Vietnamese Culture Week in Cambodia leaves deep impressions  
Vietnamese Culture Week in Cambodia ended with two arts performances on October 28-29 by Vietnamese and Cambodian artists at Chartomouk International Conference Palace in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia’s Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Him Chhem, government officials, representatives of ministries, and departments and overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia took part in the event.

Songs praising the friendship between the two countries were performed in both Vietnamese and Khmer.

Under the framework of Vietnamese Culture Week in Cambodia, a Vietnamese delegation, led by Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Tien Tho, had cultural exchanges with Preah Sihanouk province, and met with students at the Cambodian National University and Royal Cultural University.

Violinist Chau Giang returns home for performance 

After spending several year studying and working in the US, violinist Nguyen Thi Chau Giang returns home for a concert at the Hanoi Opera House on October 31. 
Famous violinist Bui Cong Duy, soprano Lan Anh and the Hanoi symphony orchestra will also join the event under the baton of conductor Nguyen Thieu Hoa.

Chau Giang studied at the Hanoi Arts College from 1983 to 1992. She learned performing art at the Juilliard School, one of the world's most prestigious performing arts conservatories, in the US in 1994.

The violinist entered the Manhattan School of Music one year later and graduated in 1997.

She got engaged with Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind).

Vietnam strikes gold at major art photo contest 
Vietnamese photographers from the southern province of Kien Giang have won nine gold and two bronze medals at the 2010 International Art Photo Contest in the United States.

Jointly held by the Federation of International Art Photography (FIAP), the Photographic Society of America and other national photography societies, the event, being held for the second time, attracted over 7,000 entries from many countries across the world, including about 100 taken by 11 photographers from Kien Giang province.

Three golds were awarded to photographer Tran Lam, two others went to Truong Vu and one each to Huynh Lanh, Van Chung, Vo Thi Huynh and Truong Minh Dien.

Uncle Ho’s poems translated into Mongolian  
Poems from the “Prison Diary” written by the late President Ho Chi Minh have been translated into Mongolian by President of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association (MVFA) Doctor Sonomish Dashtsevel.

Dr. Dashtsevel, 67, has spent nearly 10 years on the project in the hope that it would help introduce President Ho Chi Minh’s patriotism, simplicity and greatness to younger generations of Mongolians.

“When reading the Prison Diary, I felt closer to Uncle Ho’s personality. The poems demonstrate his determination, patriotism and love for his people,” said Dr. Dashtsevel.

He has spent considerable time studying the collection’s translated versions in Russian, English and French languages and made great efforts to preserve the spirit and philosophy of the poems, besides the rhyme and meaning of the words.

As MVFA President, Dr. Dashtsevel has served as a bridge between the two countries to promote friendship as well as economic and trade cooperation among businesses.

The Mongolian Doctor, a former student of the Literature Department, Hanoi University, has a boundless love for the late Vietnamese president and his poems.

He has been married to a Vietnamese lady and his regular trips to Vietnam aim not only to visit his wife’s hometown but also to find out more about the culture and people of Vietnam.

HIV/AIDS exhibition to open in Hanoi 
An exhibition called “HIV/AIDS in Vietnam: 20 years of changes and challenges” will be held at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi on November 22 to mark HIV/AIDS prevention month (November 10-December 10).

The event will be jointly organised by the museum, the Centre for Community Health Research and Development (CCRD), the Ford Foundation and Columbia University in New York.

According to the CCRD, the event will spotlight the HIV/AIDS problem in Vietnam, past and present, with the recollections and experiences of HIV/AIDS victims as well as the difficulties faced by health staff, policy makers and researchers.

Since the first case of HIV was discovered in the country in 1990, the virus has quickly spread on a national scale and affected many aspects of Vietnamese society, it said.

It is just one of 10 events being held across the country to mark the 20th year of Vietnam’s HIV prevention campaign.

First museum of stone inaugurated in Vietnam  
Vietnam Guiness Book of Records has recognized the Hoa Tai Ngoc Chau stone art museum in Bao Loc city in the central highland province of Lam Dong as the first in Vietnam.

After ten years of construction, the museum has officially opened its door to visitors. The museum, located close to Dai Nga bridge, has around 1,000 unique stone works of art.

Almost all of the creations are still in their original form, collected by artisan Dinh Cong Phuong in the past 40 years.

US researcher’s book about Hanoi published 
A book about the 1,000-year history of Hanoi by US researcher James Goodman has been made available to the public by The Gioi (World) Publishing House.

The 260-page book is named “A Dragon Still Ascending”.

James Goodman is also known as the author of a number of books about Asian countries. His first work about Vietnam, “Uniquely Vietnamese”, is now in its second edition.

His next book “Delta to Delta” will be made published.

PV