Ceremonies set for large turn outs

HA NOI – Countless numbers of people are expected to attend two big ceremonies in Nam Dinh and Ha Nam provinces on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

A seal opening ceremony to welcome the new year will be held in the Tran Temple, Loc Vuong Ward in the northern city of Nam Dinh, the homeland of the Tran Dynasty in the 13-14th centuries.

The country's leaders, the provincial chairman, the provincial party committee secretary and the 14 oldest people from Loc Vuong Ward have been invited to attend the ceremony to be held in Thien Truong (upper temple).

This year, replica good luck seals will be issued to the public from 75 spots to prevent disorder. About 10,000 – 12,000 people are expected to receive seals from the organisation board.

The ceremony is held annually to preserve and bring into play cultural and moral values and traditions of the Vietnamese ancestors, especially the national heroes under the Tran dynasty.

Covering over 10 hectares in Loc Vuong Commune, 80km north of Ha Noi, the Tran Temple comprises of Thien Truong where the 14 Tran kings are worshipped, Co Trach (lower temple) dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), and Bao Loc Temple, home to the General's tomb and statue.

Tran Hung Dao was famous for his triumphs over the mighty Mongol Yuan dynasty. In Ha Nam Province, six stores of food were set up in the Tran Thuong Temple by the General in 1285 to serve in his second fight against the Mongol Yuan.

Since then, a food ceremony has been held by local people in his honour. The ceremony will be held at 15 spots around the temple and about 50,000 people are expected to attend from 11:05pm on Wednesday night.

The main ceremony will take place officially from 10pm-11pm on Wednesday. – VNS

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Singers Day to discuss celebrity responsibilities

HA NOI — The fifth Singers Day will be held on January 17-19 in the northern city of Ha Long.

The day is expected to attract around 200 domestic and overseas Vietnamese singers.

The conference will host a discussion on celebrity culture, their artistic responsibility to the community, artists and internet.

The Noi Vong Tay Lon (Joining Arms) charity gala will take place on January 19 to raise funds for local poor fishing people.

The previous Singers Day was held in Quy Nhon last year.

1,000th anniversary book takes music prize

HA NOI — A book on One-Thousand Year Thang Long - Ha Noi has won the highest prize of the year 2010 by the Viet Nam Musicians' Association.

The book consists of five parts covering court music, ca tru (ceremonial singing), traditional music, modern music and music criticism.

The awards ceremony was held last night at the headquarters of Radio Voice of Viet Nam in Ha Noi.

Viet Nam Orchestra charms in New York

NEW YORK — The National Symphony Orchestra of Viet Nam on Saturday performed at a peace concert held at New York City's Carnegie Hall together with artists from Japan, South Korea and the US.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Bui The Giang stressed that the event was a symbol of friendship and closer co-operation between peoples. The event also sent a message of peace and friendship to peoples all over the world, he said.

The concert was conducted by Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji and featured South Korean teenage talented pianist Isadora Kim.

Photos convey kids' views on social safety

HCM CITY — Photographs taken by a group of fourth and fifth grade students to express their views on pedestrian safety are on show at an exhibition at a HCM City primary.

"Photovoice" at the Nguyen Minh Quang Primary School in District 9, which has more than 100 photos taken by eight children, is part of a project to use photographs to promote social change and improve the quality of life in communities.

Express delivery company FedEx and global NGO Safe Kids Worldwide, the sponsors, have already carried out this project in Brazil, Canada, China, India, South Korea, and the Philippines.

In Viet Nam, they launched it together with the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation in October.

They selected students for photography training and pedestrian-safety education who then took the photos.

"The project will help educate children about pedestrian and traffic safety," Mirjam Sidik, executive director of the Foundation, said.

The photos will be sent to several other schools in the city where they will be displayed for three days each. — VNS

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German artists in VN collaboration

HA NOI — A series of cultural events will be held in an Open Academy project to encourage Vietnamese and German artists to work in collaboration in different activities.

The project aims to hold workshops, screenings, performances, concerts, actions, lectures and discussions in Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City.

Ten artists and musicians from Berlin will co-operate with Vietnamese artists, musicians and students in research and communication in various locations.

The German artists are interested in Viet Nam and are ready to share and exchange knowledge with Vietnamese artists, said artist Veronika Radulovic, project co-ordinator.

All these artists have created new concepts in modern art showing form, she said.

Radulovic studied visual communication in Bielefeld city, Germany. She worked in Ha Noi from 1993-2005, studying Vietnamese lacquer painting techniques and working as the first German Academic Exchange Service guest lecturer at the Fine Arts universities in Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City.

She curated several exhibitions of Vietnamese arts in Germany in 1996-98 and 2009-10. She wrote a book about Vietnamese art in 2005.

She will hold a two-day workshop about privacy in art, to be held in Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City on November 12, 17 and 29.

Artist Michael Vorfeld, who used to work in Viet Nam, is a visual artist and musician, playing percussion and creating electro-acoustic works. He came to work with Vietnamese artists in 1989. His four-day workshop on experimental music and light installation was held yesterday in Ha Noi and will be held in HCM City's Zero Station, 91A Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Binh Thanh District next Monday.

His concert and light installation will take place on Sunday at 7pm at the Goethe Institute, 56 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, and in HCM City's Zero Station on November 19

Veronika Witte and Berthold Schneider will give a lecture on scenic sculpture and artists between theatre and art. They work in the fields of sculpture and video.

Many others, including Nezaket Ekici, Juliane Heise, Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq, Stephan Kurr, Andreas Schmid, Maria Vedder, and Danh Vo will be involved in the Open Academy.

The project was kicked off yesterday in Hue and Ha Noi with several workshops on performance art, tourism and travel, community art, experimental music and light installation, video art and scenic sculptures.

Open Academy 2010, held by the Goethe Insitute, is held to encourage a dialogue and exchange between the artists of Viet Nam and Berlin.

All events will be opened for public in Ha Noi's Goethe Institute; Viet Nam University of Fine Arts, 42 Yet Kieu Street; Hue University of Fine Arts, 10 To Ngoc Van Street; University of Fine Arts in HCM City, 5 Phan Dang Luu Street, Binh Thanh District. — VNS

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Numerous events to mark Hanoi’s 1000th birthday

Hanoi's Thang Long imperial citadel, a UNESCO’s World Heritage site

Numerous art and cultural activities have been held in Hanoi to celebrate the capital city’s millennium birthday on October 10.

The Thang Long Art Ornamental Plant Association opened two exhibitions of ornamental trees and stones at Ly Thai To and Indira Gandhi parks in Hanoi Wednesday.

At Ly Thai To Park, near Hoan Kiem lake, in central Hanoi, over 550 ornamental trees of various species and nearly 100 works of art made of stone are on display.

Many of them have been kept and cared for by their families over many generations.

The exhibition at Ly Thai To Park will run until September 20 and the one in Indira Gandhi Park will close on Oct. 30.

According to Luu Minh Tri, President of the Thang Long Art Ornamental Plant Association, a larger exhibition will be held at the Hanoi Museum from September 25-October 30.

Twelve groups of puppeteers from overseas will join five Vietnamese groups to take part in the second International Puppetry Festival in Hanoi from September 4-9.

Of the 12 foreign groups, the puppeteers from Egypt, Israel and Cuba are visiting Vietnam for the first time.

The festival’s opening ceremony will be held at the Hanoi Opera House and the winner of the gold cup will also receive an award of US$1,000.

Later, from October 6-11, the Ha Thanh Culinary Festival will be held at Ho Tay (West Lake) Park as one of the major activities to mark the city’s birthday.

The festival will attract tourist and travel agencies from all 63 cities and provinces across the country as well as foreign embassies and enterprises in Vietnam.

The festival will take place on a 8ha site with separate areas for cuisine, Hanoian culture and folk games.

There will be 130 stalls selling special dishes from every part of Vietnam, with a special focus on traditional Hanoian dishes.

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HCMC begins to think about giving up meat

HCMC's first vegetarian festival to be held this week will seek to promote tourism and vegetarian habits among the populace

Ho Chi Minh City’s first vegetarian festival to be held this week will seek to promote tourism and vegetarian habits among the populace.

The event, to be held at 23-9 Park in District 1 by the HCMC Union of Business Associations, Hi Ma Lap Son Company, and Youth Advertising Company, will also highlight Vietnam’s commitment to environmental protection by reducing meat consumption, one of the causes of greenhouse gases.

Two-thirds of the 80 booths at the festival will be set up by vegetarian restaurants in the city and other provinces.

Several pagodas will also bring their vegetarian dishes.

There will be a speech by Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Hung titled “What you don’t know about vegetarianism,” vegetarian cooking lessons, and a forum on the “Modern tendency towards vegetarian food.”

A candle-light night themed “I love you, Mom” will be held by the park’s pond, while a musical night titled “Grateful to Mom” will mark the Vu Lan festival on August 27. Known as Mother’s Day in Vietnam, it is celebrated on the 15th of the seventh month in the lunar calendar.

The vegetarian festival will be held from August 26 to 29.

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Photography festival, competition held in Da Nang on weekend­

DA NANG — The 15th Arts Photo Festival was held in the central city of Da Nang on the weekend.

The festival included an exhibition of the top 150 photos in a competition that drew 1,170 entries. The works on show included landscape photography, vivid images of ordinary people's lives and photographic celebrations of the achievements of the doi moi (renewal process).

Two gold medals were given to Khoanh Khac Truong Sa (A Moment in Truong Sa) by Van Thanh Chau from the central province of Khanh Hoa and Vong Xoan Ngay Hoi (Bead Tree Wreath Festival) by Nguyen The Duc from the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.

The festival drew 200 professional and amateur photographers from 10 cities and provinces.

Hoi An-Japan cultural exchange begins in central province

QuAng Nam — A Hoi An-Japan cultural exchange opened in Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam on Saturday.

During the two-day event, various cultural activities will be held, including an exhibition showcasing photos on Hoi An ancient town and documentary photos on Hoi An-Japan cultural exchanges and an artistic painting exhibition entitled Colours of Heritages.

There will be a seminar on cultural heritage preservation and tourism development, an introduction of Japanese cuisine and performances of Japanese musical instruments and children's games.

On the opening night, Vietnamese and Japanese artists jointly performed special dances from both countries such as lion and royal dances.

The event, co-organised by the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam, the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the Hoi An People's Committee, offers a chance for artists in particular and the people of the two countries in general to exchange and share their own special cultural characteristics, thus helping boost the friendship between the two nations.

Leading ‘success coach' Jack Canfield to visit Viet Nam

HCM CITY — Jack Canfield, an American success coach and authority on peak performance, will host a one-day seminar on Achieving Breakthrough Results in Work and Life in HCM City next month.

Viet Nam is among five countries he will visit during his trip to Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand.

Event organisers claim participants will learn how to effectively apply the Law of Attraction and the Success Principles to ensure sustainable growth and success in their career and their personal lives.

In a preparatory step for next month's workshop, Canfield's co-author for the book titled The Success Principles&Leadership for Youth, Dr Peter Chee on Saturday spoke on techniques for achieving breakthrough success based on the Success Principles studied and developed by Jack Canfield.

Nearly 300 Vietnamese managers attended the seminar held by the Institute of Training and Development (ITD) Viet Nam.

Jack Canfield has 210 books and more than 125 million copies in print in 47 languages and holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most books on New York Times bestseller list.

His workshop will be held on September 29 at the Equatorial Hotel in HCM City. — VNS

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