Hue Festival to feature 60 art troupes

More than 60 art troupes from home and abroad have registered to take part in the biennial Hue Festival 2014, which is slated to take place on April 12-20 in the imperial city.

Vietnam will, for the first time, welcome world famous guests such as Brazil’s Sururu Na Roda band, Japan’s Bati-Holic drum troupe, and the Palestinian folk dance troupe Asayel.

The festival will highlight Nha Nhac – the royal court music and dance of Hue which has been named by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A similar variant of this elegant music is popular in Japan, where it is known as “Gegaku”, and also expected to be highlighted at the event.

Themed “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development”, the cultural festival forms part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ East Asian-Latin American cultural exchange. It will also feature an Ao dai show and exhibitions featuring Hue kite flying, calligraphy, food demos and street performance, among others.

The ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Culture and Fine Arts will also take place in the city from April 16-21.-

Indie film focuses on father and son

Luong Dinh Dung's first feature film, Cha Cong Con (Father Carries Son), featuring a father's love, will be screened this year after four years of preparation.

One of the country's few independent film directors, Dung submitted his script to Pilar Alessandra, a Hollywood screenwriter who once worked for the US-based DreamWorks Studios.

Dung met the writer in HCM City in 2012 when he participated in a three-day film training course taught by Hollywood filmakers, including Alessandra.

Alessandra, who rewrote the screenplay based on Dung's work, said the story "touched my soul".

The idea for the movie originated from Dung's childhood memories.

It features the short life of Ca, a boy living in a fishing village, who suffers from a life-threatening disease His father, a poor fisherman, works hard to earn money to pay for his medical bills.

The film's cinematographer Cordelia Beresford was successful in capturing beautiful scenes of Vietnamese ethnic minority groups in Chuyen Cua Pao (Pao's Story), a film produced by Viet Nam Film Studio in 2006.

Dung said the film would be screened in late September in Ha Giang, Ha Noi and HCM City.

Women’s museum highlights history of markets

An exhibition tracking the history of Hanoi’s markets is underway at the Vietnam Women’s Museum on the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8).

The event, which runs from March 6 to April 15, showcases various archive photos and market-themed stories from sellers and buyers, many of them women.

Many of Hanoi’s traditional markets, which were formerly known as “Ke Cho”, have turned into commercial centers or disappeared altogether as a result of urbanisation. However, for many people they remain a memorable part of the capital’s history and culture.

The exhibition aims to enhance public awareness of the role that markets played in urban life – generating jobs, creating a meeting spot for friends and popularising the image of Vietnam to international tourists.

Exhibition organisers are using their platform to call for the whole community, including organisations and policy makers, to work together in preserving the traditional culture of markets, contributing to the economic growth and enhancing local spiritual life.

An exhibition site featuring rural markets selling over 40 farm produce is also taking place at the museum from March 6-9.-

Buddhist exhibition stimulates Vietnam-India cultural ties

Dozens of pictures and artefacts illustrating the life and teachings of the Buddha have been put on show for an exhibition that opened in Ho Chi Minh City on March 6 as part of Indian Cultural Week in Vietnam.

The Indian Consul General in the city Deepak Mittal said the “Dharma Darshan” exhibition aims to encourage bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in architecture, art, and culture.

The event is not only a form of entertainment but also provides useful information for visitors, raising their responsibility for preserving shared cultural heritage with India – a cradle of Buddhism.

Organised by the Indian Ministry of Culture, the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the exhibition will run until March 14.

Buddhism is the largest religion in Vietnam, with about 10 million followers.

Concert features Korean talents

An evening concert, the Voice of Spring, will feature two the Republic of Korean (RoK) musicians performing along with the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) on March 8 at the HCM City Opera House.

Soprano Sung Hee Park and flutist Hyun Ju Ro will accompany the orchestra conducted by Tran Vuong Thach.

Works will include The Voice of Spring Waltz by Johann Strauss, the Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppe, the Doll’s sing from the opera the Tales of Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach, a famous Mazart aria, and a concerto for flute composed by Carl Reinecke of Germany.

Coloratura soprano Sung Hee Park, widely regarded as a great musical talent with impressive lyrical tone, has performed throughout Europe and Asia.

She garnered first prizes in the international competitions “Riviera Etrusca” (2005), “Padova” (2005), and “Visi d’ arte” (2006).

Park was the first Asian to receive a doctorate from Corso Biennia. She also graduated from the Municipal Conservatory of Milano and was accepted to take a course with soprano Mirella Freni

She is a lecturer at Korea’s Ewha Womans University, Sun Haw Arts High School and Kiangsi Arts High School.

She also has been appointed Ambassador for Culture and Arts by the Republic of Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Flutist Hyun Jug Ro, born in Seoul, came to the US at the age of 16 and attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music and continued her education at Hochschule fuer Musik Hamburg.

A winner of the ERASMUS scholarship to study in Vienna under Wolfgang Schulz, she has had numerous solo recitals and chamber concerts in the Republic of Korea, Southeast  Asia and Europe.

She is second flutist for Korea’s Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches at Seongnam Academy. She is also a member if the Flute Choir with Love and the Republic of Krea Flute Education Association.

Tickets are available at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, in District 1.

TV film spotlights national defense

A new documentary about Viet Nam's historic victories against foreign invaders is being aired on HCM City Television.

The five-episode Nhung Trang Su Bien Thuy (Historic Pages of the Frontier) depicts the tasks performed to defend national independence and sovereignty under the Ly and Tran dynasties in the 11th and 12th centuries, and the border defense strategy under the Le dynasty in the 15th century.

In the final episode, the work of family ancestors in defending the sea and islands is presented.

The first episode on March 3 celebrates the 55th anniversary of the founding of the National Border Military Force (March 3, 1959-March 3, 2014).

The documentary, by the Television Film Studio (TFS) in co-operation with the Border Military Command, is broadcast every day on HTV9 at 2pm.

The second part of the documentary with 13 episodes is nearing completion. It features wars defending the national border that occurred from 1959 to 1976. HTV from March 1- 6 also screened a new documentary, Nhat Ban – Cai Nhin Tu Viet Nam (Japan – Seeing from Viet Nam).

The documentary was shot in December last year by TFS with help from Japan's Nihon Denpa News.

The six episodes of 24 minutes each featured Japan's metro system, the elderly, the traditional kimono, and agriculture.

HCMC exhibition honours southern wartime women

More than 80 photos highlighting diplomatic contributions by women in the south during the two resistance wars against US and French forces are currently on display at the Southern Women’s Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Curator Nguyen Thi Tham said that the exhibition room gives visitors an insight into southern women’s staunch and flexible behaviour in wartime.

The strong role played by women on the political front line, famous for their intelligence and cultural values – many wore traditional ao dai at international functions - had a positive influence on the international women’s movement, Tham said, adding that they greatly contributed to the liberation of southern Vietnam in April 1975.

The exhibition will be open to visitors until June 30.-