More bronze
drums to be made

Photo: VNE

Kinh Do Investment and
Media Company and the AMC Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, under
the patronage of the Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Association and the Viet Nam
Historical Science Association, plan to cast 37 bronze drums.

The traditionally made
drums will be presented to the Hung Kings Temple in the northern province of Phu
Tho, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ha Noi and Vietnamese embassies abroad.

Craftsmen from the
central province of Thanh Hoa have been commissioned for the work.

The Viet Nam
Historical Science Association is funding the project.

Hue city student
wins Japan design prize

Phan Khanh Trang from
Hue University of Arts won the Grand Prize in a traditional cloth design
competition sponsored by the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in
Viet Nam.

The awards ceremony
will be held today at the centre. Workshops and an exhibition of furoshiki –
traditional Japanese cloth used to wrap everything from grocery items to
presents – will run until March 10.

Comic
classics for Japanese

A book collection of
comics titled Danh Tac Viet Nam (Vietnamese Famous Literary Works) will be
translated into Japanese and published in Japan later this year. Japan is
considered one of the strongholds of the comic art form.

The collection
includes Chi Pheo by Nam Cao and Giong To (Thunderstorm) by Vu Trong Phung.

The publishing work is
being carried out by the Phan Thi Company, a pioneer publisher of Vietnamese
comics. It aims to bring classic novels closer to young readers through comics.

The company has
published many comics in the past 10 years, such as Than Dong Dat Viet
(Vietnamese Child Prodigies) and Truyen Hay Su Viet (Interesting Stories of
Vietnamese History).

Students who have
forgotten Vietnamese history can quickly recall it through these books, said
Phan Thi My Hanh, the company’s director.

Diplomats to
help disadvantaged

The Consular Club of
HCM City will organise its annual charity art auction to raise funds for
disadvantaged people on March 4.

At the Art Auction,
under the hammer will go paintings, decorative artworks and photographs by both
Vietnamese and foreign artists and amateurs.

A highlight will be an
antique Uchikake kimono, a formal Japanese garment often worn by brides or on
stage.

The auction will be
held at the Sherwood Residence, 127 Pasteur, District 3.

Last year more than
100 works of art were sold, including paintings by well-known artists like
Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, Do Hoang Tuong, Nguyen Than and Tran Van Thao, raising over
US$15,000.

The money has already
been spent on 29 projects meant to improve the lives of the poor.

Literature,
arts members meet

Representatives from
63 literature and art associations took part in the first annual meeting of the
Union of the Viet Nam Literature and Arts Association in Ha Noi yesterday, Feb
23.

Members were
discussing the association’s activities in 2010 and plans for this year.

At the meeting, poet
Huu Thinh, who is president of the association, said the focus last year was
patriotism, humanity and social morals.

From 2010-15, he said
the association’s key task would be to promote public virtue and nurture new
talent.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News