A Night of Concert and Ballet – Changing of the Season

30 and 31 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Hanoi Opera House

1 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

Come to A Night of Concert and Ballet – Changing of the Season with the performance of:

– Conductor: David Gomez Ramirez

– Singers: Thang Long (Soprano), Anh Vu (Tenor), Tran Trang (Soprano), Kieu Tham (Mezzo Soprano), Phuong Dung (Soprano), Vu Nga (Mezzo Soprano), Manh Dung (Bariton),Thanh Binh (Soprano)

And the Choir, the Orchestra, Dancers of the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet

PROGRAM

Part I: Opera “The Magic flute” – by W. A. Mozart

Overture

No. 2 Aria Papageno “Der Wogelfager bin ich ja” 3’00

Manh Dung

No. 3 Aria Tamino “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon” 4’40

Anh Vu

No. 4 Aria Queen of the night “Zum Leiden bin ich ausenkoren” 4’35

Tran Trang

No. 5 Quintett: Papageno, Tamino, 3 Dame “Hm!hm!hm!” 6’30

Kieu Tham, Anh Vu, Tran Trang, Vu Nga, Phuong Dung

No. 7 Duett: Papageno & Pamina “Bei manner, welche Liebe fulen” 3’00

Kieu Tham & Thang Long

No. 10 Aria & Chorus “O Isis und osiris” 3’20

Huy Đuc & Chorus

No. 14 Aria Queen of the night “Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen” 3’10

To Loan

No. 17 Aria Pamina “Ach, ich full’s , es ist en schwunder” 4’25

Thang Long

No. 21 Duett: Pamina & Tamino “Tamino mein …” 5’50

To Loan & Thanh Binh

Duett Papageno & Papagena “Pa..pa..pa” 2’30

Manh Dung & Bui Trang

Hei sei euch Geweihten 2’50

Chorus

INTERMISSION

Part II: The Ballet “Rite of Spring”

Music: Igor Stravinsky

Choreographer: Pham Minh

Perform: Viet An – Han Giang

Dancers of Vietnam National Opera and Ballet

The Ballet “Rite of Spring” choreographed by artist Pham Minh, performed by Viet An, Han Giang and other the dancers from Vietnam National Opera and Ballet.

Stravinsky’s music in “Rite of Spring” is presented by his exciting adventure and unique creativity. The use of dissonant sounds brought new colors and new energy for this piece of music. Choreographer Pham Minh has modified the work to suit the body shape, the rhythm and the Vietnamese customs. Therefore, the physical movements as well as the story behind this piece is characterized in a more Vietnamese style. That helps the viewers to have a closer connection to many ethnic groups and traditions of the ancient Vietnam.

A mysterious tale combined with Igor Stravinsky’s beautiful music compositions form a fascinating ballet dance. Performed on the stage of the Opera House Theatre by dancers of Vietnam National Opera and Ballet, “Rite of Spring” is a wonderful spiritual gift we want to give to all the audience who appreciates the art of ballet.

TICKETS

Ticket prices: 200,000 – 350,000 – 500,000 VND. All tickets available at Hanoi Opera House or can book online at ticketvn.com.

For free delivery, call: 0913489858, 0983067996.

Conference “Don’t Cry” with Lydie Salvayre

Thu 31 Mar 2016, 6 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

You are invited to the conference “Don’t Cry” with Lydie Salvayre – Prix Goncourt 2014 winner, on the occasion of publishing the book in Vietnamese.

Speakers:

– Mr. Nguyen Duy Binh, Book translator

– Mr. Pham Xuan Nguyen, literary critic, President of the Hanoi Writers Association

– Mr. Nguyễn Trí Dũng, researcher

Taking the context of Spanish Civil War in 1936, Lydie Salvayre traces the emotion and love of a young girl in the history of Spain, Europe and the world in 1930.

Language: Vietnamese

Free entry.

S-dance Tour 2016

Wed 30 Mar 2016, 5.30 pm – 10.30 pn

Cultural Friendship Palace

91 Tran Hung Dao street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi

S-dance Tour 2016 is the first dance tour in Vietnam for the youth founded by artist/choreographer Tuyet Minh, with the best performances during 4 seasons of So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Choreographer Tuyet Minh is one of most favorite artists in recent years. She is Artistic Advisor of Discover ballet company with the famous play “The Spinning Creator” in Aug 2014 in HCMC, and “Hanoi Love” in 2015 in Hanoi.

Since 2003, Tuyet Minh has been gathering young talents such as Toàn Trung – Hải 2D – Thái Sơn – Bảo Long – Văn Quý – Thúy Hằng – Huệ Phương – Tố Uyên – Trà My – Vũ Khánh…

Champion of So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam season 4

Hai Anh, the first female winner of So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam, together with 3 runners-up and 20 best dancers of season 4 will be the main artists of this tour.

TICKETS

Ticket price: 300 000 – 400 000 – 500 000 VND

Book Launch “Da Nang: Coastal City” and Expert Talk

Hanoi: Tue 29 Mar 2016, 7 pm

Goethe-Institut Hanoi

56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

—

Danang: Mon 28 Mar 2016, 7 pm

The municipal library in Da Nang

You are invited to the book launch “Da Nang: Coastal City” and an expert talk.

Approaching Da Nang by plane, one immediately feels drawn to the long curving coastline: a white sandy beach like an endless ribbon bordering the deep blue of the sea with its colorful scattering of fishing boats. A wide curve, and on the approach to the new international airport a view of the skyline of a modern metropolis, with its striking high-rise city hall, generous sports facilities, wide streets and numerous bridges that soar over the river. From fishing village to eco-city is Da Nang’s success story in a nutshell.

Behind this success lies consummate city planning which has succeeded in harmonizing dynamic growth with an infrastructure designed for sustainability and a high quality of life for its citizens. “Green growth”, a much-quoted concept, is here implemented in exemplary fashion. This makes Da Nang not only interesting for international investors but an expanding university city and a tourist magnet as well. Another plus for the booming tourism is its proximity to the ancient royal capital of Hue, with its imperial tombs surrounded by parklands, and the trading town of Hoi An, which seems frozen in time. A comparison of the urban structures of Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang thus spans centuries of turbulent history reaching to the present day. Da Nang, the powerhouse in the center of Vietnam, is poised to become an important driving force for the further dynamic development of the entire country.

Michael Waibel is a senior researcher and project leader in urbanism at the Department for Geography of the University of Hamburg. In 2014, he co-published the photo book “TP. Hồ Chí Minh: MEGA City” together with Henning Hilbert from the Vietnamese-German University (VGU) and in 2015 he published the photo book “Hà Nội: CAPITAL City” which got awarded with the “2015 Bùi Xuân Phái – For Love Hà Nội” Award in the category “best works”.

The third book of this series introducing now about Da Nang’s recent urban development has an attractive coffee table book format and has been published in three languages, in Vietnamese, German and English. It contains over 600 photos illustrating the dynamic city from a variety of perspectives – from bird’s eye views to portraits of its inhabitants. In addition to the visual illustrations, this publication has assembled some essays by local residents. The whole publication is targeting a wide audience. The work is based on many years of academic work stretching back till the late 1990s. Among others it got funded by the German National Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the initiative “Research for Sustainable Megacities of Tomorrow”. Further, a series of conferences in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut has been organized, which dealt with urban sustainability issues, green housing, green growth and most recently with creative hubs and urban development.

During the launching event the editor Michael Waibel will highlight the rationale behind the photo book “Đà Nẵng: COASTAL City”. A more academic input will be provided by a lecturer of Danang University of Architecture. He will give a talk about challenges of green city development in Da Nang.

The photo book can be purchased after the talk, and there will be two complimentary copies of the book disbursed to the lucky winners of a draw. Last but not least, a series of selected photos illustrating the recent urban development of Vietnam’s most important coastal city will be exhibited.

Admission is free.

35th Jean Rouch International Film Festival – Call for Submissions

Deadline: 15 Apr 2016

Time of festival: 5 – 13 Nov 2016

The Festival Jean Rouch, previously known as Bilan du FIlm Ethnographique, was created in March 1982 by anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch. Over the past thirty five years, the Festival’s aim has been to showcase the most innovative and relevant trends in ethnographic filmmaking, visual anthropology, and to promote dialogue between cultures.

The Festival selects films that document and explore human societies and cultures in their many facets, such as social and cultural diversity, continuity and change, relationship between man and the environment…

We welcome submissions of documentary films made by anthropologists, students, and professional filmmakers, as well as all forms and styles of filmmaking, without restriction to theme and length.

The submission for International Competition 2016 is open:

– The deadline to submit a film is 15th April 2016.

– Entries must have been completed after 1st January 2015.

– Films may be submitted via online screener (secure Vimeo link available until November 15th, 2016) or DVD.

– Only French and English subtitled versions are accepted.

– You will find the online entry form on our website.

– The list of the selected films will be available on our website homepage in early July 2016.

For more information and application form please visit the organizer’s website.

Exhibition “Leisure and View” by Artist Nguyen Dinh Dung

Exhibition: 12 Mar – 12 Apr 2016, 9.30 am – 6.30 pm

Dong Phong Art Gallery

03 Ly Dao Thanh Street

Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi

Dong Phong Art Gallery is pleased to present solo exhibition” Leisure and View” by artist Nguyen Dinh Dung. Born in 1943, Dinh Dung is a self – taught artist and has been being among the top artists in Vietnam since 1980s. Famous for his theatre, lady in long dress, fighting cocks, general horse, street scenes… his works yield a surprisingly modernistic flavor of strong contrasting colour fields in pure hue and intensity while still deeply rooted in Vietnamese traditions. Today, he is still true to traditional topics and he still paints at leisure. His paintings are still full of youth that charm and allure the viewer’s interest.

Exhibition will be held at Dong Phong Art Gallery, #3 Ly Dao Thanh street, from 12 Mar.2016 to 12 Apr. 2016, everyday from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm.

Film Screening “I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass”

Mon 28 Mar 2016, 8 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

*I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass* is one of the nine films that are going to be screened under the framework of the 9th Francophone Film Festival – an initiative of International Organisation of La Francophonie. This year, the films respectively represent France, Switzerland, Canada, Wallon Region (Belgium), Vietnam and Egypt.

– Director: Victor Vu (Vietnam, 2015, 102 mins)

– Cast: Thịnh Vinh, Trọng Khang, Thanh Mỹ

For more information about synopsis, please refer to the Vietnamese version of this post.

Language: Vietnamese with Engish subtitles

Tickets

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

Film Screening “MUNE: Guardian of the Moon”

Sun 27 Mar 2016, 4 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

Come to animation screening “Mune: Guardian of the Moon” at L’Espace!

Director: Alexandre Heboyan & Benoît Philippon (France, 86 mins)

Voice: Jun 365, Chi Pu

Mune is a beautiful film with great characters set in an interesting world, with a wonderful “feel-good” factor.

Language: Vietnamese dubbed with English subtitles

Tickets

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

Photography Exhibition “Nhìn | Picturing Autism Vietnam”

Opening: Sat 26 Mar 2016, 3.30 pm

Panel Discussion: Sat 26 Mar 2016, 2 – 3.30 pm

Exhibition: 26 Mar – 09 Apr 2016, 8 am – 5 pm

MAM – ART Projects

5th floor, 36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi

“Nhìn | Picturing Autism Vietnam” is part of photographer Debbie Rasiel’s journey across disparate landscapes, language barriers and cultural divides to document the lives of families with living autism. In this exhibition, a collective portrait emerges of families and caregivers living with autism, loving their children, and continuing on with their lives.

Debbie Rasiel is a photographer and art historian. She has worked for NGOs in New York and South Africa. Debbie spent several years documenting a paper-making poverty relief program and an AIDS orphanage outside of Johannesburg. Her photographs from South Africa are included in a book, “Women on Purpose”, funded by the Ford Foundation. She has also written about and curated exhibitions for other artists, including a book and an exhibit on Dorothea Lange. Debbie received her BFA from the University of Florida, her MA from Tufts University, completed coursework toward a PhD at the City University of New York, and has had extensive training in digital media at the International Center of Photography. Her photographs are in many collections, both private and public, including those of Rutgers University, and the University of Johannesburg. She is represented by SoHo20 Chelsea Gallery in New York City.

Free entrance.

Contact: Ms. Giang (lhgiang@ccihp.org | 097 520 5814)   

Live Music Night with La Belle et la Bête

Fri 25 Mar 2016, 9 pm

ATK

73a Mai Hac De, Hanoi

Come to live music night with two musical groups:

La belle et la bête – four hands, two voices, one guitar, one piano, two livers, and much love.

A subtle combination of silly poses, endless childish jokes, incomprehensible speeches in broken English, repeated musical mistakes, broken strings, broken voices, and grossly intoxicated behaviors – is the secret recipe that makes any “La Belle et la Bête” show unforgettable. Or rather? Come see for yourself.

Bubblegum Triangles: Sounds like two foals leaping from the meadows on tricycles off the West coast of Ireland. With guitars also.

Tickets: 50,000 VND at the door

Listen to “Minnie the Moocher” by La Belle et la Bete here:   

Fundraising Event for Disadvantaged Children

Fri 25 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Hanoi Rock City

27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho

For charity, for adventure and for Vietnam, 9 intrepid cyclists will ride from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. For this occasion, we organized a charity event to launch our trip and raise money for School On The Boat – an NGO working to bring education to disadvantaged children in Hanoi.

We will start with an amazing battle of bands: 6 bands will performs on stage one by one and the public will choose the best of them. Lots of kind of music will be played. After that, DJs will perform some electronic music and set the audience on fire. During the whole night a silent auction and an art exhibition will be facilitated. We will also propose a raffle where people will be able to win a lot of interesting prices from the most famous restaurants and shops in Hanoi.

Free entry. (one beer for each 100,000 VND of donation)

Screening of “Much Ado about Nothing”

Thu 24 Mar 2016, 3.30 pm

02 and 09 Apr 2016, 6.30 pm

Hanoi Creative City

1 Luong Yen Str, Hanoi

Under the framework of the “SHAKESPEARE LIVES IN PHOTOGRAPHY” exhibition, you are invited to three free screenings of “Much Ado about Nothing”.

“Much Ado about Nothing”, the romantic comedy which was directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh is to be screened during the exhibition. The film stars Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington and Michael Keaton who are all Academy Award winning actors.

They are part of a series of screenings throughout 2016 to showcase film adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, or filmed theatre productions as part of the 2016 ‘Shakespeare Lives in Film’ collection.

Free entry.

Heritage Space Plus: Event of Visual Art – New Music – Architecture

Event of Visual Art – New Music – Architecture: Sun 27 Mar 2016, 4 – 8 pm

Exhibition “Heritage Space Plus”: 27 Mar – 24 Apr 2016

Heritage Space

Dolphin Plaza, 28 Tran Binh, My Dinh, Ha Noi

Welcome to the series of events of Visual Arts, Show of New Music and Films of Architecture History.

To start the activities of the year, in the afternoon of 27 March 2016, Heritage Space will hold a series of events of Visual Arts, Architecture and Music. For architecture, there shall be the film “Great Expectation” (director: Jesper Wachtmeister) provided by the Club of Architecture Cinema and implemented by Ashui.com. For Visual Arts, there shall be an exhibition of painting, installation, multimedia and concept works and entitled “Heritage Space +”. It presents the selected products of artists who have been cooperating with Heritage Space last time. For music, there is a show of New Music by Vu Nhat Tan, composer, and his collaborators. The product is Cõi Vắng (Empty World) that shall last about 50 minutes.

The mentioned activities are twofold important. The first is that Heritage Space introduces new projects and targets to support the contemporary arts development and to become a center for the performance, shows, education, exchanges in plastic arts, music and architecture. In the second, that is an occasion to present our new Management Board that is missioned to realize the targets of Heritage Space.

Program:

16:00 – 18:00: Film “Great Expectations”. Talk with the Club of Architecture Cinema at Library of Heritage Space (at the mezzanine)

18:00 – 18:30: Presentation of the new Management Board of Heritage Space at Exhibition Hall of Heritage Space

18:40 – 19:00: Opening of the art show Heritage Space+ at Exhibition Hall of Heritage Space

19:00 – 20:00: Performance of the New Music: The work “CÕI VẮNG” (Empty World) at Hall of the ground floor, Heritage Space

Further information about the program

Artists:

Ludwika Ogorzelec

Yun Woo Choi

Thierry Fontaine

Hà Trí Hiếu

Trần Trọng Vũ

Đinh Ý Nhi

Doãn Hoàng Lâm

Curator:

Vũ Huy Thông

Nguyễn Anh Tuấn

Music: CÕI VẮNG (Empty World)

Performers:

1. Trương Thu Hương – T’rưng and traditional membranephones.

2. Nguyễn Thuỳ Chi – Đàn bầu (monochord) and traditional songs.

3. Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huyền – Đàn Tranh (a plucked zither of Vietnam) and body movement.

4. Vũ Nhật Tân – Electronic musical instruments and piano.

About the piece

It tells about the pleasure and the pains of three women in the life, when they make access to the Buddhism just like he children do with parents to have peace in mind, getting rid of the disorders.

The 50-minute performance is both an interaction and series of improvisations between traditional musical instruments (monochord, plucked zither, membranephones and the Ả Đào – tally card song) on the background of modern instruments (electronic instruments, laptop and piano). Musically, the work is composed based on the improvisations that feature the Vietnamese music and the chant poems accompanied by the piano sounds.

Cõi Vắng (Empty World) may be regarded as a product of the interaction between the traditional music and the contemporary one, or the New Tradition; also a kind of improvisation-based performance.

Architecture: Film “Great Expectations” of the Club of Architecture Cinema

The film, directed by Jesper Wachtmeister, gives us a voyage to the detached housed, resident buildings and the towns designed by architects Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Buckminster Fuller, Antti Lovage, Moshe Safdie, Jacque Fresco… and the architecture firms such as Archigram, Superstudio. These are typical examples for the products of which the architect is the “conductor of an orchestra” who has the full power of decision. Another issue is placed by the film: Has the architectural identity to be based on the traditional elements ? and should we look for an architectural “shape” to match such identity ? Please come to watch the film and discuss with the Club of Architecture Cinema.

* Subtitle is available in Vietnamese.

Introduction of Heritage Space’s activities this year

The irreversible trend of our era is characterized by the universal multicultural contexts where systems of values are getting in move, impacts, interference in large intensities. Paintings, music, movies, literature, sciences and technology etc… have been regarded as means to embody the human beings in historical and social contexts. But the boundary between these arts seems more and more imprecise. The utmost creativity together with capability of spatial, temporal and mind management has been opening multidirectional doors to the new horizons of cognition. Creativity has been conversing with and challenging the cognitive ability of the beneficiaries of arts, also their enjoyment, then bringing them new abilities and needs.

In this new cycle of development, Heritage Space appears as a niche of multi-sector individuals and groups with an expectation to the link between the various and new elements of creativity in the contemporary Vietnam.

There are activities of contemporary arts under the form of exhibitions, workshops, projects, lectures and presentations etc… involving national and foreign artists and curators, taking place regularly, aiming at popularizing the new values.

There is a New Music Space, administered by Vu Nhat Tan, musician and organiser, where the selected and varied programs of music shows take place monthly.

There are Architecture Activities with the cooperation and management of ASHUI.COM.

Free entry.

For more information, please contact

Ms. Thanh Thỏa, Media Manager

Mobile: 0168 437 3611

Email: thoantt.heritagespace@gmail.com

Hue – Artist Talk by Sung Tieu (Germany)

Sun 27 Mar 2016, 3.30 pm

New Space Arts Foundation

2nd Floor, 15 Le Loi Street, Hue City

You are invited to an artist talk with artist Sung Tieu from Germany.

Exhibition “Shakespeare Lives in Photography”

Exhibition: 25 Mar – 15 Apr 2016, 9 am – 9 pm

Hanoi Creative City

1 Luong Yen Str, Hanoi

The best images from the “Shakespeare Lives in Photography” competition are to be exhibited in Hanoi from 25 March to 15 April 2016. The photo exhibition will take place in a special space inside disused cargo containers.

The exhibition kicks off the Shakespeare Lives global campaign in Vietnam. Shakespeare Lives is comprised of a series of events and activities throughout 2016 celebrating Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death.

The “Shakespeare Lives in Photography” competition has attracted 200 entries and produced 11 winners choosing to creatively reference scenes from either Shakespeare plays, his influence on literature or capture a famous Shakespearian location.

The 11 winning photos will be displayed alongside commissioned images from live Shakespeare performances around the world, featuring scenes from “Richard III”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth”, amongst others.

Entry is open to the public.

Exhibition “Friend” by Nguyen Tuan Dung

Exhibition: 20 – 24 Mar 2016

Conference: Thu 24 Mar 2016, 9 am

2nd floor, Exhibition House, 16 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi

You are invited to the solo exhibition by Nguyen Tuan Dung with 15 acrylic paintings on paper. Dung is a young painter with mature eyes and way of working, from how to choose the words in artworks, to observe and reserve the photos about childhood memories as bike, conical hats, etc…

This exhibition is one part of “9X” program by Young Artist Club to introduce the new painters.

On Artist Tehching Hsieh & Durational Performance Art – A Talk with Brian Leahy

Thu 24 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Six Space

6th floor, 94B Tran Hung Dao, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Brian T. Leahy is an artist, writer, historian, and curator who lives and works in Chicago. On his trip to Viet Nam this time, he will speak about the artist Tehching Hsieh, known for his extreme yearlong performances in New York City between 1978-1999. Hsieh, born in Taiwan in 1950, emigrated to the United States as a young man and performed six major works of performance art, the first of which involved locking himself in a cage for one year. The talk will serve as an introduction to Hsieh’s work, with a particular focus on the ways in which his art intermingles the often-separated categories of performance and conceptual art. Brian will also discuss some of the significance of Hsieh’s last two artworks within the context of 1980s New York City, drawing from original research conducted for his master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Watch Hsieh talk about his one-year long “Time Clock Piece” here:

TALK SCHEDULE

1. Introduction of Tehching Hsieh and his work – 2 mins

2. Description of early work in Taiwan – 4 mins

3. Emigration to the United States and early US work – 5 mins

– Context of Manhattan at this time

4. In-depth descriptions of the four major pieces – 8 mins + (possibly 6 mins film)

– Cage Piece

– Time Clock Piece

– Outdoors Piece

– Rope Piece

5. Discussion of themes – 10 mins

– Time/Duration

– Commitment and Endurance

– Law and Contracts

– Bureaucracy and administration

– Issues of documentation

– Labor and work ethic

– Performance and Conceptual art, and the difficulty of categorizing

6. Other American artists working at this time – 3-5 mins

7. Description of No Art Piece and Thirteen Year Plan – 4 mins

8. Discussion of themes – 5 mins

– Absence

– Disappearance

– Trust, authority, and documentation

– Refusal to work/End of work

– Changes to Manhattan and American economy during this time.

9. Conclusion and Q&A – 4 mins

For more information please contact via email: sixspacevn@gmail.com.   

Group Exhibition by Marianne Smolska, Pham Hong, Virginie Faivre d’Archer

Opening: Sun 20 Mar 2016, 5 pm

Exhibition: 20 – 23 Mar 2016

Blue Gallery

28 Trang Tien, Hanoi

Come to a group exhibition by 3 artists: Marianne Smolska, Pham Hong, Virginie Faivre d’Archer.

3 artists, different countries, 3 different ways to share ideas about life. They use different techniques like printing, drawing, sewing, sculpture or paper to tell stories about the human life. But all those differences show a common beauty in places that few people can see.

Film Screening “Van Gogh” at L’Espace

Film screening with Vietnamese subtitles: Fri 25 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Film screening with English subtitles: Sun 27 Mar 2016, 6 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

From L’Espace:

You are invited to the film screening “Van Gogh” (France, 1991, 158’) at L’Espace. This film is not suitable for children under 16 years old.

Director: Maurice Pialat

Casting: Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq

Pialat’s Biopic about Van Gogh’s last days is a masterpiece filled with art.

Film synopsis:

In late spring, 1890, Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, under the care of Dr. Gachet, living in a humble inn. Fewer than 70 days later, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We see Vincent at work, painting landscapes and portraits. His brother Theo, wife Johanna, and their baby visited Auvers. Vincent was playful and charming, engaging the attentions of Gachet’s daughter Marguerite (who’s half Vincent’s age), a young maid at the inn, Cathy a Parisian prostitute, and Johanna. Shortly before his death, Vincent visited Paris, quarreled with Theo, disparaged his own art and accomplishments, danced at a brothel, and was warm then cold towards Marguerite.

Language:

On 25 Mar: French with Vietnamese subtitles

On 27 Mar: French with English subtitles

Tickets

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

HCMC – Holi – The Festival of Colours 2016

Sun 27 Mar 2016, 9 am – 2 pm

Wonderland Club Garden

R11 Nguyen Van Linh Street, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, HCMC

Holi – festival of colours Holi is an ancient religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. It was originally known as ‘Holika’ which celebrate on Phalgun Purnima come in February end or early March. The colorful festival, bridging the social gap and renew sweet relationships, has an ancient origin and celebrates the triumph of ‘good’ over ‘bad’.

It is also a festival of love and unity and celebrates the triumph of good over evil. The festival is vibrant colours – these colour are actually colours of joy, colours of love and colours that fill our life with happiness to the core of our hearts.

On this day, people hug and wish each other ‘Happy Holi’.

This year celebration will be on a larger scale with delicious Indian food accompanied with drinks, music, dance and games, which will entertain all the age group and make a day of happiness and remembrance for participants. Indian community and other foreign nationals are invited to join the event.

Tickets

Non-Members: 250,000 VND

Non-Member Children from 5 to 12 yrs: 100,000 VND

Non-Member Children under 5 yrs: FREE

HCMC – Exhibition “Morning in the Mountains” by Nguyen The Hung

Opening: Fri 25 Mar 2016, 6 pm

Exhibition: 25 Mar – 21 Apr 2016

Craig Thomas Gallery

You are invited to exhibition “Morning in the Mountains”, a solo exhibition of mixed media paintings by Hanoi-based artist Nguyen The Hung.

Born and raised in Tuyen Quang Province in the north-eastern corner of Vietnam, much of Nguyen The Hung’s work is influenced by the cultures and traditions of the many ethnic minority groups that populate the mountains of his native region. Of his inspiration for the “Morning in the Mountains” series, Hung says: “The idea for this collection was born from a volunteer project to teach drawing to children in the Ha Giang Highlands that I participated in two years ago. While teaching the kids some basic skills, we teachers in turn learned from them a pure way of seeing things that we had possibly forgotten.”

“In this series I have concentrated on observing and depicting the Dao and H’mông ethnic groups. Their individual portraits, marked by a mixture of cheerfulness and shyness, left a strong impression on me. I observed with fascination and delight the way that they live in deep communication with the natural world that surrounds them.”

Perhaps best known for his use of Dó paper in many of his earlier collections, the twelve works of Hung’s “Morning in the Mountains” collection are an experimental combination of various styles including action painting, Dó paper, traditional lacquer painting, and vibrant coloration from contemporary art. The artist used a mix of materials including acrylics, Chinese ink, gold leaf, “cockroach” lacquer paint, and photographs for the series. Hung took special care in reproducing each pattern and accessory on the traditional clothing of the ethnic groups depicted.

Hung says: “I was confused with by the intense emotions the people of the mountains engendered in me. They live their lives immersed in nature. The way that they eat and drink is etched in my mind. Their charming way of speaking and unique colloquialisms echo through my thoughts; like happy musical notes. I felt that only an action painting style could fully express the joy, excitement and vitality of these special people.”

With his latest work, Hung once again displays the unique and appealing aesthetic first demonstrated in his well-received 2011 collection “And Flowers Showered”. Most impressively, he evidences his determination to explore new materials, subjects and modes of expression as part of his continuing evolution as a visual artist.

Nguyen The Hung graduated from the Hanoi Fine Arts University in 2009. In addition to his work as a visual artist, Hung has also has participated in various different projects in music, dance, theatre and fashion. He lives and works in Hanoi.

Some of his previous exhibitions include:

“The Long Days”, 10/2011, Hue

“Polyhedrone”, 01/2016, Hanoi

Craig Thomas Gallery

165 Calmette Street, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, District 1, HCMC

Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 6pm; Sundays 1 to 5 pm; and by appointment

Live music with Klaus Legal, Sound Awakener, Mathias

Thu 24 Mar 2016, 8 pm

ATK

73a Mai Hac De, Hanoi

An evening of photosensitive synths, modulated effects, found sound re-purposed and home made electronics.

Klaus Legal / FR

Cataractic Industrial Noise – Light and sound. –

Using controllers, lights and photosensitive synths, Klaus Legal produces rhythms and waves of sound. Those sounds get modulated through effects, creating different kind of soundscapes. KL is strongly influenced by Esplendor Geometrico, Pan Sonic, Sudden Infant, electro-acoustic music using light as his main tool.

With small synthesizers, a small drum machine, one mis and some effects, Klaus legal is playing songs IN which he speaks about a life made a dream or a nightmare, influenced by suicide, DAF or crash course in science. When he gets out of his room, he’s disguised and hides between light and darkness.

Discover how he makes sounds here:

Sound Awakener / HN

The experimental musician and sound artist behind the alias Sound Awakener has been composing and playing experimental music since 2011. She has been creating sonic waves in Hanoi’s underground music scene for the last couple of years. With an extraordinary understanding of tones and tunes and an ear for everyday sounds she can turn into music she works both on solo projects and has teamed up with artists working across various media and from around the world to add audio elements to visual experiences.

Listen to her track “Home” here:

Mathias / HN

Mathias Rossignol has been tinkering with music for a while, but only recently started presenting his creations on the stage. His sound is mostly based on processed field recordings, aiming at revealing the music in “ordinary” sounds, with a fully open mind as to genre, loudness… Anything goes! In the past he’s built his own sound making machines, so let’s see what he does tonight!

View his SoundCloud’s profile:

Tickets: 50,000 VND

Hue – Film Screening “Van Gogh”

Fri 25 Mar 2016, 7.15 pm

Institut français de Huế

01 Le Hong Phong, Hue

You are invited to the film screening “Van Gogh” (France, 1991, 158’) in Hue.

Director: Maurice Pialat

Casting: Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq

Pialat’s Biopic about Van Gogh’s last days is a masterpiece filled with art.

Film synopsis:

In late spring, 1890, Vincent moves to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, under the care of Dr. Gachet, living in a humble inn. Fewer than 70 days later, Vincent dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We see Vincent at work, painting landscapes and portraits. His brother Theo, wife Johanna, and their baby visit Auvers. Vincent is playful and charming, engaging the attentions of Gachet’s daughter Marguerite (who’s half Vincent’s age), a young maid at the inn, Cathy a Parisian prostitute, and Johanna. Shortly before his death, Vincent visits Paris, quarrels with Theo, disparages his own art and accomplishments, dances at a brothel, and is warm then cold toward Marguerite.

Language: Original language with Vietnamese subtitles

Free entrance. This film is not suitable for children under 16 years old.

Vietnam Electronic Weekend: Revealed Vietnam Tour and Let’s Party Festival

Revealed Vietnam Tour: 25 and 26 Mar 2016, 8.30 pm

Ultra Muzik Club

57 Cua Nam Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi

—

Let’s Party Festival: Sun 27 Mar 2016, 3.30 pm

Eco Park

Xuan Quan, Van Giang District, Hung Yen

Revealed Vietnam Tour: The first tour of musicians from renowned Revealed Recordings – founded by Hardwell – the world’s No. 1 DJ in 2013-2014, with the participation of Sick Individuals and Julian Calor focusing on Progressive House.

Sick Individuals: As the emerging stars from the Netherlands, they have performed in numerous festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, Sensation, Mystery Land and CreamFields.

Julian Calor: The star launched his first tracks with Revealed Recordings and received a lot of support from legendary Tiesto, Diplo, Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero. He also has played at festivals such as Tomorrowland, Creamfields, etc…

Let’s Party Festival is the mega festival under the framework of Vietnam Electronic Weekend with the participation of 3 DJs in top100 of DJMag and the most outstanding representatives of Vietnam.

Exhibition “Mise en Scène”

Opening: Fri 25 Mar 2016, 6 pm

Exhibition: 25 Mar – 16 Apr 2016    

Nha San COLLECTIVE

15th floor, Hanoi Creative City Building, 01 Luong Yen, Hanoi

The French term “mise-en-scène” originates in theater to refer to the stage arrangement of a theater production. This arrangement helps suggest and dictate the mood and atmosphere of the production, whilst expressing the direction, attitude and style of the creator.

On a daily basis, most of the elements around us follow certain regulations that have the ability to dominate and control our actions and behaviors. Unconsciously or consciously, we become both the actors and the audience, control and being controlled. By referring to the language of theater and cinema, in combination with the use of non-traditional artistic expressions, artists participating in mise-en-scène deal with those concerns. Meanwhile, they also explore the themes of their individual projects as diverse narratives.

This exhibition is the outcome of the working and exchanging process between Vietnamese artists and Japanese new media art artist Ryota Kuwakubo and curator Hiroyuki Hattori.

Participating artists: Nguyễn Phương Linh, Nguyễn Thuỷ Tiên, Phùng Tiến Sơn, Tuấn Mami, Nguyễn Quốc Thành, Nguyễn Trần Nam.

Exhibition “From traditional to modern carving”

Exhibition: 21 – 27 Mar 2016

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St. Hanoi

You are invited to the wooden carved paintings exhibition “From traditional to modern carving” with 100 selected artworks by Tran Nguyen Dan at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.

“Painter Tran Nguyen Dan is a special artist in the scene of Vietnamese Fine Arts because he is mostly dedicated to a single material: wood carvings. He started wood carving career in 1967 and continued until now (2016) – nearly half a century – even when others “try” or “extend” to other materials. He is renowned for his enthusiasm for the beauty of Vietnam and people, a simple, lyrical and soulful style.” (excerpt from Duc Hoa’s writing)

”Gout de France” at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

Mon 21 Mar 2016

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

15 Ngo Quyen Str, Hanoi

French cuisine has become famous throughout the world, and you can find French restaurants pretty much on every continent nowadays. On Monday, 21 March 2016, a thousand chefs on five continents will prepare a French meal at one time to celebrate the excellence, diversity and modernity of French gastronomy.

“Goût de France” is organized based on the foundation of 3-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development (France) – Laurent Fabius.

Our talented Chef Olivier Genique of Le Beaulieu restaurant is pleased to take part in this meaningful activity, sharing the taste of France with all our guests through a festive event on an international scale.

Come to Le Beaulieu and enjoy a taste of the Metropole’s bespoke celebrated cuisine. For only one day, Chef Olivier Genique will create a special menu at Le Beaulieu for your indulgence. You’ll be immersed in the French art-de-vivre, a delicious dinner with French music and signature French décor.

For reservations, please contact: Tel: +84 4 3826 6919 ext. 8205.

Film Screening “Kung Fu Panda 3” at L’Espace

18 Mar – 01 Apr 2016

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

You are invited to the screenings of the film “Kungfu Panda 3” at L’Espace, from 18 Mar – 01 Apr.

Director: Jennifer Yuh, Alessandro Carloni (USA, China, 2016, 95 mins)

Dubbing: Manu Payet, Pierre Arditi, Alison Wheeler

DreamWorks and Antoine Antin, French leader of the American studio, deliver the third episode of spectacular fights, gags and tenderness!

Graduated from Gobelins in 2001, Antoine Antin began his 2D animator career with the short film Papillon – rewarded in Annecy Film Festival in 2002. He worked for several studios in Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles. After several major successes of French animation (Mune, A Monster in Paris, the Illusionist and Zarafa) he is working with DreamWorks on Kung Fu Panda 3. This third episode sees Po who helped his father turn a clumsy horde of grinning pandas into martial arts experts, the formidable Kung Fu pandas!

Language: English with Vietnamese subtitles or dub

Ticket:

Ticket price: 60 000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

HCMC – Film Screening “Le Jour des Corneilles”

Sat 19 Mar 2016, 3 pm

IDECAF

31 Thai Van Lung Str, Dist 1, HCMC

Come to the film screening “Le Jour des Corneilles” (France, 2012, 96’). The screening is part of Francophone Film Festival 2016.

Director: Jean-Christophe Dessaint

Casting: Jean Reno, Lorànt Deutsch, Isabelle Carré

Film synopsis:

“Day of Crows” has the young hero who is an extremely wild child: like Tarzan, he does not know the world of men and made the forest their natural habitat, developing a special talent for hunting, fishing and climbing! He even is raised by a tyrannical giant father who likes to eat fresh meat. Until one day, he must come out of the jungle and meet hundreds of troubles in the urban modern world. This innocent hero has conquered French critics and attracts large audience when it was released in French theatres in 2012.

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitles

Tickets

Ticket price: 40,000 VND, free for students of IDECAF

Tickets are available at IDECAF.

HCMC – Mini DocFest with German Filmmaker Michael Brynntrup

19 and 20 Mar 2016, 6 – 7 pm

Hoa Sen University

8 Nguyen Van Trang, District 1, HCMC

This March, Mini DocFest will bring you a number of experimental documentary films, along with an exciting programme of accompanying discussions.

San Art and Hanoi DocLab have co-selected a number of experimental documentaries by young film makers from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to be shown alongside work by renowned German filmmaker Michael Brynntrup as well as his students at Film Class Braunschweig. The two-day film screening will include discussions with professor Michael Brynntrup (Germany), film maker Truong Minh Quy, and film group mê phim’s co-founder Tran Minh Duc.

PROGRAMME

Saturday, 19 March 2016

6pm – 7pm

Screening of short films by Professor Michael Brynntrup and students of Film Class Braunschweig

7:15pm – 8:30pm

Discussion with Prof. Michael Brynntrup about experimental films

Sunday, 20 March 2016

6pm – 7:15pm

Screening of short films by Vietnamese filmmakers

7:30pm – 9pm

Discussion with Prof. Brynntrup and local independent filmmakers/producers

Films and discussions are in Vietnamese and English.

Register:

Please send an email with the subject line “Mini DocFest – REGISTER” to prog@saigon.goethe.org until 17th March 2016, stating your name, number of tickets required and day(s) you would like to attend (Sat, Sun or Sat + Sun).

PROFILE OF GUEST SPEAKERS

Michael Brynntrup was born in Münster, Germany. Since 1982 he has been based in Berlin. He has made over 70 experimental short films and videos as well as four feature films. In addition to film exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art New York in 1987, 1992 and 1999 he has participated in many international film festivals and received numerous awards. He is professor for Film and Video at Braunschweig University of Art in Germany.

Truong Minh Quy was born in 1990 in Buon Ma Thuot, a city in the central highlands of Vietnam. In 2008 he entered a film directing class at the Cinema and Theatre University in Ho Chi Minh City. After one year he decided to quit school to pursuit his independent filmmaking path. In 2012, he was a fellow of AFA (Asian Film Academy, Busan International Film Festival). In 2016, he attended Berlinale Talents at Berlin International Film Festival. Currently he is working at ZeroStation, an alternative art space in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tran Minh Duc was born and currently lives in HCMC. He studied at the College of Culture and Arts of HCMC. In addition to his work as a visual artist he co-founded ‘mê phim’ – ‘passionate about films’ together with Nguyễn Kim Tố Lan and Sophie Hughes, a film group that organises film screenings with the aim of introducing young filmmakers’ work to HCMC’s film lovers.

Mini DocFest – Saigon version is a co-curated event by Hanoi DocLab and San Art, supported by Goethe-Institut and generously hosted by Art House Saigon of Hoa Sen University.

Francophone Film Festival 2016

Hanoi: 17 – 28 Mar 2016

L’Espace and Hanoi Cinematheque

—

Hue: 21 – 31 Mar 2016

French Cultural Center in Hue

–

HCMC: 16 – 21 Mar 2016

IDECAF

Film season has been coming in March! Within two weeks in Hanoi (17-28 Mar), Hue (21-31 Mar) and HCMC (16-21 Mar), 9 films from Egypt, Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland and Vietnam will showcase the talent of film makers and vitality of the 7th art.

TICKETS

In Hanoi:

Film screening at L’Espace:

Ticket 50 000 VND

Special price 40 000 VND

Tickets are available at l’Espace

Film screening at Cinematheque: Invitation in film screening

In Hue: Free entry

HCMC:

Ticket price: 40 000 VND, free for IDECAF students

Tickets are available at IDECAF

Film Screening “Le Jour des Corneilles”

Sun 20 Mar 2016, 4 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

“Le Jour des Corneilles” is one of the nine films that are going to be screened under the framework of the 9th Francophone Film Festival – an initiative of International Organisation of La Francophonie. This year, the films respectively represent France, Switzerland, Canada, Wallon Region (Belgium), Vietnam and Egypt.

Director: Jean-Christophe Dessaint (France, 2012, 96’)

Casting: Jean Reno, Lorànt Deutsch, Isabelle Carré

Adapted from an adult novel by Jean-François Beauchemin, this cartoon starts the reach of children without falling into the trap of sentimentality. Visually, each shot of the movie is a table with vibrant colors, which makes you believing that you are breathing tree resin, feeling the warmth of the real autumn sun. In this beautiful setting, the characters are sketched with humor, tenderness and sometimes cruelly, they have the simplicity and bold colors of pure cartoon. The co-production by France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Canada is mesmerized with a story of a jungle boy coming to the modern city, referring Asian audience to the well-known Japanese comic – “Dragon Ball”.

Film synopsis:

“Day of Crows” has the young hero who is an extremely wild child: like Tarzan, he does not know the world of men and made the forest their natural habitat, developing a special talent for hunting, fishing and climbing! He even is raised by a tyrannical giant father who likes to eat fresh meat. Until one day, he must come out of the jungle and meet hundreds of troubles in the urban modern world. This innocent hero has conquered French critics and attracts large audience when it was released in French theatres in 2012.

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitles

Tickets:

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

St. Patrick’s Day Photo Exhibition by photographer Colm Pierce

Exhibition: 17 – 20 Mar 2016, 10 am – 10 pm

Vietnam in Focus

46 Hang Vai, Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll be having an exhibition of pictures by Colm Pierce of Dublin in the 1980s.

Dublin-born photographer Colm documented life in the Sheriff Street area of the city through the 1980s, just as Ireland was on the cusp of massive economic and cultural change. These stunning black and white images capture a part of Dublin now long gone, and its portraits of life in this deprived area are shot through with wonderful humour.

Colm Pierce’s work has been featured in numerous publications worldwide, including The Guardian (UK), Le Figaro (France) and LA Times (USA).

Free entry.

Talk with Young Comic Authors – Winners of Scholastic Book Award

Good news came to Vietnamese comic community in late 2015 when Saigon-based author-illustrator team Phung Nguyen Quang and Huynh Kim Lien won Scholastic Asian Book Award. Their children’s comic book The First Journey overtook 135 other entries from across Asia to take home the grand award presented by Singapore’s National Book Development Council and Scholastic Asia.

The First Journey tells the story of An, a young boy who crosses the Mekong Delta for the first time on his way to school, encountering floods, snakes and a mysterious forest with a giant crocodile. Though not yet published, the vivid and colourful illustrations shown on Room To Read already created high demand for The First Journey in Vietnam.

Amazingly, it took the young authors only 2 weeks to create this winning artwork from scratch. “We saw it on Room to Read’s workshop group on Facebook for its writers and illustrators. We had only two weeks left to turn in a manuscript! It had to be in English with six full pages of color illustrations. We spent two days coming up with the idea, two days to write the story and nine days of intense work.” Quang said.

The idea for the book came to Quang and Lien very naturally. Inspired by Son Nam’s short stories Hương rừng Cà Mau, Doan Gioi’s novel Đất rừng phương Nam and Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, they decided to create a book to honour the fierce yet enchanting beauty of Mekong Delta’s jungles and rivers.

Although the book is an independent project, Quang and Lien have been greatly influenced by the knowledge they adopt from the workshops by Room to Read. Room to Read is a charity founded in 2000 in Nepal with the aim to give children, especially girls, in developing countries in Asia and Africa equal access to high-quality education. In Vietnam, Room to Read is currently operating in Mekong Delta, the northern mountainous area and some central provinces. They have implemented many educational activities such as building reading rooms and donating books for under-priviledged children in these areas. Furthermore, with the aim to continuously improve children’s book quality, Room to Read has organized many training courses for artists and young authors and published a lot of high quality children’s books for their own library.

“Thanks to Room to Read’s workshops, we have the opportunity to receive extensive training in writing and illustrating children’s books as well as having access to many books that haven’t been published in Vietnam.” Quang said.

As the grand prize winner of Scholastic Picture Book Award, in addition to cash prize, Quang and Lien’s work will be presented and released worldwide by Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, while copyright remains with its authors. This is a great opportunity not only for the two young authors, but also for children’s graphic comics industry of Vietnam to go global. Quang and Lien also have plan to translate the book into Vietnamese to publish within the country right after its international release.

When asked about the estimated publishing date, the two indicate that the book is not finished and is still being written and edited, hence, there is no clear publishing date decided. However, it should be scheduled no later than the end of this year. Therefore, don’t forget to keep an eye on Grapevine for updates!

Information about the authors:

Quang, 26, and Lien, 24, are freelance writer and illustrator based in Saigon. Their main job is creating and illustrating children’s books, designing book covers as well as other designing and illustrating tasks. Quang and Lien met 5 years ago at a senior designer’s studio. Nowadays, they have a studio of their own named Kaa illustration, where they create artworks together and sell lovely little hand-made souvenirs.

HCMC – Exhibition “Farmers’ Got Power” by Nguyen Manh Hung

Opening: Fri 18 Mar 2016, 6 pm

Exhibition: 18 Mar – 23 Apr 2016

Galerie Quynh

Level 2, 151/3 Dong Khoi, Dist 1, HCMC

You are invited to the exhibition “Farmers’ Got Power” by Nguyen Manh Hung, one of Vietnam’s most accomplished young artists. For his second solo exhibition at the gallery, Nguyen has created a new body of sculptures, paintings and photos depicting an absurd world under constant threat where the past, present and future collapse into one perpetual cycle.

Images of soldiers, weapons, planes and fire trucks suggest a sense of urgency, calamity and danger, yet the addition of domesticated creatures (turtles, chickens and even a snail) pose little menace. An ambiguous violence is suggested within a calm, subdued atmosphere. Through keen, satirical humor with elusive narratives, the artist looks at issues of power, control and protection.

Nguyen states, “These works depict the precautions and preparations as a defense for an impending upheaval – one that is unknown yet strangely familiar from the past. Precaution has become an everyday routine, as natural as we live and breathe.”

A reference to the reality TV show “America’s Got Talent” (the Got Talent franchise is broadcast in Vietnam as “Vietnam’s Got Talent”), “Farmers’ Got Power” is also an awkward phrasing of what could be a public slogan or comedic film. Are Nguyen’s farmers – in the guise of the domesticated animals – the heroes who save the world?

ABOUT NGUYEN MANH HUNG

Nguyen Manh Hung (born 1976, Hanoi) has participated in numerous international exhibitions including Mien Meo Mieng / Contemporary Art from Vietnam, Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; L’avventura – Lang Du, Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL), France; 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; Connect: Art Scene Vietnam, ifa Galerie Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany; Lim Dim: Young Vietnamese Artists, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway; Strategies from Within, Ke Center for the Contemporary Arts, Shanghai, China; transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, USA; and Thermocline of Art. New Asian Waves, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany. Nguyen Manh Hung has held residencies at Creative Fusion, The Cleveland Foundation, Ohio, USA; Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France; Asian Cultural Council, New York, New York, USA; and Art Omi International Arts Center, Ghent, New York, USA.

From 2008 – 2011 Nguyen Manh Hung was the Director of the dynamic Nha San Studio in Hanoi, one of the first non-profit artist-run spaces in Vietnam. Nguyen currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City.

Film Screening “Philadelphia” and “Adrift”

Screening of “Philadelphia”: Fri 18 Mar 2016, 7.30 pm

Screening of “Adrift”: Sat 19 Mar 2016, 3 pm

Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents

51 Tran Hung Dao Str (4th floor), Hanoi

You are invited to the film screening “Philadelphia” with actor Tom Hanks (not suitable for children below 13 years old) and “Chơi Vơi” – directed by Bui Thac Chuyen at TPD.

About “Philadelphia”:

PHILADELPHIA is a 1993 American drama film and one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner, directed by Jonathan Demme and stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.

Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Andrew Beckett in the film, while the song ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ by Bruce Springsteen won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Nyswaner was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Jane Campion for ‘The Piano’. [Wikipedia]

About “Adrift”:

Director: Bui Thac Chuyen

Cast: Do Thi Hai Yen, Duy Khoa, Pham Linh Dan, Johnny Tri Nguyen

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 110 mins

Plot: Duyen is getting married. She thinks she loves her fiance, who is two years younger. But what does that actually mean? The tempestuous wedding ends without romance. The naive bridegroom turns out to be a mother’s boy. He is carried into the bedroom blind drunk and is later incapable of consummating the marriage. Through a jealous girlfriend, Duyen finds herself in the circles of a charming man of the world who has no respect for faithfulness or morality and who awakens confusing feelings in her. The inexperienced husband has meanwhile crossed the path of a teenage girl who fled her father.

Entry: 20,000 VND (donation for TPD’s fund for movie talents)

After Party of St. Patrick Rocks Concert

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 9 pm

Hanoi Rock City

27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho

Come to the craziest St. Patrick’s night in town with different live acts and activities. This year, as usual, we demand you to come out in your green outfit and rock the city at the after party of the St. Patrick Rocks concert.

Joining us this year will also be tons of excitement including:

** 4 live acts: NGỌT, HI-JINKS, LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE, THE CHILDREN

** DJ QUICKFIRE – DJ MAGGIE GAZUR

** Firespinners

** Facepainting

– NGỌT: Ngọt, translated into English, means Sweet, the taste. “We like candy. When you were a kid you dreamed of eating lots of candies… Then most people grow up and give up on it; maybe they have other dreams, or maybe they stop dreaming. So we band together to live out kids’ dream”. Absolutely amazing young talents hailing from Hanoi took the music by storm more than a year ago with their super catchy, funny, cool songs.

– LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE: Once upon a time, two lonely musician travelers met in Hoi An, Quang Nam, Viet Nam. This fantastic event, which would change the face of the world, took place in the year of grace 2014, not long before Apocalypse.

Etienne and Nicolas – so were their names – started immediately to make noise together, and made the sacred vow to become worldwide famous, in order to make the earth a better place, to spread universal love, and to get free beers.

– HI-JINKS THE SOULFUL FUNKSTERS: They play mostly original material as well as a selection of crowd pleasing covers from the likes of Stevie wonder/ Paul Simon/ Beatles etc… amongst others. With an emphasis on high octane dance funk their live shows aim to get people wriggling on the dance floor, while their studio material spans the whole gamut of human emotional expression: from introspection yearning and yielding to raw base instinctual sexual desire!

Listen to their cover of “Be My Baby” here:

– THE CHILDREN: one of the coolest up and coming indie band in Hanoi. 4 Vietnamese guy decided to be bold and different with funny lyrics and really funky tunes will make you smile.

Tickets

Entry: 50,000 VND at the door

** Free drink for cool green outfit

** Free entry if you have valid tickets from the St Patrick rock concert, and an extra free beer if you purchase the ticket at HRC.

Hue – French Films in Francophone Film Festival 2016

Film Screening “Belle et Sébastien”: Tue 22 Mar 2016, 7.15 pm

Film Screening “Le Jour des Corneilles”: Mon 28 Mar 2016, 7.15 pm

Film Screening “Timbuktu”: Tue 29 Mar 2016, 7.15 pm

Institut français de Huế

01 Le Hong Phong, Hue

You are invited to the French film screening under the framework of the Francophone Film Festival 2016 in Hue with “Belle et Sébastien”, “Le Jour des Corneilles”, “Timbuktu”.

About “Belle et Sébastien”:

Director: Nicolas Vanier

Country: France

Length: 104 mins

Year: 2013

Category: Psychological, adventurous

“Our story takes place high up in the Alps.

There where the snow is immaculate, where chamois chase marmots, where the summits touch the clouds.

High up in a peaceful village – until the day the Germans arrive.

It’s the story of a lonely boy and a wild dog.

The story of Sébastien who tames Belle.

It’s the adventure of an indestructible friendship.

It’s the extraordinary tale of a resourceful and appealing child in the middle of World War Two.

It’s the odyssey of a little boy searching for his mother, of an old man searching for his past, of a member of the Resistance searching for love, of a young woman looking for adventure, of a German lieutenant searching for forgiveness.

It’s the life of Belle and Sébastien.”

About “Le Jour des Corneilles”:

Director: Jean-Christophe Dessaint

Country: France

Length: 96 mins

Year: 2012

Category: Animation

Adapted from an adult novel by Jean-François Beauchemin, this cartoon starts the reach of children without falling into the trap of sentimentality. Visually, each shot of the movie is a table with vibrant colors, which makes you believing that you are breathing tree resin, feeling the warmth of the real autumn sun. In this beautiful setting, the characters are sketched with humor, tenderness and sometimes cruelly, they have the simplicity and bold colors of pure cartoon. The co-production by France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Canada is mesmerized with a story of a jungle boy coming to the modern city, referring Asian audience to the well-known Japanese comic – “Dragon Ball”.

About “Timbuktu”:

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Year: France

Time: 97 mins

Year: 2014

Category: Psychological

16+

Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly.

Language: Original language with Vietnamese subtitles

Free entrance.

HCMC – Film Screening “Timbuktu”

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 7.30 pm

IDECAF

31 Thai Van Lung Str, Dist 1, HCMC

Come to the screening of the film “Timbuktu” in HCMC. The film is screened under the framework of the Francophone Film Festival 2016.

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Casting: Ibrahim Ahmed, Abel Jafri, Toulou Kiki

Abderrahmane Sissako’s tragic fable about religious intolerance is full of life, irony and poetry. The film is not suitable for children under 16 years old.

Film synopsis:

Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly.

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitles

Tickets:

Ticket price: 40,000 VND, free for students of IDECAF.

Fatih Akin Film Series in HCMC

 

18, 19, 25, 26 Mar and 01, 02 Apr 2016, 7.15 pm

Cinema 3, Cinebox

As part of the Fatih Akin Film Series, the Goethe-Institut Vietnam presents a selection of films by the German director in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The work of Fatih Akin, who has a Turkish background, is more topical and relevant than ever, dealing with issues of migration and identity, culture and homeland. The Goethe-Institut will screen films of various genres: from a musical portrait of a bustling metropolis on two continents to an intercultural comedy to a historical drama – Fatih Akin’s films appeal to a variety of emotions. As every year, the Film Series offers a diverse and entertaining programme for the interested public. Please note that the age rating of all films is 16 years.

Fatih Akin, born in Hamburg 1973, is a movie director, scriptwriter, actor and producer of Turkish descent. In his movies, he deals with themes like identity, culture and home. Fatih Akin became internationally known in 2004 with his movie “Head-on”, for which he won the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear. Since then he has been awarded numerous prizes, for example at the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the German Film Awards and the European Film Awards.

The programme for Ho Chi Minh City is as follows (click on the movie’s title to see its trailer):

Friday, 18 March 2016, 7:15pm

Solino

A family of Italian immigrants to the Ruhr region must cope with an unfamiliar way of life.

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Saturday, 19 March 2016, 7:15pm

Kebab Connection

Ibo, stuck between the German and the Turkish culture, is about to fulfil his lifelong dream as important news turn his life upside down and he is forced to make a decision.

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Friday, 25 March 2016, 7:15pm

Soul Kitchen

Bar owner Zinos finds himself close to bankruptcy as everything seems to take a sudden turn for the better. But will luck remain with him?

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Saturday, 26 March 2016, 7:15pm

Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul

Musical portrait of the bustling metropolis, where the melodies of the Orient and the Occident merge.

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Friday, 1 April 2016, 7:15pm

The Edge of Heaven

Drama about six people whose fate is inextricably linked.

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Saturday, 2 April 2016, 7:15pm

The Cut

Historical drama about an Armenian father who is forcibly separated from his family. After years in captivity, he starts a journey around the world to find his daughters.

German with English and Vietnamese subtitles

Free tickets are available from Friday, 11 March 2016, 9am at Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City

Cinebox

212 Ly Chinh Thang Str., District 3, HCMC

HCMC – Dance performance “Urban Distortions” by TRANSITSCAPE

Sun 20 Mar 2016, 11 am

Saigon Zoo and Botanic Garden

No 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Str, Dist 1, HCMC

Francobelge dance company t.r.a.n.s.i.t.s.c.a.p.e (Pierre Larauza + Emmanuelle Vincent) will present a new version of their mixed “Urban Distortions” show, a collaboration with Bong Sen theatre and dancers.

Around a transparent inflatable balloon, the artists take us into a world where cultural difference and contaminated territories are sources for poetry and love.

This Francophonie Day is an opportunity for t.r.a.n.s.i.t.s.c.a.p.e to present their first step of collaboration with Vietnamese artists in order to create a platform for mixed art “The Centriffugeuse” in HCMC.

t.r.a.n.s.i.t.s.c.a.p.e was founded in 2003 in Hong Kong in a meeting between architect/director Pierre Larauza and dancer/choreographer Emmanuelle Vincent, wishing to combine the dance, architecture and cinema in choreographic plays and films. Their creations are distributed internationally.

Performance recommended by HCMV during the framework of Francophonie Day, with the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International and “Truong Son” group of Vietnamese people in Belgium.

Free entrance.

Wildlife 2.0: Electro Concert with Gudrun Gut in Hanoi and HCMC

HCMC: Sat 19 Mar 2016, 8 pm

The Observatory

—

Hanoi: Wed 23 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Goethe Institut

56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

The icon of the Berlin music scene, and one of the founders of the legendary band “Einstürzende Neubauten”, will be performing audiovisual concerts in Hanoi and HCMC.

Gudrun Gut is an icon of the alternative music scene in Berlin, and the German electro world cannot possibly be imagined without her. The musician, DJ and music producer began her career in the early 1980s and became known as a co-founder of the renowned experimental band “Einstürzende Neubauten”. Furthermore, she was a member of the legendary bands Malaria!, Mania D and Matador.

In addition to her successful solo career, she has also worked together with many well-known artists, including the Swiss electronic musician Thomas Fehlmann and the Canadian Myra Davies. With her record labels Moabit music and Monika enterprise, she also supports the young electro scene and especially female artists.

Her long discography is complemented by numerous live concerts at home in Germany and abroad. Her concerts enjoy great popularity not only in Europe, but also in the United States, Latin America, Russia, New Zealand and Australia, not least because she is known to interact with the audience. In 2015 she performed at the Nrmal Festival in Mexico City and this year she will tour through Australia.

Gudrun Gut’s music ranges from post punk and techno to Indietronics. She merges electronic vibes with nostalgic sounds of musical genres such as Blues or Tango. Gut amplifies her innovative music with own video installations, so that her concerts become an extraordinary audiovisual experience. In Hanoi and HCMC Gudrun Gut plays her set “Wildlife 2.0”.

Free entry for two concerts in Hanoi and HCMC

Note: In Hanoi, depending on the weather the concert will take place in our courtyard or inside the hall.

Concert Tour of Quartet Sabino Orsini in Vietnam

Ha Nam: Thu 17 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Cultural Center of Ha Nam Province

Tran Phu, Phu Ly, Ha Nam

—

Hanoi: Fri 18 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Hanoi Opera House

1 Trang Tien, Hanoi

—

Da Nang: Sun 20 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Pham Van Dong park

—

HCMC: Wed 23 Mar 2016, 8 pm

IDECAF

28 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

You are invited to the Concert Tour of Quartet Sabino Orsini in Vietnam from 17 – 23 Mar 2016.

Sabino is a Francophone Belgians musician/singer. During this concert tour, his quartet will bring pop-rock songs in the new album that they plans to release in summer 2016. He will tell us stories about urban and modern, human loneliness and precarious life.

The quartet includes:

– Sabino Orsini: Voice and guitarist

– Chris Cerri: Guitarist

– Benoit Poncin: Bass

– Angelo Crisci: Drum

Ticket

Ha Nam and Da Nang: Free admission

Hanoi: Tickets are limitedly distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In HCMC: Free tickets are distributed at IDECAF since 16 Mar 2016 (Tel: 08. 3829.54.51)

Conference “Romain Gary”

Tue 22 Mar 2016, 6 pm

L’Espace library

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

You are invited to the conference “Romain Gary” with the participation of translator Ho Thanh Van.

Known in Vietnam recently, Romain Gary is warmly welcomed by many local readers through his writing full of humanity and love. Those who love the author of “Promise at Dawn” and “The Life Before Us” will have chance to gather around his book “Gros-Câlin”.

Language: Vietnamese

Free admission.

HCMC – Concert of French Songs with Singer Laurent Brunetti

Tue 22 Mar 2016, 8 pm

IDECAF

28 Le Thanh Ton, Dist 1, HCMC

You are invited to a concert of French songs with Swiss chanson singer Laurent Brunetti and Mario Pacchioli (Piano).

Please contact for free tickets: IDECAF, 28 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

HCMC – Exhibition “Cultural Meetings”

Exhibition: 18 – 25 Mar 2016

IDECAF

31 Thai Van Lung, Dist 1, HCMC

You are invited to the paintings exhibition “Cultural meetings” at IDECAF.

In this event, 15 French and Vietnamese artists present their worldviews through different materials. East and West, tradition and modernity are presented from various – sometimes surprising – perspectives.

15 artists participating in the exhibition include:

Đoàn Minh Ngọc, Nguyễn Văn Minh, Michelle PONTIE, Annick POVEDA, Huyền Lam, Nguyễn Lâm, Lương Lưu Biên, Trần Phước Vinh, Phạm Lê Thanh Thảo, Đỗ Minh Hiếu, Nguyễn Mậu Tân Thư, Nguyễn Quế Hương, Manoel Pillard, Lê Thị Thanh Tâm, Nguyễn Thị Ki-Em.

Film Screening “Timbuktu”

Thu 17 Mar 2016, 8 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

“TIMBUKTU” is one of the nine films that are going to be screened under the framework of the 9th Francophone Film Festival – an initiative of International Organisation of La Francophonie. This year, the films respectively represent France, Switzerland, Canada, Wallon Region (Belgium), Vietnam and Egypt.

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Casting: Ibrahim Ahmed, Abel Jafri, Toulou Kiki

Abderrahmane Sissako’s tragic fable about religious intolerance is full of life, irony and poetry. The film is not suitable for children under 16 years old.

Film synopsis:

Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly.

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitles

Tickets:

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

HOLI – Festival Of Colours 2016

Sun 27 Mar 2016, 10 am – 2 pm

Kinder Park

614 Lac Long Quan, Tay Ho, Hanoi

Holi – a festival of colors – the most fun-filled and boisterous festival! It’s an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors!! Do join us for a day full of fun & frolic.

Tickets

Ticket prices: 500,000 VND/adults, 150,000 VND/children (from 2 – 6 years old)

Tickets included delicious Indian food and drinks

Tickets are available at:

Incham Hanoi office, 625 De La Thanh, Hanoi, tel 04 37724248

Dalcheeni, 100 Xuan Dieu, Hanoi

Namaste Hanoi, 46 Tho Nhuom, Hanoi

Tandoor restaurant, 24 Hang Be, Hanoi

Foodshop 45 restaurant, 59 Truc Bach, Hanoi

India palace, 10B Tay Ho, Quang An, Hanoi

Little India, 32 Hang Tre, Hanoi

Music Night with San Soda from Berlin

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 8 pm

ATK

73a Mai Hac De, Hanoi

Belgian house don San Soda will perform in Hanoi this week. Known for his eclectic DJ sets, from splicing sonic heart-lifters to afro-house, to classic Detroit soul and everything in-between.

This Belgian-born, Berlin-based DJ constructs the kind of live club gig that will demolish everyone on the dance floor. His 2010 album Immers & Daarentegen proved him to be a mercurial artist, spreading his low-down house grooves across a long player with many different reflections and moods. As well as hosting his own weekly radio show, he plays across the board at regular parties throughout Europe and Asia!

Tickets:

100,000 VND bought at the door of ATK, including one ticket to after party at Le Soleil (without the ticket you will be charged an extra fee)

Hue – Film Screening “Tante Hilda”

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 7.15 pm

Institut français de Huế

01 Le Hong Phong, Hue

You are invited to the film screening “Tante Hilda” (France, 2013, 89’).

Director: Jacques-Rémy Girerd Benoît Chieux

Casting: Sabine Azéma, Josiane Balasko, Gilles Détroit

The fairy animated film which is worth watching for the whole family, revives the love of nature among the age of ecosystem crisis!

Film synopsis:

“Auntie Hilda” is a film directed by Benoit Chieux – author of “Mia and Migou” which was screened at Vietnam L’Espace. The new film tells the story of the conflict a nature activist and her ambitious entrepreneurs. All images in this animation were drawn by hand. After completed in 2013, the film was an official selection in competition in the category “Generation” at the Berlin film festival, the category that seeks news voices for children and young people.

Language: Original language with Vietnamese subtitles

Free entrance.

A Night at the Opera – “The Flying Dutchman”

Sun 20 Mar 2016, 7 pm

Hanoi Cinematheque

22A Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội

You are invited to the screening of Richard Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer).

The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), is a German-language opera by Richard Wagner. It is the first opera in which Wagner’s musical and operatic maturity is advanced as regards thematic handling and portrayal of emotions and orchestration, musical styles that were further developed in his later operas. Wagner uses a number of leitmotifs (literally, ‘leading motifs’) associated with the characters and themes. The leitmotifs are all introduced in the overture and repeated throughout the opera.

The story of the opera revolves around a ghostly ship captain who once invoked Satan; the ghost captain is cursed to roam the sea forever without rest. An angel brought to him the terms of his redemption: every seven years the waves will cast him upon the shore; if he can find a wife who will be true to him he will be released from his curse. The captain’s ship is dashed against a vessel that has taken refuge in a storm and the grappling irons hold the two ships together. The captain of the vessel seeking refuge has an unmarried daughter named Senta, and he agrees to the marriage in return for a treasure chest. The south wind blows and both vessels set sail for Daland’s home where the betrothed daughter will meet the man she can marry and save from eternal torment, but not before her former boyfriend enters the drama to warn her of the terms of the marriage agreement.

The opera will be screened in the original German with English subtitles.

For those with membership at the Cinémathèque, please make a reservation as usual by phoning the Cinémathèque, daily between 14:30 – 21:00 at 3936-2648. A limited number of tickets are also available through the Opera Guild, send an email to info@hanoioperaguild.com. A donation of VND 60,000 is suggested.

HCMC – Film Screening “Belle et Sébastien”

Wed 16 Mar 2016, 7.30 pm

IDECAF

31 Thai Văn Lung, Dist 1, HCMC

Come to the film screening “Belle and Sébastien” (French, 2013, 104’). The screening is part of Francophonie Film Festival 2016.

Director: Nicolas Vanier

Casting: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo, Margaux Châtelier

Adapted from the famous French tv series, the film fascinates its audience with poetic shots of this wonderful friendship between a young boy and a dog.

“Our story takes place high up in the Alps.

There where the snow is immaculate, where chamois chase marmots, where the summits touch the clouds.

High up in a peaceful village – until the day the Germans arrive.

It’s the story of a lonely boy and a wild dog.

The story of Sébastien who tames Belle.

It’s the adventure of an indestructible friendship.

It’s the extraordinary tale of a resourceful and appealing child in the middle of World War Two.

It’s the odyssey of a little boy searching for his mother, of an old man searching for his past, of a member of the Resistance searching for love, of a young woman looking for adventure, of a German lieutenant searching for forgiveness.

It’s the life of Belle and Sébastien.”

Language: French with Vietnamese subtitles

Tickets:

Ticket price: 40,000 VND, free for students of IDECAF

Tickets are available at IDECAF.

Live folk/country with The Bearded Holmes

Fri 11 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Hanoi Social Club

6 Hoi Vu Str, Hanoi

How does the prospect of being welcome in the warmer weather on the rooftop of Hanoi Social Club sound? Well, The Bearded Holmes would be privileged to ease you into the weekend with their mix of folk/country, foot stomping originals and spine tingling, slower covers. With a few new tunes thrown into the mix as well, it should be a great start to the weekend. We look forward to seeing you up there!

Tickets: 70,000 VND at the door

Exhibition “9X”

Opening: Sun 13 Mar 2016, 5 pm

Exhibition: 13 – 18 Mar 2016

Conference: Thu 24 Mar 2016, 9 am

2nd floor, Exhibition House, 16 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi

You are invited to exhibition “9X” hostêd by Young Artist Club to mark a generation of newborn artists: Young – Fresh – Passion.

With the participation of new members: Nguyễn Tuấn Dũng, Trương Văn Ngọc, Nguyễn Đình Sơn, Nguyễn Văn Phương, Phạm Phương Quỳnh, Nguyễn Văn Huy, Chử Văn Sơn, Trần Văn Thược, Nguyễn Văn Diệu, Nguyễn Văn Điệp, etc… An interesting and thought-provoking event is waiting for you!

In additions, please enjoy personal exhibition “You” by Nguyen Tuan Dung:

Opening: Sunday 20-24 Mar 2016, 5 pm

Conference: Thursday 24 Mar 2016, 9 am

Location: Exhibition House, 16 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi

Performances of Electric Yard Dogs in March

From the band:

On their return from the ‘Dog House Tour’ of central Vietnam, The Electric Yard Dogs continue to have regular dates at the following Bars and Clubs in Hanoi:

+84 BAR 23 Ngo Van So – Fridays (18th & 25th March) 9pm

21 NORTH CLUB 49 Lang Yen Phu – Wednesdays (23rd & 30th March) 9pm

1900 Le Theatre 8 Ta Hien – Sundays (20th & 27th March) 8pm

In various incarnations, The Electric Yard Dogs have been performing in Hanoi for over five years. Original members Jez Hartley and Simon ‘Otis’ Redington, who hail from the ‘70s London Punk Rock scene, have now been joined by Le Havre rocker Ricardo Canu on drums and Louisiana wildcat Scott ‘Shyboy’ Reynolds on Blues harp in a new revitalised Rockabilly, Rock’n’Roll outfit.

The music is a highly dance-able mix of fast rock, rhythm and swing, a style reminiscent of Dr Feelgood, the Texas Bar Room Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds with a touch of Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed thrown in for the hell of it!

Apart from local music venues around town in Hanoi, the band also tour regularly down south to Danang, Saigon and Phnom Penh where they have an increasing reputation for doing what they do best: Electric Blues with Soul & Style!

Positive Mass of March 2016

Fri 25 Mar 2016, 8 pm

St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi

“Positive Mass”, and event inspired by an international event called Critical Mass. It is a bicycle ride to promote cycling for all its benefits.

“Critical Mass” is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. The purpose of Critical Mass is not usually formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.

In Hanoi, Positive Mass (PM) is called “Đạp cho sướng”, literally meaning cycling for pleasure. Bikers meet on the last Friday of every month at St. Joseph Cathedral (Nhà thờ lớn) and travel around Hanoi following a prepared route with the ending point at the Cathedral. The first PM in Hanoi started in October 2012. After one year, since October 2013, PM has also been held in HCMC, Thai Nguyen and Son La.

Aakash Odedra and “Murmur 2.0” Performance in Vietnam

Hanoi: Wed 23 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Hanoi Opera House

1 Trang Tien Str, Hanoi

—

HCMC: Sun 27 Mar 2016, 8 pm

HCMC Opera House

07 Lam Son Square, Dist 1, HCMC

The acclaimed British choreographer Aakash Odedra is going to perform in Vietnam on 23 and 27 March. Aakash Odedra is set to perform “Murmur 2.0”, the visually beautiful, heart-wrenching and dramatic piece which he presented at TEDGlobal as a TED Talk.

The two intensely personal solo pieces of “Murmur” and “Nritta” will be taken to stage on 23 March at Hanoi Opera House and on 27 March at Ho Chi Minh Opera House.

Aakash Odedra is one of the most sought after contemporary British dancers today. Trained in the classical Indian dance styles of Kathak, he was mentored by Akram Khan who supported him to develop contemporary movement. In 2011 he formed Aakash Odedra Dance Company and since then has developed his own choreographic works including commissioned pieces for James Brown’s “Get on the Good Foot” (Apollo Theatre, New York), the opera “God’s Little Soldier” (Theatre Freiburg), The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and the closing of the London Cultural Olympiad. Aakash has received numerous awards and bursaries including a Sky Academy Arts Scholarship.

Aakash struggled with dyslexia since a young age and felt he “was defined by his learning difficulties, but not his abilities. As written language was so alien, dance became his preferred mode of expression.” In “Murmur”, Aakash and Australian choreographer Lewis Major delve into the idea of warped and exaggerated realities. In a major collaboration with Major and Arts Electronica Futurelab (Linz, Austria), the company explores how the misconceptions of dyslexia can be revealed through visual design, light, sound and movement.

In “Nritta”, choreographed by Odedra himself, the audience can see a dazzling display of technical feats. He moves with such agility that it is hard for the eye to follow. His feet beat out the rhythms, his gestures sweep and swerve and throughout he remains poised, completely in control. It is a perfect introduction to the marvels that Odedra can produce.

Tickets

Ticket prices: 200,000 – 350,000 – 500,000 VND.

Tickets are available from 5 March:

In Hanoi

Hanoi Opera House (the right hand-side ticket box) No. 1 Trang Tien Street.

Online booking at www.ticketvn.com và ticketvn@gmail.com

For free delivery, please call: 0913 489 858, 0983 067 996

In Ho Chi Minh City

HCM Ballet Symphony and Orchestra (HBSO) No. 7 Cong Truong Lam Son, District 1.

Online booking at www.ticketbox.vn

Hotline for booking and delivery: 0989874517 or email to myhuong@hbso.org.vn

HCMC – Photo Exhibition “Imagine France” by Maia Flore

Exhibition: 15 – 22 Mar 2016, 7.30 am – 5.30 pm (except Mondays)

The General Sciences Library of HCMC

69 Ly Tu Trong, Dist 1, HCMC

You are invited to the photo exhibition “Imagine France” by Maia Flore in HCMC.

Fantastic Voyage, An offbeat look at France

In this series of 25 photographs, Maia Flore has created a character who appropriates in each place, to make it surprising and poetic. Sometimes be actor, sometimes be spectator, this recurring character animates and renews the 25 cultural sites (castles, museums, monuments…) that the artist visited during a tour of France for 66 days between July and September 2013.

Free entry.

HCMC – A Night of Russian Music

Sat 19 Mar 2016, 8 pm

HCMC Opera House

No. 7 Lam Son Square, D.1, HCMC

You are invited the night of Russian music with the performance of two young and talented artists: conductor David Gomez Ramirez and violist Anna Sowanna Takeda.

Program

PART I:

Modest Mussorgsky – Overture “Dawn over the Moscow River” from opera Khovanshchina

Piotr Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35

I. Allegro moderato

II. Canzonetta: Andante

III. Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Violin: Anna Sowanna-Takeda

PART II:

Vasily Kalinnikov – Symphony No. 1 in G Minor

I. Allegro moderato

II. Andante commodamente

III. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo

IV. Finale. Allegro moderato

Performing: HBSO Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: David Gomez Ramirez

David Gómez Ramírez is one of the most promising young conductors and composers in Spain. He has conducted all the major Spanish orchestras and he appears as a guest conductor in Europe (Italy, France, Portugal, The Netherlands, in Asia and in South America, in such musical centers as Paris, Caracas (Venezuela), Havana (Cuba), Brussels (Belgium), Hanoi and Hue (Vietnam). In 2010, he received the “Giraldillo de Oro” prize, a highest award given by the Excellency Cultural Arts and Sciences Association (Institution recognized by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of Spain).

Anna Sowanna Takeda was born in 1992 Bangkok, Thailand. At the age of 10, Anna won First Prize in the 1st Australian Music Examination Board in Thailand. In 2002 through to 2004, she won the Gold Medals from the Thai National Youth Music Competitions, and also won the Espoir prize of the 6th Osaka International Music Competition, The Finalist of the All Japan Student Music Competition in Tokyo. She has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras including Budafoki Dohnanyi Zenekar in Budapest, Hungary conducted by Hollerung Gabor and Alpaslan Ertiingealp, Sinfonia de Cuba en tres (The National Cuba Symphony Orchestra), The Vietnam National Opera & Ballet Orchestra and The Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music Orchestra, Myanmar National Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Lira Saguntina in Valencia, Spain, Senzuku New Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tickets

Ticket price: 550,000 – 400,000 – 350,000 – 200,000 – 80,000 VND (for students only)

Booking and delivery: 08 38237419, Ms. Huong: 0989874517, Ms. Huong Ly: 0908057972

At HCMC Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square

Online Booking: www.ticketbox.vn

Spring Concert with Song Hong Chamber Music and Asep Hidayat Wirayudha

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Small Concert hall

Vietnam National Academy of Music

77 Hao Nam, Hanoi

Come to a spring concert with Song Hong Chamber Music and Asep Hidayat Wirayudha.

Program

S. Rachmanioff: Sonata for cello and piano in G minor Op. 19

D. Smetana: Trio in B flat major Op. 15

F. Schubert: String quintet in C major D. 956 Op. Posth. 163

A. Piazzolla: Adios Nonino for piano quintet

Tickets

Ticket price: 200,000 – 300,000 VND

Tickets are available on the 1st floor, A1 building, Vietnam National Academy of Music

Contact: Mr Pham Truong Son

Phone: 090-323-0685, 090-347-0179

Email: sonviolin@yahoo.com

Film Screening “Belle et Sébastien”

Film screening with Vietnamese subtitles: Fri 18 Mar 2016, 8 pm

Film screening with English subtitles: Sun 20 Mar 2016, 6 pm

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

Come to the film screening “Belle and Sébastien” (French, 2013, 104’).

Director: Nicolas Vanier

Casting: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo, Margaux Châtelier

Adapted from the famous French tv series, the film fascinates its audience with poetic shots of this wonderful friendship between a young boy and a dog.

Film synopsis:

“Belle and Sebastian” is directly adapted from the television series Belle et Sébastien 1965. Belle and Sebastian film is not the first adaptation of the story told by the creator of the television series, Cécile Aubry. Indeed, in parallel with the series, Aubry wrote a series of novels about its own universe in six volumes and a few years later, in 1981, the Japanese NHK has recovered the account in order to make an animated series 52 episodes: Belle and Sebastian. Set in France in 1943, the plot tells about a six-year-old boy and his dog looking to foil a Nazi effort to capture French Resistance fighters. The movie is directed by Nicolas Vanier – who is obsessed with the theme of snow and canine dogs. In this movie, the romance and poetic shots are meticulously made by the director fascinate audience, besides a moving friendship story.

“Our story takes place high up in the alps.

There where the snow is immaculate, where chamois chase marmots, where the summits touch the clouds.

High up in a peaceful village – until the day the Germans arrive.

It’s the story of a lonely boy and a wild dog.

The story of Sébastien who tames Belle.

It’s the adventure of an indestructible friendship.

It’s the extraordinary tale of a resourceful and appealing child in the middle of World War Two.

It’s the odyssey of a little boy searching for his mother, of an old man searching for his past, of a member of the Resistance searching for love, of a young woman looking for adventure, of a German lieutenant searching for forgiveness.

It’s the life of Belle and Sébastien.”

Language:

18 Mar: French with Vietnamese subtitles

20 Mar: French with English subtitles

Tickets

Ticket price: 50,000 VND

Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND

Tickets are available at L’Espace.

St. Patrick Rocks Concert with Hipster from UK

Fri 18 Mar 2016, 5.30 – 11 pm

American Club

19–21 Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi

Come to ‘St. Patrick Rocks’ Concert Event, featuring the special ‘Hipster’ band flying over from the UK. ‘Hipster’ has played in several major music festivals in the UK & Ireland has been awarded the Outstanding Artist of 2015 Award by Alive Network. They will be accompanied by ‘Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann’ – traditonal Irish musicians from Dublin, as well as other local rock bands and artists, including the French band “La Belle et la Bête” and Hong Kong based American musician – Michal García from The Anello.

This fun evening event is for all ages with food and good laugh, so plan on coming for dinner and staying for the good vibes and music!

Tickets

Ticket price: 250,000 VND for adults (includes 1 FREE Magners Irish Cider and free entrance to the official after party at Hanoi Rock City), 100,000 VND for children from 2 – 12 years old, free for children under 2 years old.

Tickets are available at:

The Kitchen, 30 To Ngoc Van Str, Tay Ho Dist, Hanoi

Hanoi Rock City, 27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho Dist, Hanoi