Polish Porcelain Exhibition
Opening: Mon 04 Jul, 1 pm
Exhibition: 04 – 09 Jul 2011
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi

Polish Porcelain Exhibition – a collection of 46 porcelain paintings of European monkeys inspired by monkeys’ special intelligence depicted on the backgrounds of the architecture of the European countries and 28 porcelain sculptures of humans and animals in modern shapes and simple decoration  - special characteristics of the 2nd half of the last century.

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Hanoi proudly presents an exhibition entitled ‘Polish porcelain Exhibition’ on the occasion of Poland taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the 2nd half of 2011.

The collection on display belongs to AS Cmielow Porcelain Manufactory, which is situated in the south-east of Poland and started its work in 1804. Polish porcelain production has a long tradition dating back to the 18th century. At present, there are 7 factories producing artistic and table porcelain in Poland.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Polish Airlines LOT.

The Museum opens daily from 8.30 am – 5 pm. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Lacquer painting exhibition by Luong Quoc Thang

Opening: Sat 02 Jul, 10 am
Exhibition: 02 – 31 Jul 2011
Tu Do Gallery, 53 Ho Tung Mau Street, District 1, HCMC

You are invited to the lacquer exhibition entitled "The seed of history" by artist Luong Quoc Thang. The exhibition introduces the selected art works of the artist during his 5 years working with lacquer. Luong Quoc Thang masters the process of lacquer from the beginning to the end.

Luong Quoc Thang majored in oil painting and graduated in 1993. However, lacquer fascinates him, therefore, he had chosen lacquer as the topic for his master dissertation.

Luong Quoc Thang’s statement: The simplicity is something the artist strives to achieve. On the rusty surface, he appreciates every detail and transforms it into beautiful art works. Preoccupied by the beauty of the country, Vietnamese lacquer is like a seed buried deep into the soil…. until it reflects on us about the perception of the real life in the past.

Live Punk Rock Band from Thailand

Sat 02 Jul 2011, 8.30 pm
Hanoi Rock City, 27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho, Hanoi

Hanoi Rock City in associated with delicate are proud to bring to Hanoi a one-off night of ear-splitting grit and havoc with alternative industrial punk metal band Tuan, live from Thailand.

The new quartet are founded and named after lead vocalist/guitarist/produce whose immense talent and versatility has shone through with his previous alternative/punk bands Day Tripper, Futon and Goo (Goo played at the CAMA Music Mag festival in Hanoi, 2000). Tuan’s achievements in rock are already more than most, having supported Linkin Park live in Bangkok in 2008 and forming a band with Suede drummer Simon Gilbert. Confident and established, he has since turned his head to his own projects.

Staying true to his punk roots but now pushing himself into a nosier, heavier domain, Tuan the band released their debut album ‘Black Painting’ on Tokyo CR Japan label to acclaim in 2010. Live, Tuan have nestled themselves in nicely as a leading rock act across East and Southeast Asia. This Saturday night and for one night only, Hanoi will get a slice of the punk pie. If you like your rock raw, fast and furious, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Ticket price: 100.000 VND (at door)

Rock Night Fundraising

Thu 21 Jul 2011, 7.30 – 10 pm
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 94 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 3, HCMC

You are invited to a Rock Night Fundraising event. Besides listening to rock music featuring performance of White Noise and Alternative Band, you will also lend a helping hand – give orphans from Saigon a fun day out.

Ticket price: 150.000VND. Included: Food + Drink + Donation

Screening of “Tanguy” at IDECAF

Sat 02 Jul 2011, 3 pm
IDECAF, 28 Le Thanh Ton, Distr 1, HCMC

You are invited to the film screening of “Tanguy” of director Etienne Chatiliez, starred by LEric Berger, André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma. The film is nominated for the César Prize 2002 for the best actor  (André Dussollier) and the Youngest Best Actor (Eric Berger).

Synopsis: Paul and Edith Guetz, a wealthy couple at their fifties, cannot stand the fact that Tanguy, their decent 28-year-old son, still lives with family. Even he tries his best to be brilliant, successful and charming, it seems pointless because his parents do everything to turn his life into hell in order to get him out of their luxurious apartment.

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitle.

Ticket price: 15 000 VND

Live Music by Dao Anh Khanh and Tri Minh

Sat 02 Jul 2011, 9 pm
Factory Bar, 11A Bao Khanh alley, Hanoi

You are invited to live experimental music night with performance art entitled “White Dust” at Factory Bar. The event will have the participation of Dao Anh Khanh and Tri Minh.

Sculpture Show by Nam Le

Sat 02 Jul 2011, 6 pm
Factory Bar (2nd floor)
11A Bao Khanh alley, Hanoi

You are invited to a sculpture show “Infinity” of artist Nam Le.

Exhibition “Faces of Asian Ethnic Groups”

Exhibition: 05 Jun – 05 Jul 2011
New Space Arts Foundation, 2nd Floor, Number 15 Le Loi, Hue City

You are invited to the exhibition “Faces of Asian Ethnic Groups” of artist Laval Sebatien.

The black-and-white photos portray the life and culture of people in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, as well as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Luang Prabang in Laos. Laval’s treatment of floating houses, flickering cooking fires, the innocent smiles of kids, the austere expression on the face of an ethnic man, or a tobacco pipe between a woman’s lips, captures the enigma that endures in this region.

The photos include portraits and depict both traditional customs and changes in people’s lives. Images in opposition, such as traditional clothes and satellite dishes, old roofs and asphalt roads, reflect the changes in the lives of the ethnic people. The images have no titles, allowing the viewer to freely think, feel and discover the characters, to “try to meet them, talk to them, look at them and understand them”.

Exhibition “Shadow” at Bui Gallery

Exhibition: 21 Jun – 31 Aug 2011
The Bui Gallery, 23 Ngo Van So St., Hanoi, Vietnam

You are invited to painting exhibition “Shadow” of artist Le Nguyen Manh. In an increasingly crowded field of talented social critics, self driven work like “Shadow” sets itself apart from the pack.

Artist Le Nguyen Manh: After all, Le Nguyen Manh doesn’t have answers to the ever rising economic pressures in contemporary Vietnamese society, and he doesn’t pretend to.  Manh is a rare breed among the old guard of social observers.  He is intensely focused on himself, his work, and his spiritual evolution and yet his work is distinctly ‘Vietnamese’.

Manh achieves this rare duality by focusing on himself rather than the larger implications of society.  Unlike artists that make direct social statements with their art, referencing specific moments in history and juxtaposing them with modern times, Manh observes himself in society and thus based on his experience, indirectly comments on his society.

Throughout Bong, there are two planes of view. There is the joker’s side, of carefree fun and the real world.  The joker reaches through, sometimes punching, other times with the mere pinch of his fingers, to the other side where organized society plays on.  But what is this society?  It’s a world populated by girls with flower heads, Benjamin Franklins and blank faces with zippers for mouths.  The comic of this farce is the mysterious joker, who is distinctly apart from the charade, obsessed with his face and image, only to dip in once and while, into the game being played on the other side.

Some would call Manh’s newest show a black comedy, populated by clowns and piggish cameramen, but it’s more a searing look at the self, and how that individualism can only exist behind a thin veil in modern Vietnamese society.

Exhibition “And Flowers Showered”

Exhibition: 10 Jun – 08 Jul 2011
Art Vietnam, 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu, Hanoi

You are invited to the exhibition “And Flowers Showered” of artist Nguyen The Hung. In this romantic outpouring of emotion, artist Nguyen The Hung uses the images of flowers, real, imagined, or newspaper composites of life cut into flower shapes, as a metaphor for the passion contained in all mankind.

As the artist states: “My idea is to paint flowers flying the air, falling like rain from pregnant clouds or sentiment from an overburdened heart. The flowers shower onto the large void in the painting, making space for more abundance, for more flower rain.“

The artist creates an enveloping tension between the soft empty void and the promise of flowers drifting through space seeking some kind of logical order. Although the artist has artfully positioned these flowers onto the Do paper, they seem to struggle between keeping their shape or falling into pieces.

To this contradiction the artist poses this question. “Which flower is for you? For the daily life battle?
Do you chose the real flower falling from nature or do you choose the flower of life as it is lived? The dream of beauty or the beauty of life?”

This question the viewer must ponder as he wanders through this fanciful garden of showering flowers. “Do I choose the dream, or do I choose life?”

This is the question.