Looking for Asian beauties

Much of the world's advertising is pitched at pretty women, or uses them to draw in viewers and get higher ratings.

Realising this, Asian advertising agencies has organised another Miss AdAsia 2014 contest "to honour beautiful young women from Asian countries".

Candidates aged 18-28 will be selected from photos they send to the organising board.

Already, contestants from Laos, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and India have registered to join. The organisers will accept applications until the end of this month.

The final ceremony will be held on October 4 in Ha Noi. Two well known bands from South Korea will take part.

The winners qualify for entry in the Miss First Beauty World 2014 contest organised in South Korea.

Initiated in Viet Nam in 2013, the contest is a part of the Asian Advertising Congress.

Spirit of Vietnamese youth on display

An exhibition of more than 200 photographs and artifacts that reveal the contributions Vietnamese youth have made to national causes, from the Three Readies Movement until today's Youth Volunteer Programme, recently opened in downtown Hanoi.

Formed by young Vietnamese in 1964, during the American War in Vietnam, the Three Readies Movement inspired millions of young Vietnamese to contribute to the nation's victory.

Many of them went to the frontline, while others volunteered to build the logistics network that supported the Vietnam People's Army during the war.

At the exhibition, both veterans and volunteers were proud to recount their experience in the movement.

Pham ChienThang, 64, was a young man when he fought on the frontline. He said he was happy to see young Vietnamese today following in the footsteps of his generation by participating in the Youth Volunteer Programme.

Formed in 1999, the Youth Volunteer Programme plays an active role in many social movements such as preserving the environment, maintaining traffic order and providing healthcare for the poor.

Co-organised by Hanoi's Ho Chi Minh Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Museum, the exhibition will be open at the Student House of Culture, 37 Tran BinhTrong, Hanoi until August 9.

Album pays tribute to composer

The local pop and semi-classical singer Duc Tuan has released a special album to commemorate the first death anniversary of well-known composer Pham Duy.

Titled Requiem, the album features nine songs including Nhung Gi Se Mang Ve Coi Chet (What to Bring along to the Other World), Mua Thu Chet (Dead Autumn) and Nang Chieu Ruc Ro (Splendid Afternoon Sunshine).

The songs are presented in the requiem genre, a musical composition honouring the dead; specially the Roman Catholic Mass for the dead, along with other commemorative pieces of analogous intent.

Veteran composer Duy, most remembered for his song Tinh Ca (Love Song), died at the age of 92 in HCM City.

He composed almost 1,000 songs during his 72-year-long career. Duy returned to Viet Nam in 2005 after living abroad for years.

The album was completed with the help of the German Chamber Orchestra and a jazz band from Bonn, who performed together on the album.

Produced by composer and music producer Nguyen Cong Phuong Nam, based in Germany, the album was recorded in studios Hansahaus (Bonn) and MSM Studio (Munich), Germany.

Folk music heats up Quang Ngai

A gong and folk music festival in Son Tay District drew 200 artists from Ho Re, Cor and Ca Dong ethnic groups in six mountainous districts of the central province of Quang Ngai.

They performed folk music accompanied by traditional instruments including gongs. Organisers gave the first prizes to musicians from Tra Bong, Ba To and Son Tay districts.

This is the second time the province has held such a festival.

Hoang Sa, Truong Sa exhibition opens in Thai Nguyen

An exhibition of historical evidence proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos opened in Vo Nhai district, the northern province of Thai Nguyen on August 5.

On display are 600 documents, books, newspapers, photos, posters, and maps, all declaring Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

The exhibits underlined the especially important role of sea and islands in the country’s socio-economic development, and national security and defence.

Documentary films on national seas, islands and borders are being screened during the five-day event, which aims to help promote patriotism, solidarity and sense of responsibility among people from all walks of life in protecting sea and island sovereignty.

Festival showcases cultural essence of Quang Ngai ethnic minorities

More than 200 artisans of ethnic minorities across the central province of Quang Ngai presented the best of their traditional culture through musical instrument and singing performances at a recent festival in Son Tay district.

The event, the second of its kind in the province, was held on August 3 and 4.

The participating artisans represented the H’re, Cor and Cadong ethnic groups who live in six mountainous districts, namely Son Tay, Son Ha, Tra Bong, Tay Tra, Ba To and Minh Long.

The gong and folk songs of ethnic minorities in Quang Ngai are facing threat of falling into oblivion due to impacts from modern life. The organisation of the festival with meticulously staged performance aims at keeping alive the unique cultural value of these groups.

The province has a population of more than 1.2 million with 17 ethnic groups. Among them, Kinh people account for nearly 89 percent, followed by H’re, Cor and Cadong.-

Young man captures the smiles of poor children

A young man is carrying out a project to give 10,000 free photo portraits to children in poor regions.

Do Van Hung, born in 1990, graduated from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities before teaching Vietnamese in Thailand. When arriving in Thailand and saw that photos of all the students hung in the classroom and came up with the idea of doing a photo project in Vietnam. Many children in mountainous regions have never had their photos taken.

Hung travelled to schools in various mountainous areas such as Meo Vac in Ha Giang Province and Sin Ho in Lai Chau Province. The photos were taken, processed and given to the children immediately. After three months Nguyen Quang Tuan, a friend of Hung's joined.

According to Hung, the most difficult task is communicating with shy children. But he usually finds a way, and now has taken 3,500 photos. The project is expected to be complete by November. "I'm really moved by the children. I think our reward is that we are able to enjoy all these beautiful pristine landscapes," Hung said.

In early July, he opened his photo exhibit and earned VND9 million (USD428) to continue the project. The cost of one photo is only VND7,000, however they still have to cover the travel and accommodation. He said, "For our next trip, we'll go to the poor fishing villages, urban slums in the cities and social centres."

Youngsters to perform traditional art forms at gala event

Popular scenes from many Cheo (traditional opera) plays will be performed by young Cheo lovers at a gala held at Kim Ngan temple in Hanoi on August 9.

In addition to Cheo performances, the young artists will bring to stage folk dances, Quan Ho (love duet singing) and Xam singing (folk songs for blind beggars).

The programme will feature the voices of well-known guests, including Meritorious Artists; Xuan Hinh, Thanh Ngoan and Quang Vinh.

The show is set to kick off at 8 pm at Kim Ngan temple, 42 Hang Bac street, Hoan Kiem district. Tickets are modestly priced at VND 20,000.

The event, under the direction of Le Tuan Cuong from the Vietnam Cheo Theatre and artist Khuong Cuong, is the closing ceremony for students of the ‘Discovering Cheo’ training course.

The course is part of a non-profit project launched in July 1 by the National Cheo Ographics group under the sponsorship of the Research Centre for Preserving and Promoting Traditional Music, the Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and the Twenties organisation.

With an aim to bring the art of Cheo to the youth of Vietnam, the project has two facets; ‘Discovering Cheo’ - the training course held from July 4 -30, and ‘Experiencing Cheo’- a field trip to Khuoc village, one of the cradles of the Cheo art form, in Phong Chau commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province.

The project has attracted the participation of around 30 students from many high schools and universities in Hanoi.

Miss VietnamToday 2014 calls for participants

The first Miss VietnamToday beauty contest hosted by vietnamtoday.net and Viet Beauty Co. is seeking candidates nationwide from August 15.

The contest aims to find out the best representatives for contemporary Vietnamese women who are beautiful, talented and dynamic.

High school graduates who are aged between 17 and 27 with the height of 1.6m and above are advised to register at http://misvietnamtoday.vietnamtoday.net/dangky/.

Deadline for registrations is September 30. Each week there are six girls to be chosen from their online profiles to enter the semi final where 36 beauties will compete for 20 spots in the final round set for October 15-18 in HCMC and the coastal city of Phan Thiet. A coronation night will be held in HCMC on October 18.

A judging panel which consists of PhD/psychologist Huynh Van Son, Miss Vietnam Tourism 2008 Phan Thi Ngoc Diem, beauty expert Ma Dao Ngoc Bich, photographer Ly Minh Phu and journalist Pham Hung Phong will help find the winners through ao dai and evening gown performances and Q&A.

Miss VietnamToday 2014 will receive a cash prize of VND100 million and a crown, first and second runner-ups will respectively get VND70 million and VND50 million. Other extra titles are Miss Talent, Miss Friendly, Miss Ao dai (Vietnamese long dress), and Miss Sea, among others.

San Art Lab Open Studio opens session 5

San Art Lab Open Studio will open session 5 on August 9 in which visitors can see the inside of a working artist’s studio to learn more about the process of the artist’s thinking and artworks in progress.

It is also a chance to meet the local art community and get a sense of contemporary art.

In this session, visitors can see Rudy Atjeh, a wizard who uses a cutter knife to turn out a myriad of sculptures from paper. Meanwhile, Nguyen Tran Nam brings to the session stone sculptures which present the dark, hidden and forgotten fractions between the past and the present, faith and retribution, and random tales.

Visitors can also learn what Pham Dinh Tien thinks about the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy in Ukraine.

Moreover, at 4 p.m., artist Nguyen Manh Hung will give a short talk to share his residency experience in Paris. Working with the Mac Val Museum on the outskirts of Parisfor for a few months, he scored the local flea markets for landscape paintings by French amateur artists that he augmented with his own flair to produce ‘L’avventura - Lang Du’ – a project challenging the determination of value in art.

‘San Art Laboratory’ is a studio and residency program initiated and managed by San Art in HCMC. Situated in separate furnished premises with a communal kitchen nearby San Art in Binh Thanh District, ‘San Art Laboratory’ aims to provide three artists with an art studio and living quarters for six months each. Successful artists will be granted US$1,000 towards production costs and small living allowances.

The focus of San Art Laboratory is to share creative ideas via critiques and discussions. Each participant will be expected to work with a ‘talking partner’ throughout their residency period, meeting on a regular basis to discuss the progress of their thinking. ‘Talking partners’ will be negotiated between applicant and the San Art Laboratory Advisors who will take into consideration the interests of the applicant. These ‘talking partners’ will be ideally located in HCMC and could include architects, artists, writers, teachers etc.

Each ‘lab session’ will close with a group exhibition of realized work at San Art.

The San Art Lab Open Studio is located at 48/7 Pham Viet Chanh Street in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District.