Young Korean artists display ceramic works and drawings in Hanoi

Two young Korean artists, Baek Jin and Pae Sung Hee, who are highly appreciated all over the world by their creativity and innovation in arts, are showcasing their 25 artworks at an exhibition opened on December 24 at Korean Cultural Centre in Hanoi.

Entitled ‘Separate but connected’, the exhibition conveys a message that although the two artists ulitise different media and materials including ceramics, photographs, drawings and installations, they share one thing in common: the dominant of presence of white colour in their works.

Ceramic artist Baek Jin showed her limitless creativity while working with Korean traditional material of white porcelain. Her works impress visitors not only due to their beautiful appearance but also the meticulous working manner of the artist.

Meanwhile, Pae Sung Hee brings new visual experiences to viewers through her sketches and installation works featuring cities, nature and the environment in the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The exhibition provides Vietnamese people, particularly artists and fine arts students, with a closer look into RoK contemporary fine arts. It runs through 49 Nguyen Du street, Hoan Kiem district until January 14, 2015.

Korean Taekwondo and K-pop Day in Hanoi

Taekwonpop Day, which will bring Taekwondo and K-pop culture from the Republic of Korea, will be held at Indochina Plaza Hanoi on December 28.

Taekwondo activities will start at 1pm with the presence of Korean comic artist Lee Kwang Deuk as MC. The programme includes a Taekwondo class, Taekwondo talent contest and competition for audiences.

A night festival will begin at 6pm with performances by champions of K-pop Contests and K-pop FC Festivals. Notably, invited guests from the RoK including singers Jung Sung Hwan,  YJB, boyband NOM,and girlbandSwitch, will give their first show in Vietnam.The artists are well known in the RoK and have performed abroad in the Philippines, China, Thailand and Japan.

Park Nark Jong, director of the Korean Cultural Centre, the organiser, said the event, as the last one hosted by the Centre in the year 2014, is considered a thanks to Vietnamese audiences who have contributed to the success of the culture exchange between Vietnam and the RoK over

the past year. “The next year will see more such culture exchange activities which will help boost the relations between the two nations”, he said.

In 2014, the Korean Culture Centre has organized various events such as fine art exhibitions, music performances, food festivals, K-pop contest and others.

Nominating top ten of outstanding cultural, sports and tourism events 2014

More than 100 reporters of news agencies in the fields of culture, sport and tourist attended and voted for top ten of the most outstanding cultural, sports and tourism events in 2014, on December 25.

In addition to poll opinions of media agencies, the organization board nominated a list of 15 outstanding events such as Resolution of Party

Central Committee's 9th session in term XI about buiding Vietnamese culture and people, Ninh Binh’s Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vi – Giam folk singing was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity and other events.

The organizational board said that this year’s voting criterion will have many changes in comparison with last year such as reporters will vote single events instead of series of events to list top ten for the most important events in 2014.

An announcement ceremony for top ten of the most outstanding cultural, sports and tourism events in 2014 will be held on December 30.

Vietnamese folk music night to be held in Ha Noi

A night of Vietnamese folk music featuring ca tru (ceremonial singing), cheo (popular theatre), chau van (spiritual singing) and xam (blind buskers' singing) will take place in Ha Noi on January 6.

Following two performances at Guimet Museum as part of the Viet Nam Year in France, Bamboo and Silk will be held for the first time at the French cultural centre L'Espace in Ha Noi. The concert will take the audience back in time across 10 centuries of Vietnamese culture and music.

The audience will be immersed in the voices, and rhythms instruments of Vietnamese folk melodies. Many of the songs to be performed are listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Tickets are available at L'Espace, located at 24 Trang Tien Street, Ha Noi.

Hanoi welcomes New Year 2015 with art performances

A variety of New Year- welcoming cultural and arts programmes will be organised in districts and towns throughout Hanoi on December 31, 2014 and January 1, 2015.

According to the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the programmes will be performed by amateur and professional artists and troupes.

They will feature various traditional and modern art forms, such as Cheo singing (Vietnamese popular opera), Cai Luong (reformed opera) and Tuong (classical drama).

The activities aim to extol Vietnamese people’s national pride and patriotism, the Department said.-

Programme to honour Vi, Giam singing – world intangible heritage

The central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh will co-host a programme on January 31 to honour the local Vi-Giam folk singing which was inscribed as part of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage in November.

The programme will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television (VTV1 and VTV4), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced at a press conference in Hanoi on December 25.

Vice Chairwoman of the Nghe An provincial People’s Committee Dinh Thi Le Thanh said local authorities from the two provinces will work together to outline a project preserving and promoting the folk singing in 2015-2020 with a vision to 2020-2030.

At the same time, the provinces will promote the popularization of the singing via schools and the media while developing a network of singing clubs, she said, adding that policies will be devised to honour and support folk artists.

Vi-Giam folk singing was officially recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity at the 9th session of its Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris on November 27.

This type of folk singing is popular in nearly 260 villages in the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The two provinces have 51 singing clubs with over 800 vocalists, many of whom are actively preserving the folk music.

There are an estimated 15 tunes of Vi and 8 airs of Giam, reflecting the work, cultural life and feelings of residents in the central coastal provinces.

Vi-Giam became the ninth Vietnamese cultural practice winning UNESCO’s intangible heritage status. The other eight practices recognised by UNESCO are Hue 's royal court music, Gong space culture in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), the northern province of Bac Ninh's love duet

singing, the Giong festival, Ca Tru ceremonial singing, Xoan singing, Don Ca Tai Tu music and the worship of Hung Kings.

Thien Quang Lake laser show ready to blast off

Prepare for a night of glitz, glamour and fun as –Heineken Countdown Party 2015 – has lined up a kaleidoscope of activities set to detonate at Thien Quang lake in Hanoi at 8pm on December 31 to ring in the New Year.

What better way to ring in the new year than with music and dance? To that end, many of Vietnam’s favourite celebrities such as foreign artists DJ Drew Tudose, DJ Kruiseand local artists Ho Ngoc Ha, Bui Anh Tuan, Tuan Hung and Hoang Thuy Linh will be on hand for the

festivities.Organizers of the event say they are planning on transforming the lake into an outdoor extravaganza with a tantalizing speciallaser light system expected to attract tens of thousands.

Initially launched at Times Square in New York in 1907, the New Year countdown event is held annually throughout major cities around the globe.The event has been sponsored in Vietnam Heineken beer since 2008.

Nguyen Linh shares her experiences in Malaysia

Vietnamese model Nguyen Dieu Linh loves her line of work and dreams of becoming a renowned fashion designer someday reports the Star online.

“I love to travel and experience different cultures all around the world, so I decided to join the Miss Tourism International pageant,” she said.

“I admire Malaysia being a multi-ethnic country and I am looking forward to meeting the people here and try the local food.”

Nguyen loves reading books, working out at the gym to stay in shape, and travelling.

She describes herself as a friendly person and animal-lover.

Na Luong Cave recognized as national heritage

Trieu Thi Tinh, deputy head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang province, on Tuesday announced that Na Luong Cave in Dong Van District has been recognized as a national heritage site, reports VietnamPlus.

Na Luong Cave is about 25km from Yen Minh Town in Dong Van District. The cave, discovered by scientists in 2010, is seen as the most beautiful cave among those discovered in Ha Giang. It is surrounded by a magnificent yet romantic landscape. The entrance to the cave is above 30m wide, surrounded by rare trees.

The cave was formed in a limestone mountain, a very popular kind of geological heritage of Dong Van Stone Plateau Geology Global Park. Through thousands of years of formation, plenty of stalactites with fascinating images and exotic colors are formed in the cave. The cave, divided into various paths which connect with each other like a maze, attracts many tourists.

Savoring food in the dark

Noir Dining in the Dark located on Hai Ba Trung Street in HCMC’s District 1 is an exotic venue since diners can experience savoring food in the dark.

Before entering the dining room, guests are required to leave all sources of light such as mobile phones, watches, lighters and cameras in the restaurant’s lockers.

Waiters will escort customers to their seats and describe cutlery on the table. Notably, diners will not be aware of what they eat until finishing their meals.

What makes this eatery even more special is most of the waiters are blind college students aged 20-25.

An Asian set menu costs nearly VND480,000 a person and VND650,000 a person for a Western set menu, excluding 5% service charge and 10% value added tax (VAT).

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