Vietnamese, Italian duo wins urban architectural awards

A contest looking for architectural ideas for the Old Quarter in Hanoi concluded on November 4 with the first prize going to Italian architect Masimo Alvisi and his Vietnamese colleague Nguyen Dinh Thanh.

The “Historical Hanoi 2013” contest, with the theme of the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square and Hang Dao Street in the Old Quarter, aims to find solutions to enhance urban scenery and transport while preserving the architectural value at the site, taking into account economic and social factors.

It was organised by t he Italian Embassy in Vietnam in conjunction with the Vietnam Association of Architects and the Genoa Architect Association as an activity in the Italy Year in Vietnam . The contest received 52 entries by both Vietnamese and Italian architects.

The second prize was awarded to an 11-member group, who are Vu Dinh Thanh, Nguyen Xuan Anh, Hoang Tan Truc, Ha Thi Bich Dao, Pham Minh Duc, Vu Thanh Cong, Do Quoc Hoan, and Dao Le Hong My ( Vietnam ) and Gregoire Du Pasquier, Manuel Der Hagopian and Simon Pelletier ( Italy ).

Two Vietnamese Nguyen Tran Linh and Pham Xuan Nghia and their Italian colleague Matteo Zambon and Andrea Revello won the third prize of the contest.

AIDS video contest gets under way

Creative members of the public are being invited to present their thoughts and visions about HIV/AIDS in Viet Nam by producing a one-minute video clip and uploading it onto the internet.

The opportunity is in the form of a contest is organised by PEPFAR – the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – programme.

Entries close at mid day November 18. The award ceremony will follow later at the American centres in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Prizes include an iPhone 5c, iPad Mini, or iPod Touch Generation 5 – and a free trip to Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh City to attend the award ceremony for the winners.

Photo exhibition marks 40 years of Vietnam-Japan friendship

The photo exhibition of Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and Japanese Kyodo News will bring vivid images of the fine relationship between Vietnam and Japan and help visitors explore both nations’ cultural beauty and people.

VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi was speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Hanoi on November 4.

Over 70 photos, selected from the photo archives of VNA and Kyodo News, reflect the politics, economics, culture, arts and life of Vietnamese and Japanese people

A similar exhibition will be held in Tokyo in December to display VNA reporters’ photos of Vietnam and its people.

Photos of Vietnamese striker Cong Vinh who begins to play for Consadole Sapporo Club in the northern Japan, will also be showcased at the event in December.  

Online book festival offers discounts

More than 20,000 titles in various fields including hundreds of new ones are available at discounts of up to 50 per cent at the city's current Online Book Festival.

The ten day-event has attracted more than 100 international and Vietnamese publishers, distributors, and entertainment companies, including major names like Penguin, MacMillan, Cambridge, Pearson, Learning, and Oxford. Major Vietnamese participants include the HCM City General Publishing House, National Politics Publishing House, Tre (Youth) Publishing House and Kim Dong Publishing House.

The annual event organised by the Tiki Join Stock Company at http://hoisachonline.tiki will end next Monday.

Ha Noi students win film prize

Five students from Ha Noi–based M.V Lomonosov Secondary School have been awarded top prize at the 8th Kids Witness News Viet Nam contest for their movie The Most Important Thing.

The silver award went to Marie Curie School's The Magic Box. Ha Noi Amsterdam Team 1 and Team 2 won the Best Script prize for The Miracle and the Best Acting prize for Chicky.

The films focus on the wastage of resources and activities that have negative impacts on the environment, reflect communication on the issues between families and at school.

The contest has been organised since 2006 by Panasonic Viet Nam, in conjunction with the ministries of education and training, environment and natural resources.

The Most Important Thing will represent Viet Nam at the Asia Pacific Regional Awards Ceremony in Thailand in January 2014.

Literature - bridge of Vietnam-China friendship

Literature and arts plays an important role in nurturing the friendship between Vietnam and China and their people, a senior Party official said while welcoming a delegation of Chinese writers to Vietnam.

Politburo member Dinh The Huynh, head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education hosted a reception for the Chinese Writers’ Association delegation led by the association’s president Tie Ning, on November 4 in Hanoi .

Huynh expressed his hope that the writers’ associations of Vietnam and China will continue to work closely with each other to help strengthen the traditional friendship between the two nations.

Tie Ning briefed her host on her association’s work as well as the cooperation between the writers’ associations of Vietnam and China over the past time.

She said the delegation’s members were strongly impressed by Vietnam ’s gigantic development as well as its people’s love of literature.

She affirmed that her association will promote cooperation with the Vietnamese Writers’ Association, particularly exchange between young writers to contribute to increasing mutual understanding and friendship between China and Vietnam.-

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh has signed a Decision announcing the addition of eight instances of national intangible cultural heritage to the 40 previously listed.

The new additions include two traditional festivals of the Giay and Dao Do people in Sapa district, Lao Cai province; two traditional crafts of the H’mong and Nung Din people in the Sapa and Muong Khuong districts of Lao Cai province; a traditional social practice of the Dao people in Tuyen Quang province; the My Long sea offering festival in Cau Ngang district, Tra Vinh province; the Pao dung singing of the Dao people in Tuyen Quang province and the Xoe folk dance of the Thai people in Dien Bien province.

These cultural practices embody representative cultural features, reveal the identity of the community and reflect cultural diversification and the creativity of the people, which are handed down over many generations. The practices have existed for a long time, while being nominated for recognition and preserved by the community.

Source: VOV/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri