Abstract exhibition by Nguyen Ngoc Phuong opens

One of 13 artworks on display by Nguyen Ngoc Phuong. — Photo courtesy of the artist

Abstract acrylic paintings by Nguyen Ngoc Phuong are on display at an exhibition in Hanoi.

This is the second edition of the artist’s “The 49th Day”. Phuong (MA in visual arts), currently works as a lecturer at the Ha Noi’s University of Industrial Fine Arts.

With a fairly strange and religious title, the exhibition continues to exhibit large acrylic paintings on canvas.

“Visual arts always bring me emotions on the world that I have never known before,” said Phuong. 

“The 49th Day is a long-term project and also my very own journey into arts, to which I devote all my energy, my passion and my heart. Much like the dreamy, evanescent, romantic, most terrified, loneliest, barest part of my soul, wishing to be shared with a free and beautiful world.”

The exhibition will run until Saturday, August 18, at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

Designer Ha tells story of áo dài

Dancer Linh Nga models a design by Vũ Việt Hà. — Photo courtesy of V-Art Club

A talk show revealing the history and art of the Vietnamese áo dài (traditional robe) as well as modern designs will take place with narration from designer Vũ Việt Hà.

With the theme Story of Áo Dài, designer Hà will share his opinions and experience of creating different designs.

Hà is a famous designer who has created traditional dresses for many women to compete at domestic and international beauty contests.

The event will take place on Saturday, August 18, at V-Art Club, Indochina Plaza, 241 Xuân Thuỷ Street, Cầu Giấy District. 

South Melbourne Districts’ hold Auskick event in HCM City

The South Melbourne Districts Auskick will be held from 10.45am to 4.30pm on August 18 at RMIT University on 702 Nguyễn Văn Linh Street, HCM City’s District 7. Photo citynetevents.com

The South Melbourne Districts’ Auskick will be held from 10.45am to 4.30pm on August 18 at RMIT University, 702 Nguyễn Văn Linh Street, in HCM City’s District 7.

Auskick is a programme designed to teach the basic skills of Australian-rules football to boys and girls aged between five and 12.

RMIT University will hold a joint Auskick session with the visiting 20 Melbourne Auskickers, and afterwards a BBQ lunch.

For entertainment, the local Australian Rules Football Club, the Vietnam Swans, will hold a tournament with the Cambodia Eagles after Auskick.

The Saigon Colts will be hosting the event. 

GBA Oktoberfest Việt Nam at Hotel Nikko

The 26th anniversary of the German Business Association’s (GBA) Oktoberfest will be held from September 19 to October 22 on 235 Nguyễn Văn Cừ Street, HCM City District 1. Photo citynetevents.com

The 26th anniversary of the German Business Association’s (GBA) Oktoberfest will be held from September 19-22 at Hotel Nikko Saigon on 235 Nguyễn Văn Cừ Street in HCM City’s District 1.

This unique event creates an authentic Bavarian party atmosphere right here in Việt Nam.

Experience the genuine atmosphere found in massive outdoor beer tents of the original Oktoberfest in Munich, complemented by traditional German cuisine, premium imported German beer and authentic music from our Munich-based Oktoberfest Band.

An expected attendance of 9,000 locals and expats will enjoy the festivities.

The GBA Oktoberfest Việt Nam is jointly hosted by GBA and the Delegation of German Industry and Commence in Việt Nam (GIC/AHK) under the patronage of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Hà Nội and the German Consulate General in HCM City.

The first Oktoberfest was held in 1992 and immediately set a new milestone in Việt Nam’s social calendar. Throughout the last 26 years, it has provided attendees with the opportunity to experience a traditional German atmosphere. 

Exhibition shows how art mixed technology

Light manipulation photography leveraging novel new nano techniques by Daniel Oran.

An experimental exhibition exploring art mixed with technology will open on August 25 in Hà Nội.

With the theme of "Art & Technology: Art as Insight", the exhibition explores intersections of knowledge and art — objects and designs that are beautiful but also represent amazing technological innovations, that inspire reflection and new discoveries for the viewer and that highlight the role of art as a powerful conduit of learning.

This unique debut exhibition, curated by San Francisco-based design-technologist Katherina Huong Nguyen, explores the potential harmony between art and technologies in the modern day.

“Art as a lens to view technologies, as a facilitator of technological understanding and innovation, art that leverages technology to amplify its vision and ability to lend insight, technology that scales the creative process, and/or art re-adapting technological artifacts as a new form of future communication,” she said.

The talented artists in the exhibition all intimately wield technology to express their vision, expanding the limits of what can be seen, sensed and experienced. Sometimes, they even entrust the creative process to the inner machine eye.

Their work guides the audience towards insight in three areas: creativity of the machine eye and scaled computational intelligence, sensory experiences and contemplation of the environment and the science of light and beauty of internal universes.

“The artworks and interactive installation experiences hope to introduce the potential of new and old technologies for future creators, inspire appreciation for the arts as a natural sandbox to encourage technology experimentation and encourage discussion around how we can build a future where arts and technology are more intertwined and equally cherished as fundamental to human progress,” said Nguyen.

The artists participating to the exhibition include Andrew Witt (projection video), Richard The (digital print), Reggie Raye (digital prints of computationally generated models for 3D printing), Nate Saucier (interactive mobile VR experience on Google Daydream), Juliann Ma (mixed media music performance), Celeste Oram (mixed sound and movement live radio wave composition), Maya Vanderschuit (projection media and sound), Daniel Oran (light sculpting and nanotechnology photography techniques), and Nikita Obidin (scientific camera apparatus).

Nguyen is a designer/engineer who is currently exploring the museum space with a keen interest in the potential of leveraging technologies to promote and better understand the world’s rich art heritage.

While she is a new curator, her passion for the potential of arts and technology is rooted in her childhood in the heart of Silicon Valley, where she grew up alongside the rise of the early tech industry, in her liberal arts education and in her years of experience running a software design consultancy immersed in the innovative startup ecosystem.

This exhibition is her debut curatorial production, both to celebrate the beautiful relationship between art and technology and to explore the potential of digital media technologies in facilitating distributed curation experiences across borders.

The exhibition will run until September 7 at the Heritage Space, 6 Nguyễn Hoàng Street, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội.

An opening exhibition tour on August 25 guided by the curator and artists requires online registration.

Charity Bazaar for HIV/AIDS-affected children

Poster of the event.

Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi will host an annual Charity Bazaar to raise funds for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS on Saturday, August 18.

At this exclusive staff market, items such as clothing, shoes, accessories, foods and drinks donated by the hotel team members will be on sale. The profits will be donated to Smile Group – a charity group with the mission of bringing smiles to children affected by HIV/AIDS in Việt Nam.

The charity bazaar will run from 8am to 6pm at Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi, 29 Tràng Tiền Street.

Noted director hosts talks on cinema

Film director Trần Anh Hùng. — File Photo

France-based Vietnamese film director Trần Anh Hùng will host a talk on the Special Language of Cinema on August 17 and 20 in HCM City.

The free talk is part of preparation for an official course on cinema language between September 26 and 30 by the director in the same destination.

The talk aims to attract film makers, cinema critics, cinema investors and anyone interested in the language of cinema.

Hùng has been well known for films like Mùi Đu Đủ Xanh (The Scent of Green Papaypa), Mùa Hè Chiều Thẳng Đứng (The Vertical Ray of the Sun), Xích Lô (Cyclo), Rừng Na Uy (Norwegian Wood) and Vĩnh Cửu (Eternity). He has been assessed as a film maker breaking traditional structures with new combinations of philosophy, aesthetic beauty and the most delicate feelings.

He has been considered to have created new standards in cinema and found his own cinematic language, which has been won the approval of international experts through various prizes at international festivals including the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards in 1994 for The Scent of Green Papaya; Golden Camera and Award of the Youth at Cannes Film Festival in 1993 for the same movie and the Fipresci Prize at the Istanbul International Film Festival in 2011 with the movie Norwegian Wood.

At the talk, Hùng will share his experiences on principles to make moving works, cinematic language through lights, shooting angles, colours, sounds and actors’ performances.

The talk will take place at 6.30pm, on August 17 and 20 at Toong Space, 126 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, District 3, HCM City.

Exhibition on Vietnam’s subsidy period opens in Hanoi

An exhibition featuring nearly 30 drawings on Vietnam’s subsidy period opened at the French Cultural Centre (L’Espace) in Hanoi on August 16.

The illustrations are part of a picture book on the same theme by Vietnamese artists Thanh Phong and Huu Khoa. They depict life in Vietnam in the late 20th century, with frequently-used sayings and idioms in the subsidy period, as well as shop signboards and children’s songs.

Artist Thanh Phong said as a person born and raised during the subsidy period, he wished that the audience, especially youths, will learn more about that time and people’s positive attitude through the exhibition.

Ngo Chuong Giang, a student of the University of Social Science and Humanities – Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said the event helps people better understand life of previous generations and a period in Vietnam’s history.

The exhibition runs until August 31.

Festival to promote rich culture of Central region’s ethnic groups

The third Central Ethnic Minority Culture Festival 2018 will take place in Tam Ky City of Central Quang Nam province from August 24-26, in the aim of preserving and promoting the cultural identities of Central ethnic minority groups in the renewal, integration and sustainable development process.

At a press conference to introduce the festival in Hanoi on August 16, Nguyen Thanh Hong, director of the Quang Nam provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the event will draw more than 2,000 artisans, artists, actors, actresses, amateur athletes and local people representing 20 of the central region’s ethnic minority groups.

A wide range of activities will be held during the festival with highlights of cultural and art programs, a presentation of traditional costumes and a demonstration of the groups’ traditional festivities and rituals. There will also be an exhibition of unique cultural products and cuisines of ethnic minority groups, a traditional sports program and activities to advertise the region’s tourism.

The national culture, sports and tourism event intends to honour the special cultural value of central ethnic minority groups and provides a chance for participants to share experience while raising awareness of the importance of preserving and protecting traditional cultural values in the new period to consolidate the great national unity.

The opening ceremony of the festival is scheduled for 8pm on August 24 in Tam Ky City.