VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has agreed to let the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism submit two dossiers on two of the country’s cultural practices to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Photo: VOV
These proposals are expected to earn the country UNESCO’s recognition of ‘Don ca tai tu Nam bo’ (southern amateur singing), and ‘Tin nguong tho cung Hung Vuong’ (faith in and worship of Hung Kings), as the world’s intangible heritage.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Committee of UNESCO Vietnam have finished necessary procedures to send these applications to UNESCO headquarters in France before March 31.

The worship of Hung Kings, believed to be the nation’s ancestors, have become customs that are passed down from generation to generation. The worship plays an important role in Vietnamese culture, helping to unite the entire nation.

Meanwhile, Don ca tai tu is closely associated with the life of labourers and takes place in daily events such as weddings, birthday parties, and other community activities.


* Indian artists to perform in Vietnam


A delegation of 15 Indian artists will perform at the Hanoi Opera House from April 4-7, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Ladakh artists from India’s northern region will perform traditional Indian music and dance, as well as introduce their traditional costumes and musical instruments to Vietnamese audiences.

Established in 2004, the Ladakh art troupe now has 25 members under the leadership of renowned artist Tsering Sonam Sopari, with the aim of preserving Indian traditional music and dance of ethnic people in the northern region of India.


* Vietnamese snap up photo awards


Vietnamese photographers have won three awards from the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) for works displayed at an international exhibition in Singapore.

To Cong Vinh won a silver medal in the individual category for his black-and-white photo Nuoc Ve (Fresh Water).

Cham Con (Take Care for Daughter) by Nguyen Dinh Duc and Ngay Tho (Naive) by Duy Anh were awarded bronze medals.

The exhibition and competition were organised by the Photographic Society of Singapore in partnership with FIAP to celebrate the 60th anniversaries of both organisations.

The event was held with the intention of showing how children go about their lives in different parts of the world, and to boost UNESCO's goal of increasing awareness about underprivileged children.


* French TV channel comes to VN


French TV5MONDE Asie channel will be broadcast in Viet Nam with Vietnamese subtitles starting on Saturday from its third MeaSat-3 satellite feed for the Asia-Pacific Region.

The French-language network's CEO, Christine Saragosse, confirmed at a press conference yesterday that Vietnamese will be the first Asian language added to the channel and the 13th language on TV5MONDE globally.

"To mark this milestone, our channel will make an exception to its broadcasting policy and show a non-French language film, The Guava House, by Vietnamese director Dang Nhat Minh, in Vietnamese with French subtitles during the week of April 2 to 8," said Saragosse.

To celebrate the launch, the channel will also air a documentary called Chante! (Sing!) about an annual singing competition for local students organised by the French Cultural Centre in Ha Noi, as well as a 52-minute documentary on modern Viet Nam that emphasises its culture and amazing landscapes.

Subtitles will start during lifestyle programming blocks and evening movies. They will slowly be introduced during dramas and documentaries to reach an estimated 10 hours per day by the end of 2011.

The channel is currently available on all major platforms in Viet Nam – cable, satellite, IPTV and Digital Terrestrial Television. It is legally accessible to an estimated 5 million households in the country, making Viet Nam the second largest market for TV5MONDE in Asia after India with about 10 million.


VNN/VOV/VNS