Co Tu ethnic architecture in spotlight

An international seminar on preserving the traditional architecture of the Co Tu ethnic group took place in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on August 20.

The event drew the participation of both domestic and international scientists and managers in related fields.

Participants heard research reports on the Co Tu’s culture and local architecture, as well as proposals on how to develop ecological tourism in Co Tu areas.

They shared experience in restoring the Guol House (Communal House) which is central to the social and cultural life and is the symbol of wealth and power for the Co Tu.

The restoration must ensure that the house’s traditional characteristics are preserved while meeting conditions to serve tourism, the experts said.

The Co Tu belong to the Mon Khmer language ethnic group. They live mostly in the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam.

Like most ethnic groups inhabiting the Truong Son mountain range, the Co Tu mainly live on agriculture.

In Thua Thien-Hue, they gather in Nam Dong mountainous district and A Luoi district.

Ancient coins discovered in Quang Binh

A pottery jar full of ancient copper coins has been found in Quang Thuan Village, Quang Trach District, in the central province of Quang Binh.

The jar was unearthed in the house of Nguyen Ai Khanh when workers were digging a well at the depth of 1,2m.

The 30cm-high jar contains 10,5kg of ancient coins dated back to the 10th-13th century, according to archaeologists.

The artefacts are being preserved at the Quang Binh General Museum and is expected to be presented to the public in the near future.

Activities promote Hoi An-Japan cultural exchange

The 10th Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange will take place between August 24-26 in Hoi An city, in the central province of Quang Nam to respond to the National Year of Heritage Tourism 2012.

During the three-day event, a wide range of activities have been scheduled including a photo exhibition “The long way of Hoi An-Japan cooperation and exchange”, another featuring the reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, an introduction of the history of Japan and Hoi An city in Vietnamese and English, and the inauguration of Luong The Vinh primary school built with financial assistance from Japan.

Environmental activities will also be a feature, with a community clean-up programme called ‘One Hour for a Cleaner Hoi An’ and the launch of a garbage reduction project modeled after Naha city in Japan.

Vo Phung, director of the Hoi An Centre for Culture and Sports, said that the event, jointly held by the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee and the Japanese Embassy, will symbolise the ties between Hoi An city and Japan in co-operative events through culture. Visitors will have a chance to watch special art performances and understand more about cultures and peoples of Hoi An and Japan.

HCM City artists show lotus's glory

Artists from the Bong Sen Theatre in HCM City depicted the national flower, lotus, in all its glory through song and dance at the National Professional Music and Dance Festival in Dac Lac Province yesterday.

Chuyen Ke Ve Sen (Story of the Lotus) was the city's sole entry at the festival.

The artists evoked the flower's simple and pure beauty through dances.

Following their act, traditional melodies in the form of chamber music filled the theatre.

Meritorious artist Dang Hung, director of Bong Sen, said his artists had been practising hard for two months.

"The theatre hopes to play a part in preserving and promoting the nation's culture.

"But it requires using new methods of staging and performing traditional music to achieve the desired effect."

Dance show tells life of performers

Artists from the HCM City-based Arabesque dance group will perform Chuyen Ke Nhung Chiec Giay (Story of Shoes) at the HCM City Opera tonight, Aug 21, and tomorrow night.

This will be the fifth time the show is performed in the city.

Directed by Nguyen Tan Loc, the show is about the life of dancers and their passion for dancing. This time, the show will include the stories of Hai Anh and Huu Thuan, two young, talented dancers who received the silver prize at the South Korean Contemporary Dance Festival in May 2012. These two parts, which are being performed for the first time in Viet Nam, won choreographer Ngo Thanh Phuong the golden prize at the festival.

In order to bring audiences more high-quality programmes, Arabesque dance group will perform Moc (Wood) again in October and Suong Som (Morning Dew) in November.

Charity programme aims to heal hearts

After successful campaigns in 2010 and 2011, the third Understanding the Heart programme to raise money for heart surgery for poor children and disadvantaged people began last week.

This year it will feature a programme called Connection of Million Hearts on August 15, launch of the Understanding the Heart Fund on August 24, Understanding the Heart talk shows at universities in HCM City and Ha Noi in September and October, and Talk Shows for Businesses in HCM City and Ha Noi in October and November.

At a meeting held to introduce the programme organised by the Understanding the Heart Charity Association in New York on April 4, Le Hoai Trung, head of the Vietnamese permanent delegation to the UN, said more than 10,000 babies are born with congenital heart diseases every year in Viet Nam, and only 30 percent of them get medical treatment.

He called on charities and kind-hearted people in the US to support Vietnamese child patients through the programme.

The association also organised a meeting in April to appraise Vietnamese students at the Centre for French Culture in Paris about the programme.

Farmer discovers ancient dragon

The Ho Dynasty Citadel's Heritage Preservation Centre recently received a green stone dragon head from a local person in Thanh Hoa province.

Vu Van Bang, who lives in Dong Minh Village, Vinh Phuc Commune, Vinh Loc District donated the artefact to the centre. He discovered it when he was doing farmwork inside the Ho Dynasty Citadel.

According to archaeologists, the dragon head dates back to the late 14th century and early 15th century (Tran and Ho dynasties). It is one of the few ancient dragon heads ever found in Thanh Hoa. The discovery is expected to help experts restore the heads of two stone dragons that were discovered in 1938 inside the citadel.

Local resident discovers antiques in Dong Nai Province

A local resident of Tan Bac Commune in Trang Bom District in the southern province of Dong Nai by chance discovered some priceless antique items and decided to hand them over to local authorities on August 18.

Pham Khien, a resident of Tan Bac Commune, on August 17 went into the jungle in the hills to search for medicinal plants. While he was digging to uproot a medicinal plant at a depth of two meters in the ground, he came across a nylon bag which contained some antiques comprising of a cylindrical box carved with three gods, four small statues, three gold rings and 10 coins of different sizes.

Khien said that many people offered to buy these items from him for tens of millions of dong. However, he refused to sell to them and instead handed them over to a local authorized agency in Trang Bom District, for verifying the real value of these items.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA