Seoul exhibition to examine Vietnam War scars

Murayama Yasufumi, who is well-known for adopting the cause of Vietnamese dioxin victims, will hold an exhibition about the consequences of the wars in Vietnam in South Korea in November.

“Scars of the Vietnam War” will feature more than 60 photos taken by Yasufumi during his decade-long travel across Vietnam.

“The exhibition aims to send Korean people a message that while the war is in the past, its consequences still remain,” he told Tuoi Tre. 

"Through the pictures of the wounds and the grief that Vietnamese people still suffer, I want to raise people’s awareness of peace.

Yasufumi was born in 1968 in Hyogo. He first came to Vietnam in 1998 and has since visited the country almost 30 times, traveling its breadth and photographing the consequences of the wars.

In 2009 he held an exhibition on Agent Orange victims at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2004 he obtained signatures from around 600 people on a petition to support dioxin victims.

“Scars of the Vietnam War” will be held at the ArtSpace Seogyo in the Korean capital Seoul from November 12 to 19.

Admission will be free.

“Don’t burn” wins favour of OVs in Germany

The film “Don’t burn” on a female doctor during the anti-US war won overseas Vietnamese audience’s favour after it was screened at the Viethaus in the German capital city of Berlin on August 22.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Do Hoa Binh and his wife along with Vietnamese people in Germany attended the event.

“Don’t burn” was produced in 2008 based on a diary kept by army doctor Dang Thuy Tram of the liberation army during the most violent wartime in the battlefield in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Tram fell down on the battlefield at the age of 27 and her diary was found by a US soldier who persevered it for 35 years before returning it to Tram’s family.

At their talks with director Minh after the film show, the Vietnamese audience said they hoped he would make a film on the life and career of the Vietnamese community in Germany.

Firework display to mark Vietnam’s 66th Independence Day

Ho Chi Minh City will hold a firework display to celebrate Vietnam’s 66th Independence Day which falls on September 2.

The displays, starting simultaneously at 9pm in Thu Thiem, District 2 and Dam Sen Theme Park in District 11 will be broadcast live on Ho Chi Minh Television’s HTV9 channel.

Vietnamese artists should follow me: Jim Morray

British folk musician Jim Morray graced the stage of Hanoi at an international music festival last weekend before hitting the Hard Rock Café Monday night with Vietnam Idol 2011 runner-up Van Mai Huong and singer Anh Khang in Ho Chi Minh.

Born in 1981 in Cheshire, Jim is dubbed “the future of British folk ” by the Billboard US when he released his first official debut album, “Sweet England” in 2003, whose EP version was made in his bedroom when the talented musician was a month away from getting his classical music degree at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

While folk music has gone down from its heyday during the 1960s-1970s as it is facing fierce competition from more contemporary genres, Jim’s award-winning “Sweet England” and his following groundbreaking works such as ‘Jim Moray’ or ‘Low Culture’ has put him at the forefront of the folk revival in the UK.

“I choose to follow this kind of music because I have a passion; I don’t really care about the difficulties and how much profit I can make from it,”

“I only wish I could bring folk closer to young people”, he said.

Mixing traditional folk with modern technical beats and sounds from different instruments, Jim has breathed a fresh air to the forgotten genre, giving it a comeback that has swept over music fans of all ages in his country, especially the younger ones.

“Folk seem to die in many places in the world, but in recent years, many UK music stations dedicate air time to folk, helping it to revive strongly.”

A keen fan of electronics and the British rock band Radiohead, Jim incorporates what he loves with what he does, creating a new inventive kind of contemporary folk blending English traditional music with orchestral flourishes, guitars and electronics.

“Young people can find many new and different instruments in my music, therefore to them, folk becomes friendlier and more modern, besides the dominating rock and hiphop,”

“I really think Vietnamese musicians should follow this way if they want to revive their folk music,” Jim said.

The 30-year-old musician said he would come back to Vietnam for more research on Southeast Asian rich traditional music.

One Pillar Pagoda in serious damage; officials indifferent

Despite the serious damage of the One Pillar Pagoda, one of Vietnam's two most iconic pagodas in Hanoi alongside with the Perfume Pagoda, local authorities seem to be indifferent.

The One Pillar Pagoda has been heavily flooded during the rainy season since 2007.

The Buddhist statues in the pagoda even have to wear conical hats to avoid the rain.

“After four suffering years, some statues’ outer layers have sustained cracks”, Thich Tam Kien, the pagoda’s abbot told Tuoi Tre Newspaper on Monday.

Moreover, the pagoda usually turns into a pond full of trash after heavy rains.

Still, local authorities seem to think it’s not urgent to restore the relic.

“We not only sent letters to the government but also often called and met Ba Dinh District’s authorities to ask for the restoration, but received no answer.

Recently, they told us to wait for a seminar since concerned officials have gone on vacation”, the abbot added.

Vu Dinh Khanh, vice director of Ba Dinh District’s Project Management Board told the newspaper it will take almost a half a year to discuss ways to fix the situation.

He also said the flooding is unavoidable since the pagoda is located in a low land area.
The One Pillar Pagoda was built under the reign of King Tong who ruled from 1028 to 1054.

Legend has it that when the King was a child, he dreamt that he met the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who handed him a baby son while on a lotus.

The King then married a peasant girl and she bore him a son. With the suggestion of a monk named Thien Tue, he constructed the pagoda in 1049 in gratitude to the bodhisattva.

The pagoda stands only on one single pillar in the middle of a lotus pond, similar to the lotus the King saw in his dream.

One pagoda has been recognized as a national historical and cultural relic since 1962.

Cultural Buddhist heritages exhibited

Cultural heritages of Buddhism in the former imperial city of Hue and the southern region have been put into an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City.

Opened on August 22, the exhibition, organised by the Vietnam Buddhology Institute, features a stone statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in the 18th century and a calendar telling a story about To Do in the 17th century among others.

It also introduces to visitors for the first time over 350 ancient royal objects of the Nguyen Dynasty from the 17th to 20th centuries and possessions of farmers in the southern region at that time.

A seminar discussing the role and contributions of Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu to the national construction cause and the development of culture and Buddhism was held on the occasion.

Chu was one of the Nguyen Lords who ruled southern Vietnam from Phu Xuan (modern-day Hue City) during 1675-1725.

Danang, Hanoi to put on photo exhibition

To celebrate the 66th anniversary of the August Revolution, National Day on September 2 and the 57th anniversary of Hanoi’s liberation on October 10, there will be an artistic photograph exhibition on Vietnam’s cultural heritage in Danang and Hanoi.

Taking place at the Fine Arts Museum in Danang at 78 Le Duan Street from August 30 to September 6, the same event will be organized at the Exhibition Center at 29 Hang Bai Street in Hanoi from October 10 to 17.

The exhibition will feature 206 out of 2012 works created by 282 artists from 38 provinces and cities from photo contest ‘Vietnam’s cultural heritage in 2011’ which was jointly hosted by Bureau of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition, Bureau of Cultural Heritages, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Vietnam Photographer’s Association.

Among the 206 pictures to be on exhibited, there are 16 works which won prizes,  including one first prize, two second, three third and ten consolation.

The first prize went to Bau vat nhan van song (Living human precious thing) by Tran Viet Van in Hanoi. Second were Hoang hon Lang Biang (The sunset at Lang Biang) by Tran Thiet Dung in Lam Dong Province and Buc tranh pho Hoi (The picture of Hoi Street) by Ong Van Sinh in Danang City.

Meanwhile, the three third prizes went to Lan be (Floats) by Nguyen Huu Nguyen in Hanoi, Nhip nhanh Bo Thi (Rythmical Bo Thi) by Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc in Gia Lai Province and Cua Doan Mon ngay le ruoc bang chung nhan di san the gioi (Doan Mon Gate on the day of receiving the world heritages certificate) by Nguyen Vinh Hien in Vinh Long Province.

Vietnam’s cultural week in Pusan

The International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will organize Vietnam’s cultural and tourism week in Pusan, South Korea from Thursday to Monday.

The event consists of seminars to promote Vietnam’s tourism in Korea, a voting campaign for Halong Bay of Vietnam and Jeju island of South Korea to be one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, and exhibitions on Vietnam’s cultural space and craft products, costumes and food. Artists from Vietnam Song Dance and Music Theater will contribute performances to introduce Vietnam’s traditional music to the Korean people.

South Korea is the second largest tourism market of Vietnam after China. According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism there have been over 300,000 Korean tourists to Vietnam from January-July, a rise of 4% year-on-year.

South Korea is also a popular destination for Vietnamese travelers. According to the Korean Embassy in Hanoi, in 2010 over 90,200 Vietnamese visited South Korea, an 18.7% increase compared to 2009.

Earlier this year, the Korean Tourism Administration opened a cultural and tourism office in Hanoi to promote tourism and culture between the two countries.

Vietnam and South Korea have also opened a joint website to help Halong Bay and Jeju Island’s Seven Wonders of the World bids.

Kat Parsons back at Park Hyatt Saigon  

After two years performing across the globe, Kat Parsons has made her way back to Park Lounge of the Park Hyatt Hotel Saigon.

Parsons, who will perform in the Park Lounge nightly from Wednesday to Monday beginning on September 1, has a talent that has been described as ‘a passion and intimate detail well-suited to a small stage, with a sound big enough to fill an arena’.

She is a well-known artist who has appeared on the cover of Music Connection  and Billboard magazines. Born in Vienna, Austria and raised in the U.S., Parsons grew up singing along with her father, an opera singer who presently performs in Washington DC. Her mother is a professional pianist and singer who released a solo album in Europe in the mid-70s.

Kat’s entire extended family is made up of musicians, her father’s side coming from a deep bluegrass tradition and her mother’s side, from a jazz tradition, which has enhanced and shaped her remarkable talent.

For reservations or enquiries, contact Park Lounge at 3520 2364.
 
Yxineff extends film competition deadline

The second edition of YxineFF themed ‘Belief’ has extended its deadline until September 15 to give students a chance to submit their short films after the start of school/university.

As a result the opening screening will be on September 30, with the closing screening, winners’ announcement and award ceremony to be held on December 12. The venue for the award ceremony will be the MegaStar Cineplexes in HCMC.

The official website 2.0 of YxineFF 2011 has now been released at www.yxineff.com. The new version of the website provides updated information about the online short film festival, the juries, rules and regulations, terms and conditions, awards, sponsors, with user-friendly design and a Vietnamese-English menu will provide all the information needed to submit a short film.

The second edition of YxineFF has three sections of Competition, Panorama and In Focus. YxineFF will hand out the following awards: Golden Heart, Red Heart, New Heart, Green Heart and Fire Heart as well as several individual awards.

PV