French jazz pianist to perform in Ho Chi Minh City

French jazz pianist, composer and singer Franck Amsallem will give a special performance at the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) in Ho Chi Minh City on March 10.

Amsallem has released eight CDs under his name, including well-known pieces such as “I got Rhythm”, and “Summer Times”. He has also collaborated with famous musicians like Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart to have first albums.

He has performed at major festivals in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

He won the second prize at Jacksonville Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 1992.

Amsallem spent 20 years in the US working with artists like Gerry Mulligan, Charles Lloyd, Joshue Redman, Maria Schneider and Harry Belafonte.

The capital city of Hanoi will host a UNESCO Cultural and Development Week from March 5-9, according to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The event, co-organised by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aims to review UNESCO-funded projects in Vietnam and set orientations to increase the role of in sustainable development.

A wide range of activities will be held during the week, including policy dialogues, seminars and film screenings on culture and tourism in association with social development in Vietnam.

Organisers will offer free film screenings at 22A Hai Ba Trung Street, introducing documentaries shot by young Vietnamese filmmakers.

The documentaries, produced during film training courses funded by UNESCO, illustrate different angles of culture from a community perspective. They address various issues and challenges the Vietnamese society faces, including ethnic groups’ integration in Hanoi, and the life of residents under Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi.

One documentary also explores a case of tourism development without preserving the cultural identity of a small tribe in Ethiopia, and lessons for Vietnam.  

Chinese have a taste of Vietnamese food

The Vietnam Cuisine Week opened in Guangzhou city of Guangdong province, China, on March 1.

The event, co-organized by InterContinental Hotels Groups (IHG) and Hong Kong Elite Champ Group, is part of a project to launch a series of Vietnamese restaurants in 15 IHG hotels across China.

During the week, four Vietnamese chefs will introduce specialties of three regions (north, central and south) to Chinese visitors.

Simon Pang, General Director of Elite Champ Group, said that he has been involved in trading Vietnamese farm produce and food, and wants to set up two or three Vietnamese restaurants in each Chinese city.

Hoang Ngoc Bao, an official of the Vietnamese General Consulate in Guangzhou, said that many restaurants in China serve Vietnamese food, but none of them offer a real taste of Vietnamese specialties. Guangdong shares many cultural similarities with Vietnam, so a lot of people in the Chinese province love Vietnamese food, he added.

Feature films vie for Golden Kite Awards

In the Canh Dieu Vang (Golden Kite) Awards this year, feature films have surprised the media with their quality and quantity.

Deputy Standing President of Vietnam Cinematography Association, Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat, said at a press briefing in Hanoi on Mar. 1 that 12 feature films are engaged in strong competition for this year’s Golden Kite Awards.

Vietnam Feature Film has two contenders, namely “Mui co chay” (The scent of burnt grass) from director Nguyen Huu Muoi and “Tam hon me” (Mother’s soul) directed by Pham Nhue Giang.

The remaining films were produced by private studios, including popular films such as “Hot boy noi loan” (Lost in Paradise ), “Long Ruoi” (The Big Boss), “Ngoi nha trong hem” (House in the alley), “Lenh xoa so” (Eliminating order).

The jury in the feature film category has 13 members headed by director Bui Dinh Hac. The Golden Kite Award is granted for professional works which have a positive effect on audiences and society, said the organising board.

In addition to the 12 feature films, this year's awards competition has attracted 19 TV series, 37 short films, 41 documentaries, 11 cartoons, and ten scientific films.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Friendship Palace in the capital city of Hanoi on March 17, coinciding with Vietnam Cinema Day.

The ceremony will also honour two directors, Bui Dinh Hac and Dang Nhat Minh, for their great contributions to national cinema. “Duong ve que me” (On the road to native village) from director Bui Dinh Hac and “Thuong nho dong que” (Nostalgia for the Countryland) from director Dang Nhat Minh and a selection of documentaries will be screened in 63 cities and provinces.

Audiences in Hanoi will have a chance to obtain free tickets for the film screenings at the Vietnam Cinematography Association’s Theatre, the August Theatre and the National Cinema Centre.

Women featured at painting exhibition in town

‘Toi nhin toi’ (I look at myself) yesterday opened at HCMC Association of Fine Arts to mark International Women’s Day.

The show features a work apiece from 52 artists made of diverse materials and varied styles, with most portraits of women. Male artists depict images of their women, while female artists produce their own portraits.

Works present the role and contributions of women in society, as well as family issues and life, in which women are always the key element to solving problems.

The show offers a platform for female artists to express their feelings on womenkind.

It runs to March 10 at 218A Pasteur in HCMC’s District 3.

Jessica Minh Anh to host Petronas bridge fashion show  

Jessica Minh Anh in a poster of her international fashion show to be held on Petronas’ Skybridge on March 19.

A Vietnamese model and fashion show organizer in the UK will host the first-ever fashion show on the Petronas Twin Towers’ bridge in Malaysia this month.

The J Spring Fashion Show, featuring brands from across the globe, will be held on March 19 on the 58 meter long SkyBridge, connecting the world’s tallest twin buildings 175 meters above street level, Jessica Minh Anh’s fashion company J Model Management said in a press release.

The event will showcase collections by notable fashion houses including, among others, British fashion leader Paul Costelloe, Dutch celebrity designer Addy van den Krommenacker and Spanish sensation Chula who resides in Vietnam for eight years now.

“I feel honored to become a part of history on the landmark bridge and bring my womenswear collection to Asia. I have been looking into this market and we are so far inspired,” Paul Costelloe was cited as saying in the release.

Jessica Minh Anh said the event chose the Vietnam-based Chula woman brand as it is a unique line of clothing that connects Spanish colors to Asian fabrics.

“I was drawn to Chula’s designs as they seem to have combined architecture, photography, and the graphic arts amazingly well to create unique, very artistic, and exuberant individual looks,” she said.

The fashion show will also give a slot for designs combining the East and West by the Malaysia-based Limkokwing University of Creative Technology as part of its high end collection.

Guests of the show – country ambassadors, brand managers, fashion designers, and the international press – will be brought to level 42 of the towers and seated on both sides of the Skybridge.

Each model will be walking five kilometers during the one hour and a half show.

Jessica Minh Anh earned a fame worldwide with the success of the J Autumn Fashion Show on England’s iconic Tower Bridge last October.

“Many people have asked me if bridges are my thing,” said Jessica.

“I say I’ll host the show wherever my imagination takes me. You gotta dream big!”

Jade Buddha statue unveiled in France

A jade statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni sitting on a lotus throne, the largest of its kind in France, was unveiled at a ceremony at the Truc Lam Zen Monastery in Villebon sur Yvette, in southern Paris, France on February 29.

The sculptural masterpiece, measuring 99 centimetres in height and weighing 270 kilograms, was gifted to the Monastery by Buddhist follower Dang Thi Bich Hoa.

The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the National Committee for Oversea Vietnamese, Nguyen Thanh Son; Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung; Venerable Thich Phuoc Duong, Head of Truc Lam Zen Monastery; representatives of the Vietnamese Government's Committee for Religious Affairs and the Mayor of Villebon sur Yvette, Dominique Fontenaille, together with Buddhist followers and pilgrims.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son said that the event highlights the solidarity that exists between Vietnamese Buddhist followers living in Vietnam and those living overseas. He also stated his desire that this bond continues to be strengthened and called on Vietnamese Buddhists to contribute to the national construction process.

Mayor Fontenaille expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity to attend the solemn and traditional Vietnamese ceremony. Mayor Fontenaille stated his desire for Truc Lam Zen Monastery to become a pilgrimage destination in France that will attract large numbers of Buddhist monks, nuns and followers.

Scandinavian Night’ in Hanoi  

Music lovers will have a chance to enjoy a ‘Scandinavian Night’, featuring works of Carl Nielsen and Jean Siberius at the Hanoi Opera House on March 23-24.

Japanese violinist Takagi Kazuhiro and artists of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra will perform classical compositions under the baton of Japanese conductor Shinozaki Yasuo.

Tickets are priced at VND200,000, VND350,000, VND500,000 and available at the Hanoi Opera House,1 Trang Tien, Hanoi.

Hue eyes conservation of garden houses

March 03, 2012 10:23 PM..The People’s Committee of the central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien Hue has instructed Hue, the former imperial citadel, to take immediate steps to preserve its 150 ancient garden houses as part of preservation project.   

Phan Ngoc Tho, deputy chairman of the committee, was quoted by Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying it is urgent and necessary to protect and preserve the garden houses in their original form, which is a ruong -- an ancient wooden house typically found in Hue -- surrounded by a large garden.  

Most of the houses, a cultural attraction in the world heritage town, closed in the past five years with the owners saying they were tired of preserving them without getting paid.

They could not keep receiving visitors, putting on smart clothes, serving them drinks, and answering hundreds of questions like tour guides, without any payment, they said.

“We will make adjustments and changes to convince the owners the project is beneficial to their houses,” Tho said without clarifying about the financial aspect.

“Hue’s garden houses will be well- preserved and promoted only if the owners are willing to preserve and open the sites to visitors,” he said, adding that the local government would also send officials to check more houses.

The preservation project was started in 2006 but the province only decided to earmark funds for it in 2010.

Without funding and support from authorities, only 52 garden houses remain in their original form.

Regulation on nude art to be issued

The Government will issue a ruling on nude art, as it tries to grapple with a rash of online supposed photography scandals.

While nude photography has become increasingly popular, a rash of online ‘show-off’ photos of young women posing provocatively have confused public perceptions over the divided between art and pornography. Photographers seem to be bearing the brunt of official and public attitudes by having their work stifled from public show.

The most famous case involved photographer Thai Phien’s Xuan Thi (Spring Time) collection. When it was first released to public, the Ministry of Information and Communications prudishly rejected a license for an exhibition of the work.

"This is the second time I’ve brought my collection to Hanoi without being able to show it. But I still hope I’ll eventually have an exhibition." the photographer said. Despite the photographer’s optimism, his nude collection was removed from the nominated list for the National Book Awards in 2009.

Addressing this issue on February 29, the Hanoi Department of Art, Photography and Exhibition under Ministry of Cultrue, Sport and Tourism (MCST) held a seminar to discuss the regulations related to photography to gather opinions on nude art management.

At the seminar, painter Luong Xuan Doan asked, "Why do the authorities refuse to license nude art exhibition despite the multiple reprints of Thai Phien’s Xuan Thi collection?"

Dang Dinh Anh, President of Hanoi Art Photo Association thinks the authorities needed to punish those who were producing and distributing online pornographic images, not nude photography in general.

Many photographers also proposed the MCST to open an age-restricted website to introduce nude art to the public with the intention of making clear the difference between art and pornography.

Luong Xuan Doan, Deputy Director of Culture and Arts, Central Department of Propaganda said nude photos were automatically deemed offensive and banned from public showing. Once the photos were up on the internet it was impossible for the authorities to do anything he said. Instead he proposed that nude art and photography should be released widely to the public, so they could begin to appreciate the difference between art and pornography.

The regulation is expected to be issued this autumn.