Pop singer becomes Korean tourism ambassador
The Official Korea Tourism Organisation has invited pop singer My Linh to act as Korean tourism ambassador to Vietnam in 2011.

My Linh has participated in many cultural activities in the RoK such as the Asian Song Festival in Busan in 2005 and art performances for overseas Vietnamese. My Linh has actively contributed to strengthening the friendship between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

In this honourable position, pop singer My Linh will get involved in major events to promote tourism in Vietnam and the RoK including a campaign to vote for the RoK’s Jeju Island and Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay - two prospective candidates for the new seven wonders of nature.

HCMC culture palace to hold traditional music show

A musical show featuring the traditional Vietnamese instrument dan tranh (sixteen chord zither) will take place at the Ho Chi Minh City Labor and Culture Palace this week.

The show, titled “Dan Tranh Gathering,” will see performances of well-known artists such as Hai Phuong, Van Anh, the Mat Troi Do band and Tieng Hat Que Huong club.

The artists say they will blow a fresh air to traditional music by performing dan tranh with modern styles.

“I will play “Tornado” by Japanese musician Minoru Miki for the koto zither to prove that Vietnamese dan tranh doesn’t just play Pentatonic music,” Hai Phuong said. “We want to perform the traditional instrument with a new style to bring it close to young people.”

Van Anh agreed. She said she hoped the event would attract young people who would be heirs to the country’s traditional music.

Tickets for the show cost from VND 100,000 to 500,000.

Ballet about dancers’ life to return

“Story of the Shoes,” a ballet about ballet dancers’ life that has won Ho Chi Minh City audiences since 2009, will return to the city’s Opera House for the fourth time next month.

The 2-hour 12-segment ballet about the ups and downs in the life of ballet dancers and their determination and passion will be performed by dancers of the Arabesque ballet troupe.

Unlike previous performances, the upcoming one will feature several dancers who are working in foreign countries such as Thuy Chi, Thanh Phong, Bao Trung, and Khanh Chinh.

The ballet, directed by Nguyen Tan Loc, will be held at the HCMC Opera House on August 2 and 3.

Tickets cost from VND 200,000 – 500,000 and are now available at the Opera House.

Miss Russia 2011 to visit Vietnam  

Muscovite Natalia Kantemurova wil visit Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi from July 26 – 28 and participate in some local charitable, social and cultural events.

First runner-up Anastasia Mashukova from Krasnoyarsk (East Siberia) and one of the pageant’s top ten finalists Ksenia Frolova will accompany Kantemurova, who was crowned Miss Russia 2011 last March.

The three Russian beauties will deliver presents to local orphanage and cultural organizations.

The trip, sponsored by Russian Standard International hopes to promote diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Russia.

Nguyen Trac Cuong’s rocks tell a story
 
Nguyen Trac Cuong’s ‘Waiting’, which focuses on paintings, photos, installations, time for recreation and admiration of flowers, is displayed at the Maison des Arts in Hanoi until July 28, reports Vietnam+.

The show will allow visitors to experience a summer walk with all their senses awakened by hundreds of lotus flowers that will unexpectedly invade the exhibition center.

Cuong’s paintings are retrospective of the three major stages of his career. His photos are a record of his immediate past when bulldozers flattened the painter’s studio to make way for a road, mirrors the growth of the country as a whole.

In his installation art he wants to present life using cobblestones as an insight into the soul. He tells the story about old roads, about the destinies of young girls in villages who, if they want to get married, have to give a donation of five rocks to contribute to the construction of the road in the village.

Cuong graduated from Vietnam Fine Arts Institute in 1996 and is a member of Hai Duong Literature and Arts Association. He has exhibited in the U.S. and France.

Miscellaneousness by Phan Thanh Minh at Himiko Cafe

Phan Thanh Minh’s ‘Miscellaneousness’ opened at the Himiko Visual Cafe on Friday.

The exhibition features 20 paintings made of oil on canvas, depicting the personal life of the artist.

He said: “This exhibition revolves around the same old stories, the usual ups and downs of family life. Sometimes, it is a quarrel about nothing serious or the day that I lost my dog or my wife’s prickly words when I am drunk. Sometimes it is the moment I watch my kids play a game.”

Paintings with bright color tones express the liberal style of the artist as he observes the little moments in order to see life still and very poetic.

Minh’s paintings are not too focused on the shape or texture or the arrangement and can be seen in a sloppy, childish performance. Minh said: “I like to make them this way. I do not like the polish or the beauty at this moment. For me, the most important thing is emotion, the real emotion of the heart.”

The exhibition runs until August 3 at the cafe, 324bis, Dien Bien Phu Street in HCMC’s District 10.

PV