Research works on folk arts honoured

Outstanding pieces of research on folk arts were presented prizes at an awards ceremony by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association in Hanoi on December 22.

Top awards went to two pieces ‘Du Dia Chi Huyen Quang Xuong’ (Geographic Anthology of Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa province) by Hoang Tuan Pho and ‘Sen Phan Be’, featuring marriage customs and the spiritual life of the Thai people in Dien Bien province by two authors Luong Thi Dai and Lo Xuan Hinh.

Sixty prizes were also awarded to other research works, which were selected from 89 entries in various categories of philology, theory on folk arts, performing arts, traditional customs and geography.

Also at the ceremony, eight artists were awarded ‘Folk Artist’ certificates and ‘For the Cause of Folk Arts’ medals for their contribution to preserving and promoting traditional art forms.

City opens New Year Greeting Festival 

The Ho Chi Minh City authorities have offered a festival to people from December 26 to January 2 in order to celebrate the New Year 2011. 

The event themed ‘2011 the youth’s year - year for children’ aims to celebrate the upcoming 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The weeklong festival will bring free and interesting programs, which will include the HCM City’s socio-economic achievement exhibition and many musical performances. 

Special art performances will be held at industrial zones such as Tan Thuan, Linh Trung 1&2, Le Minh Xuan, Tan Binh, Tan Tao, Hiep Phuoc, Cultural Center of District 12, Ben Duoc and Nga Ba Giong Martyr Memorial Site in Chu Chi District and finally the National Historical Cultural Park in District 9. These performances will be held on December 31.

An international food festival, featuring special dishes from over 20 countries, is taking place on September 23 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The event will include a cooking contest, in which visitors are given the opportunity to taste these special Vietnamese and world dishes. In addition, there will be a giant banh xeo (Vietnamese rice pancake) and musical shows and folk games, for people to enjoy.

US writers’ books on Vietnam war hit shelves

"Vong tron cua Hanh" (The circle of Hanh) by Bruce WeiglBooks about Vietnam war written by two US veterans Larry Heinemann and Bruce Weigl, who served in the US-Vietnam war from 1967-68, hit shelves mid-December.

“Paco’s Story”, a novel by Heinemann, and “The Circle of Hanh”, a memoir by Weigl -- both are published in Vietnamese versions by Women’s Publishing House.

Both books draw on the background of the Vietnam war and post-war obsessions. The war finished more than 40 years ago but for the US veterans, their memories about it are still haunting.

Paco’s Story (1986), the second and most critically acclaimed novel by Heinemann, won the 1987 National Book Award for Fiction. It was published in English, German, French and Spanish, and now in Vietnamese with the translation by Pham Anh Tuan.

Paco's Story relates the post-war experiences of its protagonist, haunted by the ghosts of his dead comrades, who provide the novel's distinctive narrative voice. The story deals with the seemingly contradictory and morally ambiguous role of the soldier as both victimizer and victim.

Heinemann was born in 1944 in Chicago, Illinois. He served a combat tour as a conscripted draftee in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 with the 25th Infantry Division. Besides short stories and non-fiction, he wrote three novels, including “Close Quarters”, “Paco’s Story” and “Cooler by the Lake”, and one memoir “Black Virgin Mountain”, and three of these works are related to the Vietnam war.

Bruce Weigl was born in 1949 in Lorain, Ohio, and now teaches at Lorain County Community College.

In 1995, he adopted a Vietnamese girl, named Nguyen Thi Hanh, who became the character of “The Circle of Hanh”, published in the US in 2000. Hanh translated this memoir into Vietnamese.

In “The Circle of Hanh”, Weigl writes, "The war took away my life and gave me poetry in return... the fate the world has given me is to struggle to write powerfully enough to draw others into the horror."

On the occasion, Weigl also launched his poetical memoir, “After the Rain Stopped Pounding”, which has been translated into Vietnamese by Nguyen Phan Que Mai and published by Youth Publishing House.

Both writers found truth, and recognized the futility and cruelty of the war that they were involved in. Both of them were confronted by their own war obsessions and created stories not only about actual truth but also emotional truth.

Japanese Animated films to be screened in Hanoi

"Spirit away" is among eight of Japan’s latest animated films to be screened in HanoiJapanese Animated Cartoon Week will be held at the National Cinema Center in Hanoi from January 12 to 16, 2011.

The five-day event will feature eight of Japan’s latest animated films, including “Colorful”, “Summer Wars”, “Millennial Actress”, “Mai Mai Miracle”, “Mind Game”, and “Redline”.

The event aims to promote the development of the animated film production industry and will conclude with an audience discussion with film producers from both countries.

Particularly film festival will feature “Spirit away” directed by Miyazaki Hayao in 2001.

The film was awarded the Golden Bear one year later and was among the Oscar competitors for best animated feature film at the 75th annual Academy Awards ceremony.

“Spirit away” tells about the adventures of a 10-year-old girl Chihiro who is accidentally thrown into a “spirit” world. While working at a bathhouse catering to spirits and gods, she tries to rescue her parents from a spell that transformed them into pigs.

Prior to the event, popular voice actress Mitsuki Saiga, guitarist Kazuya Nishikawa and several film makers will engage in an exchange with Vietnamese audiences.

Free tickets are available at the Japanese Cultural Exchange Centre at 27 Quang Trung Street, Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District.

HCMC fest a feast of cuisines

View more pictures The annual Taste of the World Festival right after Christmas this offers Ho Chi Minh City dwellers the chance to sample food from more than 20 countries.

The festival at the September 23rd Park in downtown HCMC will attract local and foreign participants including chefs and representatives from hotels, restaurants, and hospitality agencies from Germany, France, Brazil, the US, and other countries.

It open Sunday with a street parade and fun events like global pizza and best bartender contests, a cooking session with celebrities, and making the biggest banh xeo (Vietnamese pancake).

Besides the competitions and food stalls, the festival will also feature cultural activities, including traditional dances from Korea, Germany, and Russia.

Many Vietnamese rural dishes will be served in countryside-themed booths. Visitors can also take part in traditional Vietnamese games and see calligraphy artists and silhouette portraitists at work.

The city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the event organizer, expects to attract tourists visiting the city and also locals interested in world cuisines.

The event wraps up on January 2.

Son La tourism-cultural week 2010 to be held

A tourism-cultural week 2010 will take place in the northwestern province of Son La on December 25-28.

In the course of the week, a series of events will be organised, including an international trade fair, a tour to visit Son La hydroelectric power project, arts performance, food festival and competition for tour guides.

The tourism-cultural week is a good chance for the province to advertise its culture and tourist potential to domestic and foreign visitors.

Recently, Son La province and other seven localities in the northern area had signed an action plan to develop tourism in the northwestern region during 2010-2015 period.

PV