Showing posts with label Bien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bien. Show all posts

Friday, February 18, 2011

French paper reviews book on 1954 battle

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War of words: Pham Thanh Tam's new book on Dien Bien Phu.

PARIS — The French newspaper Le Point ran an article on Tuesday about a book on Viet Nam's 1954 victory in Dien Bien Phu by Vietnamese author Pham Thanh Tam.

War Notebook of a Young Viet Minh Soldier at Dieân Bien Phu (in French: Carnet de Guerre d'une Jeune Viet-Minh a Dien Bien Phu) was published by the France-based Armand Colin Publishing House earlier this month.

The article said that Tam was once a student at the Ha Noi University of Fine Arts who fought for the Viet Minh (Viet Nam League for Independence). Tam wrote the book after seven years at war, when he was just 22 years old, never imagining that his work would ever be published.

Tam tells readers why and how the Viet Nam People's Army defeated the French colonialists at the Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

According to the article, thousands of books have been written about the Indochina War, which ended in defeat for the French colonialists at Dien Bien Phu. However, most of them were written by French war veterans, who expressed their sorrow about the defeat in their writing.

Tam's book gives readers a chance to understand the war and the French colonialists' loss through the eyes of a solider on the other side. — VNS

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Dien Bien Phu book published in France

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Pham Thanh Tam's new book on Dien Bien Phu . - VNS File Photo

PARIS - The French newspaper Le Point ran an article on Tuesday about a book on Viet Nam's 1954 victory in Dien Bien Phu by Vietnamese author Pham Thanh Tam.

War Notebook of a Young Viet Minh Soldier at Dieân Bien Phu (in French: Carnet de Guerre d'une Jeune Viet-Minh a Dien Bien Phu) was published by the France-based Armand Colin Publishing House this month.

The article said that Tam was once a student at the Hanoi University of Fine Arts who fought for the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Viet Nam). Tam wrote the book after seven years at war, when he was just 22 years old, never imagining that his work would ever be published.

Tam tells readers why and how the Viet Nam People's Army defeated the French colonialists at the Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

According to the article, thousands of books have been written about the Indochina war, which ended in defeat for the French colonialists at Dien Bien Phu. Most of them were written by French war veterans, who expressed their sorrow about the defeat in their writing.

Tam's book gives readers a chance to understand the war and the French colonialists' loss through the eyes of a solider on the opposing front line. - VNS

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Writing contest praises quiet achievements

HA NOI — An annual writing contest named Modest but Noble Examples has been staged for the third time.

Entries can be sent to Quan Doi Nhan Dan Newspaper, 7 Phan Dinh Phung Street, Ha Noi by December, 2011.

In the past two years, the contest received thousands of entries from professional and amateur writers. The organising board printed three books entitled Modest but Noble Examples that includes 89 stories that reveal the quiet contributions and sacrifices modest people have made for their communities and for society as a whole.

On the occasion, an art performance will be held tomorrow evening at the Ho Chi Minh Presidential Palace vestige area where President Ho commended people for their good deeds.

It will be broadcast live on VTV2 and VTC5. Audiences will see the work of those who've sacrificed for the good of others and who've captured the beauty of Vietnamese morality.

"The examples mentioned include workers, clergy, teachers, traders, war invalids, retirees, intellectuals and ethnic people," says Major General Le Phuc Nguyen, head of the organising board.

"They work quietly, willing to sacrifice their own interests for the good of society. They are classic examples of the patriotism, tolerance and kindness of the Vietnamese."

‘Amateur music' clubs boom in Dong Thap

DONG THAP — Around 200 don ca tai tu (amateur music) clubs, with a total of 2,200 members, are active in the southern province of Dong Thap, according to the provincial museum.

Clubs often compose their own songs and accompany themselves on musical instruments, singing songs of praise to President Ho Chi Minh, the country and the lives of the people. The art is being surveyed for possible recognition as intangible heritage of mankind which should be preserved and developed.

Festival turns tea into art and industry

LAM DONG — The Tea Culture Festival in the city of Bao Loc in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong will take place on December 25-28.

The festival aims to encourage tea production in the region and widen the market for tea products of the region both domestically and overseas. Festival events will include photo exhibitions, workshops, competitions to pick up tea leaves, painting, singing and folk games.

Long Bien exhibition shows for one night only

HA NOI — A unique exhibition featuring the lives of Long Bien residents will be held in Ha Noi tonight.

Long Bien Picture Show brings together over 140 photographs and four films about the neighbourhood underneath and around Long Bien Bridge.

The words were produced over three months by photographers Boris Zuliani, Tran Xiu Thuy Khanh, Barnaby Churchill Steele and Jamie Maxtone-Graham and filmmakers Tran Thi Anh Phuong, Pham Thu Hang, Do Van Hoang and Tran Thanh Hien.

"The surprise of the exhibition is the richness and depth of the films made by the Vietnamese filmmakers. They are all profoundly complex but also highly enjoyable musings on the people, the streets and the street life of this area, and they take the entire exhibition to a level that I had not dared hope for," said Jamie Maxtone Graham, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be held at the Hoan Kiem District's Sport Centre, 225 Hong Ha Road from 6pm to 9pm. Entry to this outdoor exhibition is free. — VNS

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Bridge to become open-air gallery

Train of thought: Visitors welcome a train at the Long Bien Bridge Festival last year. This year, foreign artists will perform songs of Long Bien Bridge on a train. — VNS File Photo

Train of thought: Visitors welcome a train at the Long Bien Bridge Festival last year. This year, foreign artists will perform songs of Long Bien Bridge on a train. — VNS File Photo

HA NOI — The Long Bien Bridge Festival opens this weekend with more events and performers than ever, according to festival founder and organiser Nguyen Nga.

Nga, an overseas Vietnamese living in France, is busy completing final preparations for the festival, to be entitled Dragon Bridge.

The festival will be closed to motor vehice traffic and will become an outdoor art gallery, featuring an exhibition of contemporary arts, including paintings by disable children and children affected by Agent Orange, as well as woodblock art and a collection of kites by artisans from Ha Noi and the northern province of Hai Duong.

The festival will also feature an exhibition of photographs, documents and other artefacts depicting national defence over the past 10 centuries. Throughout the length of the 1,682m bridge, it will be divided into ten sections representing the 10 centuries (1010-2010) of Ha Noi, each section brought to life by diverse art forms, antiquities and costumes, representing the lifestyles of the people of the time.

"Long Bien Bridge is alive," said Nga. "It's not only in the memory of Hanoians, but it is also the bridge of the resistance, the bridge of pains and sufferings, the bridge of happiness, the bridge of loves, and the bridge of peace and freedom.

"It's the flesh and the blood of the Hanoians, an umbilical cord between past and present, between Ha Noi, the country, and the world."

For the festival, the bridge will be divided into three areas. The eastbound side of the bridge (the northern span) will become the Bridge of Memories and will symbolise people of courage. The eastbound side (the southern span) will be decorated with the flags of 70 countries and territories and animated by street performers. Symbolising peace and friendship, this side will be called "The Bridge of Dreams".

The highlight of the festival will be a concert and light show on the bridge on Sunday, to be broadcast live on television. Two musical pieces composed by French musicians as gifts for the Long Bien Festival – On the Long Bien Bridge and See Ha Noi – will be presented by artists from Viet Nam National Academy of Music and the Flonflons troupe from France and Belgium.

The festival's general director, People's Artist Le Hung, said, "The designer of Long Bien Bridge is also the designer of the Eiffel Tower, which is a world-famous tourist attraction, so why we can't turn Long Bien Bridge into a bridge for tourism? The festival was initiated with that goal in mind, so I agreed to be the general director of the event."

During the event, the organising board will also raise funds for flood victims in the central region. — VNS

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Friday, November 5, 2010

Bridge photos create childhood connection

A photo of Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi by U.S. photographer Douglas Jardine
A photo exhibition named “Long Bien Bridge – The Connection’, by U.S. photographer Douglas Jardine is at Maison des Arts, 31A Van Mieu Street in Hanoi, reports VietnamPlus.

The exhibition has about 50 black-and-white photos taken in the past six months, depicting the beauty of Long Bien Bridge and the lives of residents in the floating houses on the Red River.

Jardine also created panoramas of the bridge by joining smaller photos together.

“When I was eight, I heard about the Long Bien Bridge through an article about the U.S. bombing Hanoi, which included a picture of the bridge taken by the U.S. Air Force, and I was very
interested in this monument”, said Jardine, who is now the Director of Academic Affairs at the Faculty of Foreign Studies of the Hanoi University.

“I also made a scientific study about the bridge but it was too dry… so I
decided to come to Vietnam to see how it is with my own eyes.” He has taken 3,000 photos of the bridge.

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