Vietnam to begin encyclopaedia compilation this year

Vietnam will start compiling its own encyclopaedia this year as the work was recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The compilation of the 36-volume encyclopaedia is slated to be completed in 2023, according to Decision 1262/QD-TTg.

In the 2014-2019 period, the 36 volumes of the reference work will be compiled according to subjects while their entries and articles will be arranged alphabetically from 2020 to 2023.

The project aims to provide a comprehensive summary of information covering all branches of knowledge of Vietnam and the world.

The book is hoped to help improve the overall intellectual level, serving the nation’s industrialisation, modernisation and international integration.

The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences is assigned to chair the compilation.

Vietnamese designs remote artwork application

Vietnam artist Uu Dam is introducing “License2Draw” - a remote-controlled drawing application performed via smartphone and wifi – at the Koganecho Bazaar 2014 in Yokohama city, Japan.

The international exhibition entitled “Fictive Communities Asia”, is taking place from August 1 to November 3, attracting more than 140 artists from many countries around the world.

Uu Dam artist and his art work

Truong Cong Tung and Liar Ben are among the participants who will create art works and display them during their three-month stay in Japan.

License2Draw enables the user after downloading the app License2Draw onto smartphone to remotely move a pen physically thousands of kilometers away at the touch of a button and draw.

To see the pen moving when you draw, please add License2Draw to your Skype contact list. When you connect to License2Draw via Skype, you can see video feed of the moving pen.

Updated information about the availability of the app License2Draw will be published on my website www.uudam.net and Facebook before the August 1 opening in Yokohama.

Vietnam invited to Mrs Universe pageant

The beautiful Nguyen Thu Hoai, former Mrs Vietnam Continents for 2012, has been extended an invitation to participate in Mrs Universe pageant scheduled in Malaysia on August 22-30.

If Hoai, now a successful 38 year old businesswoman with three children, accepts the invitation, she will be the first Vietnamese contestant ever to participate in the pageant.

Mrs Universe is an international beauty pageant organized annually since 2007 for married women and single mothers.

The current title holder of Mrs Universe (2013) is Carol Lee of Malaysia.

So far, representatives of 46 countries have been invited to participate in the contest.

Contemporary artists display work in HCM City

An exhibition of videos, sculptures, installation works, paintings, and drawings by six contemporary artists from the Global South, a group of former colonies, will take place at San Art in HCM City from August 7 to October 30.

The participating artists are Adriana Bustos (Argentina), Christopher Myers and Hank Willis Thomas (US), Nguyen Hong Ngoc (Viet Nam), Sudarshan Shetty (India), and Than Sok (Cambodia).

"Conjuring Capital" is curated by Zoe Butt.

The exhibition is a part of a three-year project called "Conscious Realities" that seeks to stimulate creative activity in Viet Nam, engaging various ideas from the contemporary artistic process.

Featuring lectures, workshops, and a residency programme, the project has been initiated and organised by city gallery San Art and backed by the Dutch-Government supported Prince Claus Fund Network Partnership.

San Art is situated at 3 Me Linh Street, Binh Thanh District.

TV reality show constructs schools for rural children

A television reality show to build new schools for rural children in Viet Nam has been launched by HCM City Television (HTV) and Dong Tay Promotions.

Cung Xay Tuong Lai (Let's Build the Future) targets primary schools and kindergartens in outlying districts of Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces.

The programme also features people who are facing difficulties in life, and trying their best to send their children to school.

Actor Quyen Linh, host of the show, said that, after visiting the areas, he realised the challenges and difficulties local students had.

Truong Van Minh, head of HTV's programme department, hopes the Prudential Vietnam-sponsored programme will help change the lives of poor children, and give them more hope in the future.

It will be broadcast at 11pm every Sunday on HTV7.

Danang prepares for fireworks extravaganza

The central city of Danang is planning a unique touch for the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day fireworks display set to blast off on September 2, 2015.

The city is planning to launch some of the fireworks displays from helicopters Huynh Duc Tho, Vice Chairman of the city People’s Committee revealed at a recent press conference.He said the city has contracted with PyroStar International,an Australian company with remarkable international credentials to handle the pyrotechnics.

“PyroStar has an excellent reputation for creativity, design, performance and safety,”Thosaid.

Tho added plans for the programme will be submitted to the Vietnamese government for approval after the city has more carefully considered the feasibility and cost.

Four documentaries and feature films have won the 2014 Bup Sen Vang (Golden Lotus Bud) awards, the fifth annual honour for young filmmakers.

Winning documentaries “ Mot ngay binh thuong ” (A normal day) by Nguyen Duy Linh, and “ Bao gio ve ” (When to return) by Pham Le Dung were picked out by a judge panel and the audience nationwide, respectively.

Meanwhile, movies “ Sac mau diu em ” (Subtle colour) by Nguyen Trung Kien, and “ Hat cam va con meo vang khong tuoi ” (Orange seeds and ageless yellow cat) by Nguyen Le Hoang Viet were voted as the best.

The awards are meant for students pursuing the project ”We are filmmakers” launched by the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents, said standing Deputy Chairwoman of the Vietnam Movie Association Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat at the presentation ceremony in Hanoi on August 3.

Dedication awards were also presented to three filmmakers.

The judge panel groups well-known filmmakers and journalists at home and abroad, including Mark Jonathan Harris who won three Oscar prizes for documentaries.

They selected six best films from over 100 entries.-

Tien Giang student tops Intelligence Quiz

Top laurels went to Nguyen Trong Nhan, a high school student from southern Tien Giang province in “The Road to Mt. Olympia” contest held on August 3.

The annual intelligence quiz show is organized by Vietnam Television (VTV) for outstanding students.

Nhan outdid three other contestants: Nguyen Ngoc Anh from Hai Duong province, Vu Tien Dat from Dien Bien province, and Nguyen Hoang Bach from Ho Chi Minh City.

He obtained the highest score of 260, Bach came in second with 240 while Anh and Dat were placed third.

The 14th annual event involving high school contestants from many cities and provinces nationwide was broadcast live from VTV studios in Hanoi.

Capital dwellers get free screenings of RoK films

A free open-air screening of the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) motion pictures will be held every Friday and Saturday night during August in Hanoi.

The Month of RoK Film Screenings has been organised for the first time by the Korean Cultural Centre in Vietnam.

The evening screenings will feature the popular romantic comedies Catch Me by Lee Hyeon-jong and Sung Si-hup's The Plan Man.

Also known as Steal My Heart, Catch Me is about Lee Ho-tae (Joo Won) who meets the love of his dreams, Yoon Jin-sook (Kim Ah-joong), for the first time in ten years but is shocked to learn that she is a hit-and-runner.

The Plan Man recounts the story of an eccentric man who endeavors to escape from his obsession of attempting to arrange every element of his life.

As many as 2,000 people are expected to come to the eight screenings of the movies on the grounds of the Keangnam Landmark 72 building, E6, Pham Hung Road.-

Prehistoric sites discovered in Central Highlands Gia Lai

As many as 24 prehistoric archaeological sites have been spotted in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai recently, promising new excavations to be carried out to shed more light on these times in Vietnam’s history.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Nguyen Khac Su from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology said in two months of surveying areas in Dak Po, Kbang and Kong Chro districts and An Khe township, experts found tools typical for the Palaeolithic Era (Old Stone Age) dating back to 10,000 – 30,000 years ago.

Notable, they unearthed some stone tools in An Khe that are believed to belong to the early and middle Old Stone Age from some hundreds of thousands of years ago. They are found to be much older than those that have been uncovered in Vietnam so far, he said.

Some of the digging sites are believed to appear in the late Neolithic Era (New Stone Age) and the Early Metal Period like opal axe making workshops as old as 4,000 years in H’Lang village, Kong Chro district.

In some places, archaeologists dug up traces of the Metal Period such as stone hoe blades, bronze axe moulds and blast furnaces.

Dr. Nguyen Gia Doi, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, said authorised agencies need to take immediate measures to protect the newly-found sites. At the same time, researches should be conducted systematically to clarify their values throughout the country’s history.-

Vietnam attends int’l beer festival in Berlin

Vietnamese beer producers are introducing their beer brands and the country’s culinary culture at the 18th International Beer Festival, which opened in the German capital of Berlin on August 1.

This is the 14 th consecutive year Vietnam has participated in the event, which is expected to attract around 800,000 beer lovers to the 2.2km-long Karl-Marx revenue – dubbed the world’s longest beer garden.

Some 340 breweries from 87 countries worldwide have brought to the festival more than 2,400 types of beer, including traditionally-cooked beer from the US, Italy, France, Argentina, Norway and Nepal.

It is forecast that about 700,000 liters of beer will be consumed during the three-day festival.-

Hoang Sa,Truong Sa exhibition comes to Bac Ninh

The northern province of Bac Ninh has become the ninth province in the country hosting an exhibition of maps and documents affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Nearly 100 maps, documents and publications on display are important historical and legal evidence asserting that the Vietnamese states have explored, exploited and exercised sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa since the 17 th century and these activities have been maintained in an uninterrupted and peaceful manner in accordance with international law.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on August 1, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son stressed that the exhibition will contribute to affirming Vietnam ’s just stance on the East Sea issue, strengthen solidarity and heighten the sense of responsibility of Vietnamese at home and abroad in the cause of safeguarding the nation’s sea and islands.

It will also help international friends, including Chinese people, understand about the Vietnamese people’s aspiration for maintaining peace and stability in the region, he added.

Some coast guard and fisheries surveillance vessel models have been exhibited for the first time at the exhibition, which will run until August 15.

Archaeologists unearth ruins of Cham tower

Three foundations of a Cham tower complex have been unearthed four weeks ago by a team of archaeologists in Qua Giang village, Hoa Vang district, Da Nang city.

The tower is the second largest excavated in the central city since another was unveiled in Phong Le village two years ago. It was built to honour the Champa King between the fourth and 13th centuries.

The team has found bricks, ceramic fragments and statues, including a large head.

Team leader Nguyen Chieu, a lecturer at Hanoi 's University of Social Sciences and Humanities, on August 1 said that two foundations were rebuilt using material from collapsed towers.

"We discovered some bricks with figures, used to decorate walls of Cham towers, in the foundations. That means that Cham people collected old bricks from damaged towers to build new towers," he explained.

The excavation, close to the Qua Giang River, aims to shed light on a major hub of the Cham civilisation.

"Cham people often lived near rivers, which were major transport and trading routes. The Qua Giang River connects to the Han River in Da Nang city and is an estuary of the East Sea ," Chieu said.

While the French discovered the area 100 years ago, they conducted no excavations and left only vague documents, which are currently displayed at the Cham Sculpture Museum .

Contemporary researchers must overcome funding shortages, as well as the difficult task of getting permission to excavate from the four families who own the gardens and houses on the archaeological site.

The excavation was organised by archaeologists from the central city's Cham Sculpture Museum and Hanoi's University of Social Sciences and Humanities.-

Photos capture the world in eyes of ethnic children

A photo exhibition entitled “To ke ban nghe” (I tell you my stories) came to the central province of Ninh Thuan on August 1 after its success in Hanoi, with 120 photos of daily life taken by ethnic children on display.

The exhibits are chosen from thousands taken by ethnic Cham, Raglai, H’mong and M’nong children in Ninh Thuan, the northern province of Lao Cai and the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong.

They were provided with a camera to capture what they saw in their communities, such as childhood games, school and family activities, and traditional festivals.

The activity is part of a project jointly implemented by Oxfam, an international organisation working to end injustice and poverty, and the Institute for Studies of Society, Economics and Environment (iSEE) since last October.

The selected children were trained in photographing and image-based story telling by experts in the Photovoice method.

The exhibition will run until August 4.-

Exhibition features People’s Navy first victory

Twenty-eight valuable documents and twelve objects and photos about the US war in Vietnam are on display at an exhibition at Quang Ninh province’s museum from August 2-5 marking the 50th anniversary of the first victory of the Vietnam People’s Navy.

The exhibition displays legal evidence of Vietnam’s sea and islands sovereignty through records by Western navigators, Vietnamese maps in different periods and Nguyen dynasty’s royal documents.

It also features life of naval soldiers doing their tasks to defend national sovereignty and a collection of coral reproducing Vietnamese maps with the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

Another exhibition on Vietnam’s sea and island featuring 206 art works by painters nationwide has opened at Hai Phong city’s Fine Art and Exhibition center.

A ground-breaking ceremony for a monument in honor of the Vietnam People's Navy’s first triumph has been held at Lach Truong port in Thanh Hoa province, an important base of the Vietnam People’s Navy in the resistance war against American imperialists.

The monument is expected to be inaugurated on December 22, the 70th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Ly Nha Ky attends Singapore National Day celebration

Former Tourism Ambassador Ly Nha Ky attended a ceremony in Hanoi on August 1 at the invitation of Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Ng Teak Hean to celebrate the 49th anniversary of Singapore’s National Day.

She took the occasion to exchange with Ambassador Ng Teak Hean and other participants at the event, which saw the presence of many senior officials and diplomats from Vietnam and foreign countries.

Ly Nha Ky, in Vietnamese traditional costume (Ao Dai), attracted due attention of hosts and guests alike at the celebration.