoy complimentary vegetarian food with entrance fees discounted 50% for all visitors.

Vu Lan Festival will be held from August 30-31 at Suoi Tien Park, 120 National Highway 1A, HCMC’s District 9.

Ban Phu Citadel languishes in disrepair

Ban Phu Citadel, a national historic site and an attractive destination for visitors to the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, has been seriously encroached by local people.

The citadel was built in the 18th century in Noong Het Commune, about 10km from Dien Bien Phu City, by Hoang Cong Chat (1706-69).He led peasants in a resistance movement against village tyrants, looters and invaders from the north.

The relics and temple nearby demonstrated the leader's merit to the country and people. The place was recognised as a national historic site in 1981.

Located to the south of Muong Thanh paddy field, the site, with its poetic scenery of lotus ponds surrounded by a garden of old trees grown by Chat as a symbol of solidarity, attracts thousands of visitors every year.

The annual festival commemorating the leader is organised on the 25th of the second lunar calendar month, his death anniversary.

However, in recent years, many people who live near the relics trespassed onto citadel land to live and work, according to Tran Cong Kha, chairman of the People's Committee in Noong Het Commune.

The structure of this citadel includes two systems of defence works which are about 5m high and several kilometres long, separating the inner citadel from the residential area.

The wall's base is surrounded by dense bamboos and a deep moat.

Now many people use parts of the base and moat to grow bananas and raise fish. Walls of the citadel are sometimes converted into makeshift houses and stalls.

Worse still, some locals set up breeding facilities close to the site, causing pollution and inconveniencing tourists.

"The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently upgraded the infrastructure and widened the roads to make it more convenient for tourists and organising festivals," said Kha.

"We warned the people who trespassed in the corridor of the citadel that if they don't clear away illegal constructions up to 5m from the wall's base, we will co-operate with relevant agencies to coerce them," he said.

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