Sculpture exhibition “The house” to open in Hanoi

The exhibition will take place from March 24 to 31 at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, in Hanoi to display works created by Vietnamese, Belgian and US artists.

The show is the result of a collaboration between a group of five Vietnamese artists namely Le Thi Hien, Mai Thu Van, Le Lang Luong, Khong Do Tuyen, Tran Trong Tri and Nguyen Ngoc Lam, and Belgian sculptors Paty Sonville and Talbaui Fatima, and US sculptor Bart Ushida.

The exhibition will showcase works by these sculptors that were created during a three-month project sponsored by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and Wallonie-Bruxelles International.

Under the theme “The house”, the sculptors used different materials and their own languages to create works featured through squares.

The exhibition is expected to encourage the creativity of both Vietnamese and foreign sculptors and promote international cultural exchange.

Belgian film to be screened in Vietnam

The Belgian film “Rumba” will be shown at the French Cultural Centre - L’Espace in Hanoi on March 29.

The screening is part of the Francophone Film Festival in Vietnam in 2011.

The film, the work of three directors Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy, is in French with Vietnamese subtitles.

The comedy tells of a love story between two teachers, Dom and Fiona, who both love Latin dance. Their lives become complicated when they both have accidents on the way home from winning a prize at a dancing competition.

The film will also be screened in Ho Chi Minh City and Hue city on March 28 and March 31, respectively.

Book festival reaches out to young readers

The HCM City-based Tre (Youth) Publishing House marked its 30th anniversary with a book festival opening yesterday.

It features more than 3,000 titles in various fields, including 165 new ones, which are sold at up to 30 per cent discount. Several promotional and cultural programmes will be held to attract readers, especially young people and children, to the six-day event.

The exhibition has six major themes: Changes to Get Rich, Children Discover the World, Living with History, Magic World, Vietnamese Literature, and Let Us Be Grateful to Readers.

Nguyen Minh Nhat, director of the publisher, said university students and young workers were regular customers who particularly enjoy books on business by Chris Dukes, Pauling Rowson, and Water Doyle Staples.

Other titles include around 1,000 on events and heroes from different periods of the country’s history, especially the 81 years since the Party’s founding.

A popular book is Nguyen Ngoc’s Co Mot Duong Mon Tren Bien Dong (A Track on Eastern Sea), a research work on a secret transport line on the sea that helped supply the southern liberation soldiers with ammunition from the northern Viet Nam during the American war.

One of the Tre’s bestsellers last year, Tran Thai Binh’s Vo Nguyen Giap – Hao Khi Tram Nam (General Vo Nguyen Giap – Magnanimity for Hundreds of Years), is also on display.

It portrays the life and military career the General and his legendary contributions to the victories against the French and American aggressors.

Also taking part as guests are other leading publishers like the HCM City General Publishing House, National Politics Publishing House, and Thanh Nien (Young People) Publishing House.

Nearly 1,000 books would be given away as gifts to visitors on the festival’s closing day, they said.

The event is being held at 161B Ly Chinh Thang Street, District 3. Entrance is free.

Concert proceeds donated to Japanese earthquake victims

Proceeds from the Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) Spring Jazz concert were donated to Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims.

VNSO representative director Ngo Hoang Quan and other representatives went to the Japanese Embassy in Ha Noi to hand over about VND83 million (US$4,000). The sum included proceeds from a two-night concert last weekend plus honorariums from the artists.

The concert was performed by Japanese conductor Tetsuji Honna and pianist Yamashita Yosuke at the Ha Noi Opera House. The two artists were unable to contact their families before the performance but they still managed to entertain the audience.

VNSO members wanted to share in the loss and hope of the Japanese to overcome their difficulties, said Quan.

Unique ethnic minority cooking festival held in Central Highlands

Hundreds of people enjoyed a variety of food during an ethnic minority food competition on Thursday. Participating minority groups included Ba Na, Se Dang and Gia Rai.

Eight teams introduced unique styles of wine and 40 types of traditional food which are typically cooked at festivals and used to feast distinguished visitors.