Famous Belgian writer joins Vietnam comics festival

The renowned Belgian comics writer Stephen Desberg will join his Vietnamese colleagues in this year’s Comics Festival, which will take place in Hanoi from May 30 to June 4.

Organized by the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in collaboration with the Kim Dong Publishing House, the festival will feature the Belgian famous comic strip “Spirou”, which was created in 1938.

It will also feature a series of Vietnamese comic strips with cat themes – the animal of the year.

Stephen Desberg will meet with local university students on May 31.

During the festival, there will also be a seminar on the publication of comics in Vietnam, gathering Vietnamese and Belgian comics publishing houses.

For more detail about venue and other information please contact Ms Do Kim Oanh, Delegation Wallonie-Bruxelles to Vietnam, tel: (04) 3 831.52.40, email: oanhwb@fpt.vn.

Thanh Hoa to restore former revolutionaries’ shelter

The central province of Thanh Hoa will set aside VND250million (US$12,500) to restore Mother Tom’s house which sheltered many revolutionaries from 1938 – 1945 during Vietnam’s anti-colonial war.

The house, located in Hau Loc District, is named after the nickname of the owner, Nguyen Thi Quyen.

Quyen, who was born in 1880 and died in 1953, and her family, provided shelter to many revolutionaries, including the national poet laureate To Huu, who immortalized her in his well-know poem “Mother Tom.”

Capital prepares for classics

Two musical works by composers Richard Wagner and Modest Mussorgsky will make their Vietnamese debut at the Ha Noi Opera House next Monday.

The works, Lohengrin and Night on the Bare Mountain, will be conducted by Nguyen Thieu Hoa and feature pianist Trang Trinh and musicians from the Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra.

Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by German Richard Wagner. It was first performed in 1850. The concert features a performance of Lohengrin’s third act prelude and Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bald Mountain.

As with so much of Mussorgsky’s music, the work had a tortuous compositional history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend.

It was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky’s lifetime.

The two pieces require a skilled orchestra and are especially challenging for the wind instruments, according to Trinh Duy Quang, a classical music lover.

The concert provides a rare chance to see pianist Trang Trinh perform in Viet Nam. She has performed in world festivals such as Beethoven Unwrapped, London 2008 and Crescendo, Hungary in 2010.

After successfully completing her Master of Music in piano performance at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, London in 2010, she embarked on her first European that saw shows in Vienna, Dublin, Belfast, Enns and London.

Her 2011 engagement include recitals in Madrid, Canterbury and other cities in England.

The concert will kick off at 8pm.

S Korean scholars share views on Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese and South Korean scholars shared common views on the revolutionary career of President Ho Chi Minh at a conference in Chosun University in Gwangju City, South Korea, on Tuesday.

Titled Ho Chi Minh – The World’s Culturist and Revolutionist Fighting for Peace and Friendship Among People, the conference focused on the President’s ideology as expressed in his testament. Scholars also discussed his love for people and literature, and key works by him such as his prison diaries, known in Viet Nam as Nhat Ky Trong Tu.

Chu Duc Tinh, director of the Ha Noi-based Ho Chi Minh Museum, said there was a special similarity between Vietnamese and South Korean scholars in reviewing and judging the President’s merits, ideology, morality, personality and legacy.

Tinh said research on Ho Chi Minh by South Korean scholars reflected their respect for him as well as helped South Korean people more profoundly understand the beloved President of the Vietnamese people.

Professor Ahn Kyong hwan, who has translated Ho Chi Minh’s prison diaries into Korean, said he appreciated the humane thought, love for Vietnamese people and high morals reflected in the President’s writings.

“The prison diaries are not only historical works but also educational documents to Vietnamese people as they reflect Ho Chi Minh’s philosophy, morals, personality and patriotism,” said Ahn.

Viet Nam’s Ambassador to South Korea Tran Trong Toan said the conference was made all the more meaningful as both countries were actively preparing for the Viet Nam-South Korea Friendship Year 2012 and the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations also next year.

The conference was jointly organised by the Chosun University’s Institute for International Culture Research and Foreign Language College, the Ha Noi University of Social and Human Sciences and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

Primary pupil wins art prize

A budding artist from Ha Noi’s Hoang Dieu Primary School has received the top prize in the Vietnamese section of a drawing contest organised by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to raise awareness of gender equality issues.

Nguyen Phan Nguyet Minh received the award for her painting of a game of blind man’s bluff during an awards ceremony held in Ha Noi.

With her proud mother standing alongside her, Minh said she had a dream where all the children in the world could live in equality and where boys and girls behaved identically.

Minh’s drawing will now be sent to the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels where a jury of European children will select two drawings from each participating region.

A prize worth1,000 euros (US$1,400) will be awarded to two winners from each participating region. Local judges had received 4,000 entries from children throughout the country since the competition was organised two months ago, according to Vu Quang Vinh, editor-in-chief of Thieu Nien Tien Phong (Vanguard Teenagers) newspaper, the competition’s co-organiser.

“The paintings covered a range of genres and used different materials, portraying the subject through depictions of as study, work and play,” he said. “All the paintings testified to the creativity, enthusiasm and support for the concept of gender equality in the spirit of the children,” said Juan Jose Almagro, a representative of the EU Delegation.

Rock show with Toothbrush to hit Hanoi

Rock show, entitled Northern Exposure II, will hit Hanoi on May 21.

Rock singers Meeshle Moon, Commens, The Only Reggae Band and Toothbrush will have a one-time live performance at Hanoi Rock City on May 21.

Specifically, the “Northern Exposure II” rock show will feature as the night’s main act Toothbrush, who have managed to revive gypsy-folk music in Hanoi.

Californian-rock band Commens will also get the crowd dancing with indie-dance-acoustica songs by Taylor Cavale and Lilly Nguyen.

Fans of Reggae will dig the grooves of The Only Reggae Band. Singer Meeshle Moon, an America punk singer who got her start in Kansas City, MO, will sing songs from her recently released solo project “Walking on Ashes.”

Tickets are available at Hanoi Rock City, 27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho Dist. and can be purchased for VND50,000 (US$2.5).

Special art performance to welcome election day

A special art performance called “National festival” will take place at 8pm on May 21 at the Hanoi Opera House to welcome the 13th National Assembly and people’s council elections at all levels.

The performance will include two sessions which focus on the history of the National Assembly and guiding voters to cast their ballots as well as the President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s call to vote for prospective candidates.

Audiences will have a chance to hear favourite songs about late President Ho Chi Minh, the Party and the nation presented by famous artists.

The programme will be broadcast live on VTV1.

Thanh Thuy expresses country beauty

Exhibition Mot goc que huong (Country Corner), the result of a year’s travel around the country by artist Thanh Thuy, has opened at the HCMC Association of Fine Arts.

On display are 34 water colors depicting Vietnamese landscapes. She uses the technique of making oil on canvas into water color paintings.

The paintings give visitors a carefree feeling and a sense of stillness due to the peaceful landscapes and countryside scenery.

The show runs until May 26 at the association, 218A Pasteur Street, HCMC’s District 3.

South specialities in Dam Sen Park

The 2011 Food Festival of the South will take place from May 27-29 at Dam Sen Park in the city.

The three-day event will see typical floating markets of the south which feature a fruit market and cooking market and lifestyle imitation of people from the Mekong Delta. There are also traditional art performances, folk games, baking competitions, different styles of cooking and vegetable shaping.

It’s an opportunity to promote culture and food of the south and Vietnam as a whole. Food brands and specialties of Hue city and provinces of the south and highlands will be introduced to local and foreign visitors.

Over 60 food booths from HCMC and neighboring provinces will serve tourists at the park, 3 Hoa Binh Street, District 11.

Awards given for promoting President Ho’s moral example

The ninety two best literature, art and journalism submissions to the composition contest on ‘Studying and Following President Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example’ were honoured at an awards ceremony in Hanoi on May 17.

As of March, 2011, three years after its launch, the contest’s steering and organising boards had received over 100 literary and artistic works in a variety of media including prose, poetry, literary criticism, painting, photography, music, plays, cinematography and dance plus nearly 300 pieces of journalism from print newspapers, radio and television.

The entries laud President Ho Chi Minh as a national hero and great man of culture, and portray exemplary individuals in the campaign to ‘Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example.’

Also as an activity to celebrate the 121st birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, a picture book entitled ‘Sentiments of People over the World towards President Ho Chi Minh’ has recently been published by Thanh Nien (Youth) Publishing House to celebrate the President’s 121st birthday.

The first part of the 200-page book, called, ‘The National Liberation Hero’, features the leader’s activities abroad. The second part, ‘The Preeminent Man of Culture’, presents autographs and compliments for President Ho Chi Minh from international heads of State.