Promoting cultural exchange between Vietnam and RoK

Famous Korean and Vietnamese artists gathered for a concert in Hanoi on December 3 to promote the image of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam.

The concert, sponsored by the Korean Cultural Centre in Hanoi, aims to strengthen cultural exchange between the two countries.

Korean artists at the concert, including Tenor Park Seong Min, pianist Choo Eun Yeong, Soprano Cho Hye Ryeong and cellist Joo Hye Young, were trained at the world’s leading music academies and have had long performing careers in the RoK and European countries. .

For the Vietnamese side, Dao Nhat Quang and Duong Minh Chinh participated in the event.

Dao Nhat Quang studied at Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music where he met Cho Hye Ryeong and got married with her. Now they live and work in HCM City. They presented the Korean song Mountain and the Vietnamese song Hanoi – niem tin va hy vong (Hanoi belief and hope).

Pianist Duong Minh Chinh also studied at Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music and is now a lecturer at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. He has won many awards, including a special prize at the Poland Violin Festival and first prize at the Austria Music Festival.

Delicious international dishes on display in HCM City

A gastronomy festival featuring delicious dishes from countries throughout the world will take place in Ho Chi Minh City from December 26, 2011 to January 1, 20112.

The festival will offer 150 stands by 80 hotels and restaurants from 25 countries and territories.

Visitors will have a good chance to enjoy special dishes from countries all over the world, select the best dish, and watch works of sculpture being created from fruit.

There will also be an art performance to welcome New Year’s Eve.

The festival aims to honour the cuisines of Vietnam and countries around the world, and also create opportunities for food and culture exchange among different nations.

Austrian poems accessible to Vietnamese audience

A poetry collection featuring famous Austrian authors has been made available to the Vietnamese public.

Tu Que Huong Mozart (From Mozart's Homeland) features 83 poems by Nikolaus Lenau, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ingeborg Bachmann, Fanz Kiessling, Erich Fried and Christian Ide Hintze. Part of the collection focuses on Fried and Ide Hintze, who had close ties with Vietnam.

Erich Fried (1921-88), known as the most famous Austrian poet of the 20th century, wrote around 30 poems about the war in Vietnam. One of his most well known works, "und Vietnam und" (1966) (And Vietnam and), is a stirring protest against the indiscriminate destruction of modern warfare.

"Though Erich Fried never visited Vietnam, we cannot deny his support for the country," said translator Quang Chien.

Hintze was the first Western author to teach at the Institute of Literature of Nguyen Du in Hanoi in 1993. He is known for his beat poems and seen as one of Austria's finest new media artists.

The launch of the poetry collection was organised by the Austrian Embassy in Vietnam and the East-West Language and Culture Centre in celebration of Austrian National Day and the upcoming 40th anniversary of Austria-Vietnam diplomatic relations.

The 199-page collection is available at VND40,000 (US$2) via the country's main book shops.

Guitar gala 2011 to be held in HCM City

Guitar gala 2011, the first of its kind in Vietnam, will take place at the HCM City Academy of Music from December 8-18.

The event draws the participation of 55 guitarists from all over the country as well as international guests.

It aims to commemorate the 55th establishment of the guitar faculty at the HCM City Academy of Music.

The gala is expected to enter the list of Vietnamese records as it attracts the largest number of guitarists to play a piece of music.

Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program anchors

The 38th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) with 329 delegates aboard anchored at Saigon Port today afternoon to pay courtesy call and engage in cultural exchanges and social activities with local youths.

From December 4-7, members of the ship will join with 1,000 local youths to take part in talks, cultural exchange, going sightseeing and home-stay in the city. The delegation will also visit the headquarters of Tuoi Tre Newspaper.

Vietnam is the last of the five Southeast Asian venues the ship has visited during its 53-day journey starting from Japan before arriving in the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The event is part of friendly activities to strengthen mutual understanding between young people from Japan and Southeast Asian countries and to provide a chance for participants to broaden their perspective on the world as well as to strengthen their motivation and ability in international cooperation by participating in discussions, and in various exchange activities both on-board and in the countries visited.

In addition, the participating youths are expected to progress to leadership positions in youth activities, and in various other sections, in their own country after this program.

The first ship was launched in 1974 and was organized annually since then. This year marks the 11th time the ship arrives in Vietnam.

Book released on traditional Vietnamese costumes  

A book on traditional costumes of the Vietnamese ethnic groups has just been released jointly by the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University and Information Publishing House.   

On the occasion a special exhibition featuring traditional Vietnamese costumes is being held at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University.

The book aims to present readers the beauty of traditional costumes of the Vietnamese ethnic groups and help highlight and preserve their national culture and fine art heritage.

Dr. Cung Duong Hang, a teacher at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University, explained that designs, typical symbols, colors, patterns, materials, jewelry items of various ethnic minority groups show their varied indigenous life and habitat in this beautiful book titled “Fine Art in women’s traditional Vietnamese costume”.
 
In related news, a special presentation show of traditional costumes of the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam was held in Hanoi in November.

The event attracted around 250 Vietnamese male and female participants between 18 and 40 years of age, of minimum height 1.65m for male and 1.55m for female candidates from cities and provinces across the country.

Participants represented their ethnic groups wearing traditional costumes which were accessorized with traditional necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The presentation also displayed their daily activities and special ceremonies like weddings and folk festivals. The participants demonstrated various performing skills and displayed all their inherent deep rooted culture.

The presentation was an opportunity to take stock of traditional costumes and ethnic groups of the country. According to experts, at least five ethnic groups have lost their native traditional costumes including the Xinh Mon, Pu Peo, Sila, Cong and Ruc ethnic minorities.

Experts from the Vietnam Ethnology Museum and the  Institute of Ethnology joined the event presentation to assess the costumes.

Free films screened during 17th Vietnam Film Festival

Free film screenings will take place in Hanoi from December 2- 8 to welcome the 17th Vietnam Film Festival, jointly organised by the Cinematography Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Cinema Centre.

This year’s festival will be opened by a recently completed film entitled ‘Mui Co Chay' (The Smell of Burned Grass). The film, which is based on the diary of war martyr Nguyen Van Thac, is a tribute to heroic Vietnamese youth, who devoted their lives to the national revolutionary cause during the American War.

Sixteen feature films produced and screened at cinemas in the last two years since the 16th Vietnam Film Festival will also be shown, including ‘Canh Dong Bat Tan’ (Floating Lives), ‘Co Dau Dai Chien’ (Bride’s War), 'De Mai Tinh' (Fool for Love), ‘Tam Hon Me’ (Mother’s Soul) and ‘Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai’ (Across Shanghai).

Free tickets are available at the National Cinema Center at 87 Lang Ha Street, Hanoi.
 
Sculptor to sue company over copyright

Lam Quang Noi, a sculptor known for important memorial works across the country, said he would sue Hacomy Art and Decoration Factory for a copyright violation.

He told Tuoi Tre on Saturday that the company had used a number of photographs of his works such as the late President Ton Duc Thang Monument, Doctor Dang Thuy Tram Monument and others for its website www.mythuatquandoi.vn without his consent.

Some of these sculptures and monuments were constructed by Hacomy.

“Among the pictures are ones that were taken by me,” Noi said, adding that the site seriously violated his copyright to these images.

The artist sent a request to Hacomy on November 8 to ask the company to remove his pictures from the website and later hired a lawyer to bring the case to court.

Le Dinh Long, director of Hacomy said his company had removed some but not all of the pictures because they had the right to use the pictures of the works they had constructed including Doctor Dang Thuy Tram Monument in Quang Ngai or Co May Bridge Victory Monument.

However, Noi disagreed and said it was illegal for the company not to specify the author’s name for these photos but state that these monuments were designed and constructed by them.

Noi said according to the law, a construction company had no intellectual copyright to a sculpture work.

Meanwhile, other sculptors such as Vo Cong Chien, Le Lang Bien and Nguyen Oanh, were also surprised to learn that Hacomy was using pictures of their works for commercial purposes without their consent.

Hacomy is also involved in another lawsuit over Chien’s copyright.

Uyen Huy, head of the Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Association told Tuoi Tre that it would be willing to give legal support to these artists to bring their cases to court upon their requests.

Local conductor puts on classical concerts

Local conductor and song composer Do Kien Cuong who is known for his active involvement in organizing classical music events in recent years will hold and direct two concerts this December in Ho Chi Minh.

Held as a part of the annual “International Contemporary Music Festival 3” in 2011, “Gap go thang 12” (Meeting in December) this year will feature new classical compositions written by international and domestic musicians such as “Wanderer” by Dirk Johan Stromberg, “Turtle” by Susanne Grunewald, “Poems” by Tran Dinh Lang and “Thang Long” by Do Kien Cuong.

Vietnamese artists including violinist Le Minh Hien, cellist Vo Dinh Quan, saxophonist Nguyen Tan Loc, pianist Ly Giai Hoa, soprano Pham Khanh Ngoc and others will play in the event.

In addition, Cuong will organize and conduct another music project, titled “Giao huong Beethoven” (Beethoven Symphony” which is expected to bring classical pieces by the great German composer closer to the general public.

Cellist Nguyen Tan Anh and violinist Ho Dang Hoi will join Cuong in the event which was held for the first time last year in Ho Chi Minh, drawing a large audience of young people.

Cuong said the Vietnamese audience had now shown more positive reception to classical concerts, which would give him and his colleagues more incentives to give better performances in the future.

Besides being a composer, conductor and musician, Cuong is also a lecturer at the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music and an art director of the Hanoi Youth Orchestra.

“Gap go thang 12” will take place at 8pm on December 4 at Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music with tickets costing from VND 50,000 – 250,000.

“Giao huong Beethoven” will be held on December 12 at Saigon Technology University and on December 22 at District 11’s Cultural Center.