Artist's abstract works on show

Artist Dao Trong Luu is displaying 15 abstract oil on acrylic paintings at the Tu Do Gallery in HCM City.

Nhip Dieu Va Choi (Rhythm and Game) features works he created in Sa Pa this year like Overture Tet (Overture for Lunar New Year), Giao Huong Ngay Moi (Symphony for a New Day), and Tiec Da Khuc (Party of Nocturne).

"I love to be alone with music and paint," the 69-year-old painter says.

"I always begin my day with a ‘game' of oils, toile, acrylics, and melodies, and end with a symphony of colours.

"That's my art."

Luu, who was born in Ha Noi, and a graduate from the Ha Noi Pedagogic Fine Arts College, was a teacher, and founded the Youth Art Club at the Ha Noi Youth Culture Palace.•

In 1984 he worked as an assistant to the art director of the film Commandos of Sai Gon, and then worked and studied with artists Olivier Debre in Paris and Hashegawa in Zurich.

He has held several solo and group exhibitions in Viet Nam, Japan, South Korea, France, and Switzerland.

The exhibition will run until Sunday at 53 Ho Tung Mau, District 1.

Diverse products, foods at Binh Thuan fair

Binh Thuan trade fair has opened at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square attracting huge numbers of local and foreign guests.

Located in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province, the fair is organized by International Advertising and Trade Fair Company (CIAT) and features over 180 booths from 100 enterprises from Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vinh Long, Dong Thap, Ben Tre and HCMC. The booths introduce products in industry, trade, agriculture, tourist services, household utensils and fine arts.

“This is a meaningful event for tourists and locals to shop around and for enterprises to promote their products and do a spot of networking,” said Dang Minh Hung, director of CIAT.

The fair, which runs until Monday, also has food booths, an entertainment area for children and music shows for visitors.

SSIS PTA Charity Bazaar set for Saturday in HCM City  

The ninth Saigon South International School (SSIS) Parent-Teacher-Association (PTA) Charity Bazaar will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the District 7 school.

This year the event has attracted over 100 vendors selling numerous items ranging from local handicrafts and gifts to food and beverages. Ben Thanh Art & Frame, Jewelry Stories, Joanie Cat Clothes, Lien Chi Silk, Sweet Creations, Saprino’s Pizzeria, Donut’s Donut and Viobrand Photography are among the vendors.

There is over VND250 million in lucky draw and tombola prizes up for grabs. Entry tickets and lucky draw tickets are priced at VND50,000 and VND20,000 respectively. Kids under six get in free and will have a chance to meet Santa.

Last year’s event attracted over 2,200 people and helped raise US$17,000 for charitable activities including scholarships for Anh Linh Love School, a school for children from impoverished families; cleft palate and hare lip surgery sponsorship for 36 children from Operation Smile and 24 wheelchairs for Heartsays Freemove.

This year organizers expect to raise more funds to support Anh Linh Love School, Audio Talking Library, Heart Says Free Move, Mai Tam House of Hope, Saigon Children’s Charity and VinaCapital Foundation and others.

SSIS is located at Nguyen Van Linh Parkway, District 7, tel: 5413 0901.

Trondheim Soloists to hit opera house

HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) will collaborate with the Norwegian Consulate General in Vietnam to host a Jubilee Concert at HCMC Opera House on Sunday evening.

The event will mark 40 years of a Vietnamese-Norwegian diplomatic relationship. Music enthusiasts will be indulged by elegant performances from Norwegian and Vietnamese artists.

The Trondheim Soloists (Trondheimsolistene), who were formed in 1988, will thrill the audience as will the appearance of two 12-year-old prodigies, violin soloist Ludvig Gudim from Norway and violinist Do Phuong Nhi from Vietnam. HBSO artists are also involved.

The event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at 7 Lam Son Square, District 1, will include Concerto by German musician Bach, Holberg Suite by Norwegian E. Grieg and Quartet No.1 from Vietnamese composer Nguyen Cuong.

Tickets are available at the HSBO Office, 3 Phan Van Dat Street in District 1.

Piano concert to mark 55th anniversary of Vietnam Academy of Music  

A piano concert to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Vietnam Academy of Music will be held at the Concert Hall of the Vietnam National Academy of Music at 77 Hao Nam Street in Dong Da District in Hanoi on November 25.  
 
The concert will present to music lovers works by A.Dvorak, F.Liszt, F. Chopin, C. Frank, G.Bizet and I. Albeniz.

Professors Tran Thu Ha, Nguyen Minh Anh and masters Trieu Tu My, Ngo Lan Huong, Dao Thu Le, Dao Trong Tuyen, Nguyen Hoang Phuong, Nguyen Huy Phuong and Vu Ngoc Linh of the Vietnam National Academy of Music will join the event.

Tickets are available at the Concert Hall of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, priced VND100,000.  
 
Vietnamese students’ movie wins UN film contest

A short stop-motion movie made by two Vietnamese students has just won the top award at the worldwide PLURAL+ Video Festival held by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, under the aegis of the United Nations.

Following the contest’s topic of the themes of migration, diversity, identity and integration, the 5-minute movie, titled “Say Hi to pencil”, tells the story of how a pencil adapts to life with a family of highlighters who always want to kick him out.

The film was created by two students at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Pham Phuong Anh and Huynh Thanh Trang.

In creating the movie, the girls used 1,000 photos and put clay on the pens to make them look like human beings.

It took them almost three sleepless days and nights to finish the movie.

“Though we only slept around four hours within three days, those days were pretty meaningful to us,” the two said about their passion for the movie.

The two girls, both 20, are part of a group named “Sleepingcatfilm”. They said the knowledge they acquire from the news media gives them many ideas for films.

Their first movie, “Green Journey”, was also a stop-motion film with 2,000 photos. It brought them the first prize at the nationwide Student Amateur Filmmaking Festival last March.

The young girls have won many other awards, including the third and consolation prizes at the city’s Student Filmmaking Contest this year with the movies “Khi Yeu (When we fall in love), and “Xin loi” (Sorry), respectively.

“We’re planning to make a movie about the life of laborers”, the girls share.

Formed in 2009, the PLURAL + Video Festival aims to empower young people to speak out on the issues of migration and diversity while being heard by others all over the world.

Ho Chi Minh showcases 18th century art pieces

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum opened its exhibition showcasing more than 200 antique art pieces dating from the 18th – 20th centuries, collected in Sai Gon and other southern provinces Wednesday.

The antiques on display range from traditional paper, cloth and wooden paintings; to Buddhist and other religious statues; and religious objects and items used in daily life, such as boxes, containers, incense holders, and ancestral tablets.

The exhibition will run until March 23, 2012 at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, 65 Ly Tu Trong, District 1.

In related news, Lu Van Hoi, director of the Ben Tre Museum in Ben Tre southern province said Wednesday that the local government has decided not to demolish the museum to build a new convention center.

The decision was announced in a local celebration of Vietnam’s 7th Cultural Heritage Day on November 23, which was also the 30th anniversary of the museum’s opening.

The Ben Tre Museum was originally built by the French colonial administration in the beginning of 20th century, and was later was used by the South Vietnam government for its senior officials.

The structure is among the few French buildings left in the province that have retained their original style and architecture.

It currently houses nearly 7,000 items.

Czech linguist comes back to Vietnam

Czech linguist Ivo Vasiljev arrived in Hanoi Wednesday to give a speech at the Vietnam Union of Science and Techonology Associations (VUSTA).

The language professor is best known in Vietnam for his translation of the late president Ho Chi Minh’s famous poem collection, “Nhat ky trong tu” (Prison Diary), in 1980 into Czech language.

The book was published in the then – Czechoslovakia in 1985.

Having made more than 50 trips from Czech to Vietnam in the past 50 years, he used to be an interpreter for President Ho himself and was involved in many cultural exchange projects between the two countries.

Back in his country, he has been actively involved in teaching Czech to new Vietnamese immigrants and Vietnamese to the second generation Vietnamese who are born and raised there.

Vasiljev said apart from Czech and English, Vietnamese was his most favorite language although he also speaks Russian, French, Korean, Chinese, German and others.

“I like Hanoi-style stir-fried pho, fried spring rolls, mam tom [shrimp paste] and tiet canh [a tradition blood dish],” he said with a smile betraying his admiration for the local food.

The linguist’s latest book, “A life with multi-languages,” concluding his 50 years of studying languages, including Vietnamese, will be published in Czech next week.

“I hope to translate it to Vietnamese, English and other language as well,” he said.

Belgium Jazz duo to perform in Vietnam

Melanie de Biasio and Pascal Mohy will share the stage with Vietnamese drummer Le Quoc Hung, saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan and other Vietnamese artists to present pieces of classical music in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The performance, within the framework of the European Music Festival, will take place at Youth Theatre in Hanoi on November 24 and Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music on November 28.

Melanie de Biasio was born on July 12, 1978 in Charleroi, Belgium. She was trained in classical jazz but also follows other genres of music, such as funk, reggae and groove.

Pascal Mohy began his career with classical music and then turned to playing jazz when he was 14 years old. He has played for many clubs and attended numerous major European music festivals. He was awarded the talented youth prize at the Belgium Django d’Or belges.

Hanoi, HCM City mark Cultural Heritage Day

An art performance celebrating Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day was held in Hanoi on November 23.

The event attracted artists from such provinces as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, who took turns of beating drum, and gongs, singing and dancing, and playing Hue Royal Court Music, and ca tru (ceremonial songs).

The same day, an exhibition displaying a collection of ancient artifacts of southern Vietnam opened at the HCM City Museum.

The collection includes hundreds of wood paintings, decorative objects and prayer objects in bronze, silver, stone and baked clay.

Many photos of sculpture and architectural works are also displayed at the exhibition, which will last until March 23, 2012.

Another collection of Vietnamese traditional dresses is also on show at the Southern Vietnam Women Museum and entry tickets are free until November 30.

More than 200 documents written in Chinese and nom (Vietnamese characters transcribed from Chinese ones) scripts are made public for the first time at the city’s General Library at 69 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, HCM City.

One of these documents, which is considered a national treasure, features activities of kings and queens of the Nguyen dynasty, Vietnam’s last royalty.