Museum exhibits 1,000 years of handicrafts

HA NOI — An exhibition of 100 historic craft items is on display in Ha Noi in an exhibition entitled A Connection between the Past and the Present. The exhibition includes tools, musical instruments, copperware, ceramics, wood carvings and stonework from the feudal era to the present day.

The artefacts were selected from collections of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum and UNESCO's Viet Nam Centre for Antiquities Preservation and Study. The exhibition will run through Monday at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ha Noi.

17th century Truong Luy rampart to be recognised

QUANG NGAI — Documentation of the Truong Luy heritage site will be completed by next month and submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for recognition as a vestige of national historical and cultural heritage.

Truong Luy, built in the 17th century, is one of Asia's largest ramparts. It runs north to south for about 200km through the southern provinces of Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, and along the Truong Son mountain range.

In a workshop held on Wednesday, authorities from the areas around the ramparts committed to protect the site, which has played an important role in transport, military affairs and exchange between ethnic groups in the region for many centuries.

University hosts literary discussion, exhibition

HA NOI — Writers and publishers will meet with students today for a literary discussion and book exhibition at Hoa Binh University in Ha Noi.

On the occasion, readers will have an opportunity to buy books at a discount, and the university's library will receive a donation of 1,000 books from publishing houses.

HCM City choir prepares special New Year treat

HCM CITY— The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra's (HBSO)'s choir will put on a special performance featuring world famous choral and dance pieces this Sunday, offering a New Year treat for music fans.

Solo singers Tran Duy Linh, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga and Pham Trang will lead the HBSO's choir as they perform American, Mexican and Ecuadorian folk songs including The Winter Is Wide, Varija de Barn and Celito Lindo Prende de Vela.

The choir will also perform Leonard Bernstein's Maria from West Side Story, Andrew L.Webber's Don't Cry for Me Argentina and George Gershwin's Choral Selections from Porgy and Bess.

Tran Nhat Minh, a graduate of the Tchaikovsky Music Conservatory in Moscow will be the chorusmaster.

The show will end with a mixed repertoire of characteristic dances that features a series of dances from Russia, Span and Mexico.

The show will begin at 8pm on Sunday, at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1. Tickets, costing VND150,000 (US$7) to 250,000, can be bought at the theatre's box office. — VNS

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South Korea hosts Vietnamese art exhibition

SEOUL — The biggest ever exhibition of Vietnamese contemporary art is taking place at the Fine Arts Museum of Gwangju City, the Republic of Korea (RoK), until February 6, 2011.

The exhibition themed Viet Nam Scenery and Spirit – Close up the Past, Looking to the Future introduces nearly 50 works of outstanding contemporary artists selected from collections of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum and the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association.

The painters include masters graduating from the Indochina Fine Arts College, which was established in 1924 and is the precursor of the Viet Nam College of Fine Arts, and well-known painters of next generations.

The paintings, which use a wide range of materials from oil paint, lacquer to silk, are arranged based on historical periods of Viet Nam from the 40s of the previous century to the first years of the 21st century. They introduce Vietnamese landscapes, people and their production life, traditional customs, as well as the country's resistance wars.

The exhibition reserves a solemn place for paintings on the theme of President Ho Chi Minh.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Tran Trong Toan underlined that the paintings to some extend reflect the history, culture, traditions, spiritual and material life, resistance wars and national construction of Vietnamese people.

He added the exhibition shows Vietnamese people's spirit and goodwill to befriend other nations for peace, independence and prosperity.

A representative of Gwangju city highlighted the positive achievements of the two countries' relations and the development of the Vietnamese community in the RoK. He said the exhibition would be a breakthrough for the two countries' cultural exchange activities, thus boosting their mutual understanding.

According to him, the organisation of the Viet Nam exhibition is one of Gwangju's efforts to become a centre for Asian cultural exchange. — VNS

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Culture Vulture

Artist Pham Tuan Tu is one of eight artists recently selected by the Denmark Cultural Development Exchange Fund for its Talent Prize 2010. Born in 1981, Tu is a graduate of the Ha Noi University of Industrial Fine Arts and is a member of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association's Young Artist Club. Tu spoke to Culture Vulture about his first solo exhibition and about the theme of sexual ambiguity that appears in his work.

Why do you think your work was chosen?

I get feedback from viewers, and I think that they have strange feelings when they look at my paintings. They are curious to see something which rarely appears in painting.

Of the eight painters who won, I like the most the paintings by Nguyen Xuan Hoang. His ideas and forms of expression are very particular. He puts a prosaic object (a chair) in his works but shows its particular aesthetics.

Do you usually paint on the theme of homosexuality?

I paint homosexual subjects because it attracts me. It is one of many themes I want to touch upon. Contradiction between social preconception and instinct makes for a miserable fate, especially for homosexual people.

I think that sex cannot exist as an independent entity. It is a dependent factor and is governed not only by chromosomes but by many other factors like psychology, living environment, habit and nature.

When I began to know about homosexual people, I thought unconsciously about them and their lives. I don't know what urged me try to understand them.

I'm interested in many human interest subjects. In my latest painting, In Life, which will be displayed at the coming National Fine Arts Exhibition, I looked at enjoyment. In another painting, A Memorial Afternoon, which was exhibited by the Young Painters Club last June, I depicted death, or the different ways people die. Not a bodily death, but a mental death.

I have focused on many other subjects in my exhibition.

Do you know how the lesbian and gay community responds to your work?

I have received a lot of feedback from people who have seen the paintings. I think that they should not been seen negatively, but I don't mind. My works are my individual viewpoint. I don't impose my thoughts on theirs.

This is your first solo exhibition. How do you feel about it?

I usually participate in annual exhibitions by the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association, or in groups of independent artists. So this will be the first solo exhibition in my career. It will be a good chance for me to improve myself.

I have had to think a lot about it. I didn't have a specific theme. I want to present the contradictions in modern society. I want to comprehend my individual thoughts with a view to creating new works. I will try to fully express my ideas in various forms.

How long does it take you to complete a painting? Will you sell them?

I paint very quickly. The three paintings Gay, Uni-sex and Mud were made in 2008. The painting In Front of the Mirror, I painted this year. All are acrylic on canvas. Right after finishing them, I was very satisfied with them. But that was at that time.

All the paintings are for sale. — VNS

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