VietNamNet Bridge – Installation works by twin artists Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Duc Hai will be on display in Hue City on Sunday.

The exhibition, ‘The Figures’ features the installations ‘Cups and Chopsticks’ and ‘Bed at Boarding-School’, along with a tri-colour movie called ‘Into the Sea’, a combination between video art and film.

‘Cups and Chopsticks’ is made up of 1,945 cups and chopsticks which are lacquered in red and trimmed with gold, commemorating the 2 million Vietnamese people who starved to death by the end of World War Two in 1944-45. ‘Into the Sea’ depicts the journey of the two artists to the sea, like two peas in pod, looking for the meaning of life and new wonders in the ocean’s immensity.

The exhibition will run until January 11, 2012 at the New Space Arts Foundation, 15 Le Loi Street, Hue City.

* Singing contest breeds patriotism

People from across the country have been invited to take part in a singing contest to celebrate the national anthem, Tien Quan Ca (The Song of Advancing Soldiers). Participants can send video clips of themselves singing the song to the organising committee no later than March 2012.

“The contest aims to create a singing movement and encourage patriotism, national solidarity and pride in being Vietnamese,” said Le Quang Vu, one of the creators of the contest. “It also aims to encourage participants to come up with inventive ideas about how to perform the country’s sacred song.”

Information about the contest can be found at www.tienquanca.vn.

Tien Quan Ca was written in 1944 by Van Cao (1923-95), and was adopted as the national anthem of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam in 1945. It became the national anthem of the unified Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in 1976, after the end of the anti-American war.

* New finds uncovered at Thang Long

An area of royal architecture has been unearthed at the relic of Thang Long Citadel following a two month dig, Vietnamese archaeologists said on Tuesday.

The excavation was centred in the basement of Kinh Thien Palace which was built in 1428 to host official ceremonies of the second Le dynasty.

Scientists from The Centre for Preservation of Co Loa Relics and Viet Nam Institute of Archaeology excavated four holes covering an area of 100sq.m, revealing beams, walls and bricks believed to have belonged to the first and second Le dynasties and the Nguyen dynasty.

Ceramic and porcelain artefacts were also found.

Analysis of the results showed that Kinh Thien Palace underwent restoration under the Nguyen dynasty in the 19th century.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News