Art show highlights ao dai

An art show will be held in Ha Noi Goethe Institute showcasing an ao dai collection on January 15.

The exhibition, titled The Gorgeous Yellow Runs Over Pale Leaves, will feature an elaborate multimedia space installation by artist Veronika Witte, with elements from daily life in Viet Nam, and a video performance displayed on eight screens.

An ao dai in collection by private collector Thai Kim Lan

Through the appropriation, use, reservation and ultimate disappearance of ao dai, these gowns have acquired meaning and importance, and now, their stories will be told in this exhibition.

In the installation featuring an interview, eight individuals, including a 95-year-old servant in royal court and a 19-year-old student, discuss the ao dai, without ever having met each other. Fictional conversations about preserving the memory of the era and the meaning of ao dai in their own lives develop.

For the opening event, Witte and art collector Thai Kim Lan will deliver a short introduction on the ao dai theme and explain their personal connection to the garments.

Artists and experts will speak as part of the exhibition on January 17 at 7pm.

Hanoi announces World Heritage contest winners

The City of Hanoi has unveiled the winners of a contest testing resident’s knowledge about the city’s UNESCO World Heritage properties.

The contest was launched as part of the city’s 15 year anniversary celebrations of being associated with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

The contest theme focused on the four World Heritage sites of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, 82 stone stele records of doctoral laureates in the Temple of Literature, Giong festival at Phu Dong and Soc temples and Ca Tru (ceremonial singing).

Since its launch one month ago, the competition received a total of 52 entries from young residents and researchers in Hanoi and neighbouring areas. The two first prizes were presented to students from the People’s Security Academy.

Professor, Dr. To Ngoc Thanh, head of the jury board suggested that similar events should be disseminated to people of all strata, especially young people in rural areas.

The jury board also announced the 27 winners out of a total of 523 entries of a photo contest held from April to June, 2014 entitled “Discovering Hanoi” for posting on the website www.hanoidep.vn.

HCM City counting down to the New Year

Ho Chi Minh City will usher in the New-Year with a spectacular fireworks display and 3D laser light show to blast off at the stroke of midnight January 1, 2015 at the Bitexco Financial Tower (BFT).

Final preparations are underway as the city counts down to the New Year bonanza.

To insure safety, from 9pm onwards on December 31, vehicles will be banned on streets including Hai Trieu, Ho Tung Mau, Ngo Duc Ke, Ham Nghi, Ton Duc Thang and Nguyen Hue.

The event also aims to celebrate the 40th anniversary of southern liberation and national unification.

Collection of poems about Russia published

A poetry collection was released yesterday (Dec 30) featuring hundreds of works on Russia by more than 150 authors.

Titled Noi Hai Dau The Ky (Bridging Two Centuries), the collection features poems by Vietnamese people who have lived in or visited Russia, Chau Hong Thuy, chairman of the Viet Nam Literature and Arts Association in Russia, wrote in the book's precede.

The selection board solicited more than 700 poems from hundreds of writers. It also chose some works already published in newspapers and magazines.

In the 1980s, more than 200,000 Vietnamese young people were sent to work in the Soviet Union. In 1992, the Eastern block collapsed and thousands of Vietnamese workers settled down in Russia and neighbouring countries, forming a strong Vietnamese community there. That helped Vietnamese literature on Russia developed, according to Thuy in the precede.

Top 10 fine art-photography events in 2014

The Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced Vietnam’s top 10 fine art and photography events in 2014.

Below is the list of the 10 events:

1. Fine art and photography exhibitions affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over seas, islands and borders.

2. Photo and fine art exhibitions on Dien Bien Phu on the occasion of the victory’s 60 th anniversary.

3. The exhibition on Vietnam’s sacred animals in historic and cultural relic sites.

4. The national artistic photography exhibition 2014

5. The national photo contest and exhibition on “Colors of ethnic groups in Vietnam”

6. The 2014 national exhibition of applied fine arts

7. A master plan for fine art development towards 2020 with a vision to 2030 was approved by the Prime Minister.

8. The national fine art exhibition on the armed forces and revolutionary war.

9. The exhibition on Vietnamese lacquer painting and traditional handicraft in France.

10. The 2014 National Young Fine Art Festival.

Books on VN ideology, army history released

Two books detailing the history of Viet Nam's army and ideologies were released yesterday.

The collection, titled Lich Su Quan Su Viet Nam (Viet Nam's Military History), consists of 14 episodes, telling stories from its thousand-year history of forming the country and protecting its people.

Also compiled by the Institute of Viet Nam Military History, Tu Tuong Lich Su Quan Su Viet Nam (Ideology and History of Viet Nam's Military), consists of 5 episodes focusing on prominent leaders' ideologies and strategies for fighting foreign invaders.

Best-selling writer releases new children's tale

The Youth Publishing House will release a new work by Nguyen Nhat Anh titled Bay Buoc Toi Mua He (Seven Steps to Summer) in early 2015.

The book's launch will kick off a series of events held by the publishing company in March. Seven Steps to Summer will remind readers of their long-lost first loves and childhood summer vacations spent playing games.

The book will be printed with colour illustrations by artist Hoang Tuong.

Anh, 60, is one of Viet Nam's most prolific children's book writers. His works appeal to teenagers and adults, as well as kids.

Anh is also a teacher, poet and journalist. Some of his most popular long stories, like as the 54-volume Kinh Van Hoa, have been adapted into hit TV dramas.

VNS/VOV/VNA