Hanoi hosts exhibition on honeymoon and wedding services

 

A marathon competition for couples in wedding dresses themed Love and Challenges will be held in the Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi on August 20.

 

The event is part of an exhibition on honeymoon and wedding services at the Sheraton Hotel from August 26-28 which will be held by the Travelive Magazine under the sponsorship of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board and the Mercedes-Benz Vietnam.

 

Apart from a total of 50 stands put up at the exhibition, there will be a wedding photo contest, a public marriage proposal ceremony and a fashion show.

 

Designers house launches fashion show spectacular

 

The Vietnam Designers House in HCM City will hold its biggest fashion show My Style on August 19 to celebrate the first anniversary of the "fashion space for Vietnamese designers".

 

The show will feature around 200 products of designers with various styles and for different occasions including office and casual wear, evening gowns and wedding dresses.

 

The designs use the 3D cube technology which "takes advantage of solid geometry mentality to create costumes with lively structures that help to conceal the body's shortcomings", organisers said in a press release.

 

The designs will be presented on the catwalk by regular male and female models of Vietnam Designers House including Thuy Huong, Ha Dang, Hong Que, Binh Minh, Hoang Yen, and Ngoc Quyen.

 

Also taking part in the show will be two winners of the Vietnam's Next Top Model Contest 2010 Huyen Trang and Tuyet Lan; as well as Miss Vietnam 2008 and 2010, Tran Thi Thuy Dung and Dang Thi Ngoc Han, respectively.

 

Han will also join the event as a designer with her spring-summer collection using vignettes of Ly dynasty's pottery and Vietnamese silk. She is a graduate of the Hanoi College of Industrial Fine Art's Fashion Design Faculty.

 

Vietnam Designers House brings together 32 Vietnamese designers with 22 domestic fashion brands.

 

It was set up by the Vietmode Company to promote Vietnamese designing talent by providing a space for young designers to display and sell their creations.

 

Besides well-known designers like Anh Vu, Trong Nguyen, Viet Lien and Minh Hanh, younger designers like Le Hang, Nguyen Hang, Cuong Thinh, F8, Thanh Hoa and Kim Thanh have been gradually making a name for themselves because of the new facility.

 

Buddhist College to be rejuvenated

 

The Dong Duong Buddhist College, a National Heritage site, would be given back its splendid beauty, a conference on the preservation of cultural relics in central Quang Nam province was told.

 

As one of the largest centres in Southeast Asia, the Buddhist college, located in a jungle, is now in ruins. Sang tower, one of the last remaining vestiges, is close to toppling down, enforced by rotten wood alone.

 

"I am afraid that the tower would not be able to withstand heavy rains," Nguyen Thuong Hi, who spends a great deal of time on preservation work in the province, said.

 

Architect Hoang Dao Kinh, who carried out a study on the college, said: "While it is believed that restoration work on the My Son towers created a lot of difficulties for both local and international experts, restoring the Dong Duong Buddhist College might be even more difficult."

 

Kinh continued by saying that the most urgent objective centred on keeping current vestiges in tact.

 

"I first visited the relic 30 years ago, having been enthralled by photos of it published by the French," Kinh explained.

 

The less we intervene, the easier the Buddhist College will be recognised as a world cultural heritage site, he added.

 

Tran Minh Ca, vice-chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said that scientific research would be carried out on the relic aimed at preserving and restoring it to again become a significant spiritual and cultural attraction.

 

Truong Quoc Binh, a member of the National Council for Cultural Heritage, explained that the Buddhist College was founded by King Indravarman II in 875 and played a central part in Indrapura, the capital city of the Champa Kingdom.

 

The Dong Duong Buddhist College is situated in Binh Dinh Bac Commune of Quang Nam Province's Thang Binh District. In 1902, a French architect-cum-archaeologist H. Parmentier first excavated the Dong Duong relic, discovering its main shrine and many precious sculptural work. It is described that the main shrine and neighbouring towers are arranged from west to east with a length of 1,300m. The main shrine is located in a rectangular area, which is 326m in length and 155m in width.

 

Most of the sculptural work is on display at the Da Nang Museum of Champa Sculpture and contains elements of Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism from the last half of the ninth century.

 

Based on its cultural and historical value, the culture ministry recognized the Buddhist College as a National Heritage site on September 21, 2000.

 

Project aims for preservation of ethnic culture

 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has recently approved a project designed to preserve and promote the culture of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam until 2020.

 

The project emphasises the central role of the community in developing and implementing initiatives for the benefit of local people, said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at a press conference in Hanoi on August 18.

 

The State will support and create favourable conditions for the preservation and development of special cultural identities of ethnic minority groups.

 

The VND1,512 billion project is divided into two phases, with the first phase from this year to 2015 and the second phase from 2016 to 2020, said Hoang Duc Hau, Head of the ministry’s Ethnic Culture Department.

 

It targets ethnic minority groups in remote areas, especially in the Northwest, Central Highlands and Southwest, Hau said, noting that such groups are unable to preserve and promote their own cultures, which are on the brink of falling into oblivion.

 

The project includes six smaller tasks with a focus on creating an inventory of cultural heritages of ethnic minorities, improving capacity to preserve and promote cultures, eliminating unsound customs and combining economic development with cultural conservation.

 

Indian Cuisine Week to take place

 

The Indian Embassy, in coordination with Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, will hold an Indian Cuisine Week in Vietnam from August 21-28.

 

The unique characteristics of Indian cuisine - featuring blends of exotic spices and a wide range of vegetables, cereals, fruits and beans – will be introduced to the capital city.

 

The organising board will also showcase Indian Royal’s Dum Pukht gastronomy style which has boasts a 200-year history and Indian traditional dances. The Kalbelia troupe will provide the special performances.

 

Ancient communal house traces found in Quang Ngai

 

Traces of a 200-year-old communal house have been found in Tra Bong district in the central province of Quang Ngai.

 

The Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences and the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced initial results on August 17 after two months of archeological excavation.

 

Hundreds of artifacts, including ceramics, bricks, tiles and bases

 

Biography to mark General Giap’s birthday

 

Youth Publisher will put out a biography of Vietnam’s military commander Vo Nguyen Giap to mark his 100th birthday which falls on August 25.

 

Capturing the long life of the General since he was a child, the book, titled “Vo Nguyen Giap – Hao khi tram nam” or “Vo Nguyen Giap – the 100-year spirit” is authored by historian and researcher Tran Thai Binh, who also penned a number of books on Vietnam’s history, President Ho Chi Minh, the battle of Dien Bien Phu and the role of General Giap in the French and American War.

 

Photos and stories of established figures, who are close to the General, such as Tran Dai Nghia, the founder of Vietnam’s modern arms industry or Phung Chi Kien, one of his first comrades will give a better depiction of General Giap.

 

The legendary commander’s legacy has been featured in many local and international books, such as Great military leaders and their campaigns, a British publisher Thames and Hudson’s 2008 work which examines the entire history of war through the eyes of the leading protagonists, from Cyrus the Great in the sixth century BC to Vo Nguyen Giap in the twentieth century, the website Amazon wrote.

 

“Vo Nguyen Giap – the 100-year spirit” will incorporate many archive photos, with the book cover shot by National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow, daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian Stanley Karnow, who authors Vietnam: a history on its war with America.

 

A separate copy of this cover will be included in each book as a gift for readers.

 

Hue to set up a theater for traditional folk music

 

Thua Thien - Hue Province’s culture department is drafting a plan to build a theater for Ca Hue (Hue folk music singing) to turn the traditional musical art into a tourist attraction besides Hue’s natural and historical destinations and traditional cuisine.

 

Ca Hue, which were renowned from the 17th - 18th centuries and played at Lord Nguyen’s royal palaces as well as among the common people, will be also brought back to be performed at Hue royal palaces, Phan Tien Dung, head of the department said.

 

The department is also working with 140 travel agencies from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to bring Hue traditional arts to tours besides maintaining the regular shows at local theaters and on the Huong River.

 

The action is part of the province's effort to boost up the local tourism industry that is being seen as unexciting for foreigners as there are few choices of entertainment.

 

For many foreign tourists, entertainment in local traditional arts includes only water puppet shows.

 

Recently, the Hanoi’s Golden Bell Cai Luong Theater put on stage its first folk opera accompanied by a special service with English interpretation for foreign tourists last week and got positive responses.

 

Vietnamese translator got Hungary state award

 

Vietnamese literary translator Giap Van Chung was presented with Hungary’s state award “Pro Cultura Hungarica” by its Ministry of National Resource Thursday for introducing Hungarian literature abroad, Saigon Tiep Thi reported.

 

A national award for foreign individuals with devotion to promoting Hungarian culture and strengthen its tie with others, “Pro Cultura Hungarica”, held annually, is handed out to three other individuals in 2011.

 

Upon receiving the title, Chung said “I would take this as an honor for the tiny Vietnamese community in Hungary. It will certainly encourage me to do my job better, as a way to contribute to bridging Hungarian and Vietnamese culture.”

 

Born in Vietnam in 1953, Chung went to Budapest Technical University during the 1970s and earned his Ph.D title in the early 1990s, after he decided to officially reside in the country in 1988.

 

He started translating Hungarian poems into Vietnamese since he was at college. His first major work was "The Candles Burn Down to the Stump", a famous work by the late Hungarian writer Márai Sándor which was published in Vietnam in 2007.

 

Since then, he has worked on a number of Hungarian classics including “Fatelessness”, “Kaddish for an Unborn Child” by the Nobel-winning writer Kertész Imre, and “Casanova in Bolzano”, “Memoir of Hungary” also by Márai Sándor besides other works on science, culture and society.

 

He also selects and translates a collection of Vietnamese short stories into Hungarian.

 

Earlier this March, another veteran translator of Hungarian literature, Le Xuan Giang, received the “Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary”, one of the most prestigious state award for his contribution.

 

Ha Long to host first comedy contest

 

The National Comedy Festival, the first of its kind in Vietnam will kick off its selection for the country’s best comedies starting from its northern provinces at the end of this August.

 

600 comedians from 22 theatres in northern Vietnam have registered, with 51 scripts being submitted, of which only 6 are full comedies while the rest are only excerpts and most have been performed on stage before, the Theatrical Artists Association announced Thursday.

 

Expected to take place every two years, the festival will move south to Ho Chi Minh City for a selection of the best comedies in the southern region in November.

 

The National Comedy Festival for northern localities will be held from August 25 to September 1 in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province with tickets costing VND 250,000 per person in any show.

 

Vietnam to spend $72 million to preserve ethnic cultures

 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a VND1.5 trillion (US$72 million) project to preserve ethnic minorities’ cultures in Vietnam from now until 2020.

 

The project is composed of 6 programs designed to prevent the corrosion of traditional culture values of ethnicities living on islands and in border and resettlement areas in the face of urbanization.

 

According to Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan, a committee to manage the project will be established in September.

 

Among 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam, the Kinh people account for 87 percent of the country's population and inhabit the Red River, central coastal and Mekong deltas and major cities.

 

The other 53 ethnic minority groups, of which the most populated are the Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer and Nung people, are scattered over mountain areas throughout the country.

 

The government has also launched another VND200 million ($10,000) project to preserve the rural culture of Hoi An world heritage city.

 

Traces of centuries-old temple found in Quang Ngai

 

The Vietnam National Institute for Social Sciences and Quang Ngai Province’s culture department Wednesday announced they have discovered traces of an ancient village temple dating back to the end of the 18th century at Tra Bong District.

 

After 2 months excavating, archaeologists from the Institute found several terracotta and ceramic dishes and bowls and Chinese yin-yang roof tiles.

 

Experts said the temple was around 168 square meters large.

 

According to Dr. Nguyen Tien Dong from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, the existence of Chinese and Vietnamese ceramics is proof of developed trading activities at the area in the 18th – 19th centuries.

 

Last month, ten jar tombs belonging to the Sa Huynh Culture dating back to 3,000 years ago were also discovered in Quang Ngai.

 

Vietnamese artists lack sponsors 

 

Contemporary artists in Vietnam confront many hurdles when looking for funding for an art exhibition or project, although they continue to make unending appeals to the government. 

 

According to artist Nhu Huy, Art Director of Zero Station Art Center, the government sponsors other professions annually with a considerable amount of money, except contemporary arts.

 

Artists are hence left to fend for themselves or seek funding from overseas non-government organizations or culture centres, none of which is easy.

 

Pham Van Truong, a young contemporary artist said, the money offered by sponsors is usually not enough for the artist to cover his expenses for an exhibition or project.

 

Even to receive that small sum of money, the artist has to overcome many hurdles, which could mean constant and repeated requests.

 

Ngo Luc, a well known artist in Vietnam for many remarkable art projects, namely “Vào chợ” and “Ra đường” stated that the complicated process for applying for funds takes months, in which time all inspiration can be lost.     

 

A large-scale exhibition named “Tầm tã”, for example, was expected to launch nationwide last year to present the country’s future contemporary artists, which eventually was shelved due to lack of funds.

 

Artists are therefore thinking of innovative ways to raise funds. Luc, for instance, raised funds via the internet for a project named “Khoan Cắt Bê Tông” for the purpose of setting up a contemporary art center in Hanoi.

 

He posted an appeal to the community of an online forum to assist in the project. An adequate amount of money was raised, proving the effectiveness of this method.  

 

Although individual Vietnamese artists face hurdles in funding, many contemporary art groups like Khoan Cắt Bê Tông of Ngo Luc and Zero Station of Nhu Huy continually manage to hold many exhibitions, workshops, seminars and projects.

 

Presumably these events have touched the sensibilities of those that matter as they have raised a certain amount of awareness in both the public and the government, the chief sponsors of artists in the country.

 

Japan’s ‘Manga Award’ invites Vietnamese artists 

 

The Embassy and the Consulate-General of Japan in Vietnam have launched the 5th International Manga Award for the promotion of MANGA overseas. 

 

The Manga competition aims to introduce Japanese pop culture and promote an understanding of Japan in Vietnamese people. It also honors MANGA artists who have contributed to the promotion of MANGA across the globe.

 

The organizers will award one golden prize and three silver prizes. The winners will have a chance to travel to Japan for the awards ceremony. They will also hold meetings with Japanese MANGA artists and visit some publishing companies in Japan.

 

Participating contestants can visit the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, 27 Quang Trung Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi; or log into www.jpf.org.vn for more information and conditions for entry.

 

Submissions must be sent before 31 August 2011.

 

City launches bicycle parade to call for energy saving

 

Some 150 local students on Tuesday took part in a cycling parade through main streets in HCMC to appeal to the community on using energy in a more economical and effective way for environmental protection.

 

The parade, which will last three days, is one activity of the international exhibition on energy saving and green energy named Enertec Expo 2011 organized by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade from Wednesday to this Saturday.

 

According to the organizing board of the fair, there will be 100 Vietnamese as well as overseas businesses participating in the exhibition to showcase products and technologies related to energy conservation, environmental protection, and solar and wind energy. The exhibition will be held at Tan Binh Exhibition & Convention Center at 466 Hoang Van Thu Street in the city’s Tan Binh District.

 

Enertec Expo 2011 with over 150 stalls will create opportunities for both local and international enterprises to look for business partners, expand markets, and develop production and business activities for products and technology in the renewable energy industry.

 

The exhibition will also incorporate some seminars on energy conservation.

 

Cham Kate Festival in Phan Thiet

 

Authorities in the central coast province of Phan Thiet have approved a Kate Festival celebration of the Cham people at Po Sah Inu Tower in Phan Thiet City from September 24 to 26.

 

The festival, which aims to preserve traditional culture of Cham people and to promote the image of the local tourism sector, will feature a procession of palanquins and costumes of Po Sah Inu Goddess, a ceremony to open the tower’s gate, washing the altar for linga and yoni ceremony, traditional music performances, goods fair, contests of weaving brocade, pottery and cake making and folk games.

 

The festival will be directed and run by the Cham people in Ham Thuan Bac District. Tourists will be instructed how to play musical instruments like Ginang and Baranung drums and the Saranai horn and enjoy folk music performances by artists from neighboring districts of Ham Phu, Ham Tri and Ma Lam town. A special music show by Bien Xanh Theater will entertain the audience during the festival.

 

UEH to set mindmap world record

 

University of Economics HCMC (UEH) on Monday announced a mindmap jigsaw puzzle Guinness world record attempt.

 

The mindmap covers an area of 660 square meters with 551,232 pieces in the shape of a lotus with six petals representing Vietnam’s people,

 

geography, history, economy, culture and education. The map will be displayed in English, costs VND500 million and will be the result of the efforts of 1,500 students.

 

The program aims to mark the 35th anniversary of the university, to promote Vietnam’s image in general and Vietnamese students to international friends and to encourage students nationwide to apply the mindmap format to studying and working.

 

UEH also aims to break the previous Guinness world record of a 212,323-piece mindmap of Singapore in 2002 and a 600 square-meter mindmap set by China in 2010.

 

A Guinness world record attempt presentation to students will be held at the Hall A116 of UEH at 216 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3.

 

There will be 1,500 students chosen for the record attempt at 8 a.m. on September 24 at Phu Tho Indoor Stadium, 221 Ly Thuong Kiet Street in District 11.

 

UEH will attempt another record for the largest national flag made by the most people (from 1,500 to 2,000 people) at Phu Tho Indoor Stadium on September 25.

 

The largest mindmap will be on display for one day only on September 25.

 

The mindmap making program is organized by UEH and CYM Group with the sponsorship of Dai Dong Tien Corp.

 

For further information or online register, access the website http://www.largestmindmap.com

 

Mindmap is an effective tool created and developed by professor Tony Buzan for over 30 years. The magic of this tool is, with just a few lines, some colors, papers, and a little imagination, we can draw the whole of our thinking, so we can analyze and arrange it systematically, coherently and clearly. Nowadays, mindmap is used widely: from housewives scheduling everything they want to buy at the supermarket to the young student summarizing their lessons or the scientists planning a new project.

More steamy photos of Mr. 'Best Body' leaked

 

The Vietnamese netizen community has turned stormy again with a new steamy photo series of Vietnamese university lecturer-turned-model Tien Doan.

 

Published in the Thailand’s Men’s Health magazine, the series shot by Thai Bangkok-based photographer Haruehun Airry exposing Doan in multiple erotic poses with minimum clothes on has spread like wild fire in many social media pages and drawn harsh criticism.

 

“Maybe the newest cool ‘thing’ now is not just showing off your boobs or butts but more,” a user in the popular webtretho site wrote, mentioning a recent trend of Vietnamese celebrities opting for the most revealing way of dressing and posing to attract attention.

 

Earlier this June, another of Doan’s photo series also taken for a men magazine in Thailand in which he used a curtain to cover his most sensitive part also provoked controversy across Vietnam’s online community.

 

Born in 1983, the Can Tho City model used to be a lecturer at Can Tho University before entering the modeling world and rising to fame as the winner of the male model contest Manhunt Vietnam in 2006.

 

2 years later, he was crowned Mister International 2008 in Singapore after defeating 33 contestants from other countries and also won the “Best body” title.

 

Authorities probe scanty clothes incident

 

The culture ministry has asked Quang Binh provincial authorities to inquire into and impose due fines on singers and models who wore scanty clothes during a charity music show in the province on August 14.

 

Vuong Duy Bien, head of the Department of Performing Arts department told Tuoi Tre that though the show aimed to raise money for the poor, participating artists were not aware of its beautiful meaning and picked up the wrong costumes.

 

At the “Night of Beauties” show, top local singers including Hoang Thuy Linh, Thu Minh, Yen Trang, especially Minh Hang, have received critical comments from the public for donning skimpy costumes.

 

“Even the local culture managers did not care much about this. An outfit can look gorgeous at a show but it cannot be suitable in all other places”, Bien added.

 

The “Night of Beauties” collected over VND500 million. The money was given to 19 orphan students at Quang Binh University, 4 dialysis patients and the remaining was handed out to Quang Binh provincial Fatherland Front Committee to be delivered to the poor.

 

Several Vietnamese artists including singer Ho Quynh Huong, models Bebe Pham and Ha Anh have been fined for the same situation in the past.

 

Similarly, in 2006, authorities in Malaysia fined US well-known girl band Pussycats Dolls for flouting the country’s decency laws.

 

In 2003 US rock band Linkin Park were banned from wearing shorts while performing in the country, while in 2004 singer Mariah Carey was asked to comply with dress regulations.

 

Exhibition on 66 years of Vietnamese Government

 

An exhibition themed “66 years of the Vietnamese Government” opened in the central highland province of Gia Lai on August 19 to mark the 66th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2).

 

On display are 140 documentary photos of historic value and political significance, featuring the birth, development and operation of the Vietnamese Government through different periods of history.

 

At the opening ceremony, delegates reviewed the glorious history of the Vietnamese Government and praised its efforts to effectively perform key strategic tasks to bring the country out of the economic crisis and go ahead with its renewal process.

 

A war veteran in Pleiku city, Nguyen Huu Khue highlighted the significance of the exhibition, saying that it glorifies the traditional history of the nation to make young generations better aware of their duties and responsibilities in the cause of construction and defense.

 

Ethnology museum hosts Mid-autumn festival

 

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and a Vietnamese family guidance website will hold the 2011 Mid-autumn Festival for Hanoian children between September 10 and 12.

 

Participants in the festival will include children from Hanoi, child cancer patients, and orphans.

 

Many interesting and useful activities will be provided such as the chance to play folk games that will help children practise communication skills, improve their self-esteem and independence, and enhance their ability to explore new things. These games are also expected to help them avoid violent games and social evils.

 

Other activities in the festival will include making glutinous rice cakes, laying Mid-autumn dishes, painting, and making toy ships.

 

PV