Silk painting exhibition opens in Da Nang

Young Woman Portrait, silk painting by Hoàng Đặng.

Artists from Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam and northern provinces have exhibited their 26 silk paintings at the Đà Nẵng city’s Fine Arts Museum till December 4th.

Museum representatives said 11 artists were invited to create the silk paintings.

The exhibition features the beauty of the culture of different regions of Việt Nam and ethnic groups in rural areas.

Silk painting was seen as a unique art in Việt Nam and Asia, but the art is gradually disappearing in modern Việt Nam, with only few young artists training at fine arts colleges nationwide.

The museum, whish locates at 78 Lê Duẩn Street in Đà Nẵng, is the only one of its kind in the Central and Central Highlands region. It displays more than 400 works by artists from the city and provinces in spaces for contemporary fine arts, sculpture and paintings, and regular exhibitions.

The museum is among popular cultural destinations for tourists such as the Chăm Sculpture Museum and the Đà Nẵng Museum.  

Photo exhibition reviews Bình Phước’s development

A photo exhibition featuring Bình Phước Province and its 70 year-history has opened at the HCM City War Remnants Museum on Võ Văn Tần Street in District 1.

The event, called Bình Phước-Trước Và Sau Chiến Tranh (Bình Phước-Before and After Wars), celebrates Việt Nam Cultural Heritage Day. 

It features more than 120 black-and-white and colour photos selected from collections of photographers and collectors in the region.

It also displays many documents and 100 objects representing the province’s history, culture and lifestyle.  

The photos feature people from Bình Phước and soldiers during the French and American wars.

Images of Bình Phước’s economy, culture and tourism after war are also included.

“Many pictures and objects left a very strong impression on viewers, particularly sons and daughters of Bình Phước, who moved to live in HCM City,” said Trần Thị Thảo, who was born in Bình Phước and visited the opening ceremony on November 23.

“I enjoy telling stories about Bình Phước people who work hard every day to develop their land,” she said.  

The exhibition runs through the New Year.

Exhibition on red-shanked douc opens at Book Street

Forty photos portraying red-shanked doucs taken by Đà Nẵng-based freelance photographer Lê Phước Chín are on display at the HCM City Book Pedestrian Street.

Red-shanked doucs live mostly on Sơn Trà Island in Đà Nẵng.

“I’ve worked hard for 18 months on Sơn Trà Mountain to capture beautiful pictures on these cute doucs,” he said.

More than 5,000 photos and 300 videos of the animal have been taken, with 40 of the photos for exhibition.

“I hope my photos introduce the beauty of my homeland to residents,” said Chín, who was a former headmaster of Đà Nẵng Vocational Training College.

“I love Sơn Trà, its nature and creatures. And I love to take photos of them.”

On the opening of the exhibition on November 23, Chín introduced his photo books titled Báu Vật Sơn Trà (Treasures of Sơn Trà), featuring his best works on Sơn Trà and red-shanked doucs.

The book sells for VNĐ33 million (US$1,450). All proceeds will be used to protect Sơn Trà.

The exhibition closes on November 26 at Nguyễn Văn Bình Street in District 1.

VTVcab applies virtual studio technology to entertain audiences

The Việt Nam Cable Television Corporation (VTVcab) on November 22 announced its operation of advanced media technology production systems featuring Vizrt’s complete media solutions.

The solutions include media asset management, newsroom systems, design and control of 3D graphics, and studio automation.

The software-based technology manages workflows for pre-production, post-production, editing, approval and final distribution. It helps shorten production processes and saves time and human resources.

A key feature of this system is the application of modern virtual studio technology with real-time 3D graphics and it is controlled using a studio automation system. It will be able to bring information to their audience faster and with stunning visuals to make any story easy to understand. 

VTVcab will gradually apply this technology to sports news and analysis shows on its channels such as Football TV and Sports News HD. Other programmes will also benefit from the production solutions later.

The technology being implemented is used by major broadcasters and media companies around the world, such as CNN, NBC, FOX, Canal Plus and BBC World.

VTVcab is the first Pay TV company in Việt Nam and the second in Southeast Asia to apply the new live production technology.

Việt Nam, S.Korea foster links in literature

The Việt Nam – South Korea Literature Exchange Workshop 2017 was held on November 23 in HCM City to celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and South Korea.

The workshop, hosted by the Dongni – Mogwol Memorial Association and the HCM City Writers Association, is part of the HCM City – Gyeongju World Culture Festival 2017.

Trần Văn Tuấn, the association’s president, and Nguyễn Quang Thiều, the vice president, attended the event with renowned writers and poets from South Korea.

Tuấn said that Việt Nam and South Korea have many similarities in terms of culture and history.

“South Korea’s rapid economic growth brought valuable lessons to the development of Việt Nam and HCM City. Literature from South Korea, which has become more accessible, has brought great inspiration to local writers,” he said.

Jun Han-tae, head of the Dongni-Mogwol Memorial Association, said: “The workshop aims to foster a literature relationship between the two countries, enable writers to exchange ideas, and motivate them to come up with better work.”

Some of the topics discussed were an overview of Vietnamese literature, Việt Nam in Korean literature, and translations of literary works from Korean to Vietnamese, among others.

The HCM City – Gyeongju World Culture Festival 2017 runs until December 3.

Multiple cultural and art events, sport and youth exchanges and trade cooperation activities are taking place across popular sites such as Nguyễn Huệ Pedestrian Street, 29/9 Park, and Bến Thành Theatre, among others. 

Huế opens exhibition to mark VN heritage day

The Huế Monuments Conservation Centre on Thursday exhibited daily items that once were used by the country’s last two kings in a palace the kings used to live in prior to their coronation.

The items were displayed to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the monument.

The objects were taken from their permanent place – Huế Museum of Royal Antiquities – to An Định Palace for exhibition by the centre so that visitors could get a closer look at the private daily activities of the kings by matching the items they used with their home before they assumed the throne.

Both the museum and the palace are under the management of the conservation centre, which is a local government body that controls all heritage monuments built by the kings of the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945) in Huế.

According to Phan Thanh Hải, the centre’s director, the exhibition marks 100 years of the existence of the palace, and at the same time, celebrates Việt Nam Heritage Day, which is on November 23 every year.

However, Hải did not reveal the closing time of the exhibition.

Khải Định, the dynasty’s 12th king, and Bảo Đại, the 13th king, used to live in the building before they were crowned kings of the country’s last monarchy. Built in 1917, An Định Palace lies separately on the southern bank of Hương River, away from the citadel on the northern bank. It was the residence of Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo, who later became Khải Định King, and Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, who later became Bảo Đại King.

Today, the palace is a destination for monument tour programmes in Huế.

New museum of farming tools

A museum of ancient agricultural tools will soon be built in the southern province of Vĩnh Long, according to Nguyễn Xuân Hoanh, deputy director of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The museum will be built on the foundations of the existing exhibition house that stores ancient agricultural tools in the province’s Vũng Liêm District. The new museum will host 300 objects over a total area of 200sq.m.

The tools will include both ancient and contemporary objects used to prepare soil for planting, make hay, and harvest as well as fishing tools.

Free tourist maps for Đà Lạt

As many as 10,000 tourist maps in English and Vietnamese will be distributed free to tourists and tourism companies in Đà Lạt in December.

Half of the maps are revised maps based on the old ones with updates of new roads, tourism sites and high quality shopping areas. The other 5,000 maps offer lists of tours in the locality like walking tours around Xuân Hương Lake, tours to pagodas, sport tours and forest trekking tours. Each tour is designed to be no more than 3km with details on restaurants, shopping areas and important architecture.

The maps will include hotlines for tourists if they have any questions.

VNS