Photography exhibition shows beauty in Vietnam’s forest

A photography exhibition on the beauty of Vietnam’s forests opened in the northeastern Bac Kan province on June 4.

The event, part of the activities held in response to the World Environment Day, is organised by Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in co-ordination with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Bac Kan provincial People’s Committee.

The exhibition introduces the value of Vietnam’s forest in various localities.

On display is a panoramic view of Vietnam’s nature including the life cycles of various insects and the Ba Be National Park, which has been recognised as the third wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Vietnam.

The efforts of the world’s community in preserving natural resources are also highlighted in the event.

In addition, 35 pieces of work on diverse biology and 300 photos of forests, which have been printed as posters, are on display.

The exhibition will last until June 9, after which, the pieces will be sent to news agencies and schools.

Free multicultural event with music and art in HCMC

French General Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City is sponsoring a free multicultural event at 30 Pham Ngoc Thach, district 3 on June 26.

The event starts at 6 p.m. with performances of DJ Anna, famous Parisian graffiti artist Julien Malland and art installations by 12 French and Vietnamese artists.

Other highlights of this event are fashion show by young designers (Tsafari, All and Kujeans) and hip hop dancing with famous band Destiny Family.

The event is free and cooking and drink will be available for purchase. This promises to be a good time hanging out with friends in an multicultural atmosphere!

Miss Ethnic Vietnamese pageant launched

The Miss Ethnic Vietnamese pageant is the only national beauty contest this year that aims to seek three representatives to take part in international competitions, announced the organising board.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said that the event honours the traditional values and praises the talent, intelligence and beauty of women from ethnic minority groups and affirms solidarity among ethnic groups.

Contestants must be Vietnamese citizens, aged 18-28, from one of the 54 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, and currently living and working in Vietnamese territory.

Registration will last from June 1 to October 15. The beauty contest covers the northern, central and southwestern regions.

The final round of the competition is scheduled in Ho Chi Minh City from November 26 to December 10.

Hue city palace restoration begins

The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has begun restoration of the Tho Ninh Palace in the Forbidden City at a cost of VND10 billion.

The restoration involves the wooden portions, foundation, roof, wall enclosure, and exterior and interior decorations.

The palace, located in the north-west of the Forbidden City, was built in 1849 during the reign of King Tu Duc for the queen mothers, and last underwent renovation more than 80 years ago.

The restoration is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2013.

President Ho goes international

Images expressing friendship between a number of international friends and the late President Ho Chi Minh were revealed for the first time in a book released yesterday.

With the theme of Sentiments of International People to President Ho Chi Minh, the book gathers valuable coloured and black-and-white photos that capture the President’s moments with international friends during his life.

Divided into two parts, the book portrays the President as a pre-eminent hero who led the national revolution and as a great cultural activist.

Publishing the book is a way to follow Ho Chi Minh’s morality, said Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs.

“The book will help bring Viet Nam’s great leader and the country’s images to international people,” he said. “Although he passed away, his personality becomes a symbol in the mind of not only Vietnamese but also people in the world,” he added.

Readers will see photos of President Ho in different diplomatic meetings and social activities with politicians, journalists, delegations of women, farmers, artists and children. Testimonials and remarks of international leaders and people about President Ho are also mentioned in the book to bring different points of view. The 230-page book is published by Thanh Nien (Young People) Publishing House.

Expats discover Ha Noi delights

Fun-loving and outgoing expatriates will gather today for a fun competition aimed to discover more of Ha Noi - their “home away from home”.

Entitled Urban Discovery Ha Noi Bar Challenge 2011, the competition is for groups seeking a fun experience, whereby the idea is that teams of four compete to find hidden checkpoints, solve clues and engage in mental and physical challenges. For all of which, the only allowed methods of travel are foot or local public transportation.

Eight teams from restaurants and bars across the city will have a chance not only to discover the city’s hidden gems, but also put their knowledge, communication and navigation skills, creativity, stamina and team spirit to the test.

The four-hour competition will start with a Ha Noi-themed quiz to determine the smartest team. The winning team will be the first to leave and continue to the next challenge.

In the second phase, the groups will race criss-crossing Ngoc Ha Village, made famous for its traditional flower-growing jobs. They will have to follow a route to pre-determined checkpoints, where they will solve clues and compete in games before continuing the race.

The checkpoint challenges include a blindfold tasting of the different types of beer in Ha Noi, finding signs of love in the Botanical Garden, finding the wreckage of an B52 American war plane, and buying a delicious local blood sausage.

Other challenges that competitors will experience are a competition with the local table tennis champion, a wedding card and team picture with the lucky couple, and a stair climb of a 15-storey building to count the number of the stairs.

Hosted by Urban Discover – a non-profit venture that preserves heritage and improves the quality of local urban life, the Ha Noi Bar Challenge 2011 will kick off at 1.30pm tomorrow at NOC Bar, 671 Hoang Hoa Tham Street.

The winning team will be announced at an awards party at Puku Cafe, 16 Tong Duy Tan Street, at 6pm the same day.

Songwriting competition on environment begins

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Vietnam Musicians’ Association will launch a songwriting competition about the environment to celebrate World Environment Day on Sunday and the International Year of Forest 2011.

Themed “Green Echo,” the competition welcomes all professional and amateur songwriters with songs about two topics: the beauty and recent problems of the environment and individuals or organizations with contributions to protect the environment.

Entries must be recorded on CDs and sent to the Environment Training and Media at 556 Nguyen Van Cu Street in Hanoi before December 30.

Each competitor can send one to two songs. Attached English versions are encouraged.

Ethnic Southeast Asian faces are focus of Laval exhibition

A photo exhibition called ‘Faces of Asian Ethnic Groups’ from famous French artist Sebastien Laval will open at the New Space Arts Foundation in Hue City on Sunday.

The black and white photos portray the life and culture of people in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Luang Prabang in Laos.

Laval captures floating houses, flickering fires, the innocent smiles of kids, the austere expression of an ethnic man, or a tobacco pipe between a woman’s lips.

Some photos are portraits depicting both traditional customs and changes in people’s lives from traditional clothes to satellite dishes, food, old roofs and asphalt roads; reflecting the changes in the lives of the ethnic people. The images have no titles, allowing viewers to feel and discover the characters without instruction and to try to feel them, talk to them, look at them and understand the ethnic people.

Talking about one particular photo, Laval Sebastien said: “One morning, I came to a Laos village and met a young girl carrying her brother in front of her house. By the afternoon, she had become acquainted with me, and I captured a photo of her sitting on sand with a radiant smile. I realized then that people still acknowledge and have a mutual understanding even if they don’t use the same language.”

Laval started in the business in 1993 and is living in Poitiers in his native France. Earlier this year, he had an exhibition ‘Communities throughout time’ in Hanoi.

The exhibition on the second floor, 15 Le Loi Street, Hue runs until July 5.

Ho Chi Minh City to host exhibition and referendum on national flower

Ho Chi Minh City will be the third city, following Hanoi and Da Nang, to hold an exhibition and referendum on the national flower, from June 9 to 12 at the 23-9 Park.

With the theme of ‘Beauty of Vietnamese Flowers’, the exhibition will display a countrywide variety of flowers such as the bauhinia and plum blossom of the northwest; the yellow apricot of the south, and orchid from Da Lat.

The exhibition will also feature flower and bonsai installation art, handicrafts display ; film shows, arts performances and flower arrangement. The vote for the national flower will be undertaken through the mass media.

Previous referenda in Hanoi and Da Nang have both voted the pink lotus as the top candidate in the selection of the national flower. Based on the result of the three referendums, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will make a recommendation to the Government to proclaim “Vietnam’s National Flower”.

AO victims song writing contest winner named

Winners of a song writing contest on the victims of Agent Orange were announced by the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/ Dioxin (VAVA) at a press conference in Hanoi on June 2.

Composer Khanh Vinh from Ho Chi Minh City won the first prize with his song entitled ‘Loi Ru’ (Lullaby).

Two second, three third, ten consolation and five impression prizes were also announced at the event.

The contest which was launched by the VAVA and the Vietnam Musicians Association in October 2010, attracted over 170 entries. The songs not only express the composers’ sympathy for AO victims but also call on people to join hands to improve the environment in areas affected or damaged by Agent Orange/ dioxin.

An awards ceremony honouring the winners will be held on June 25 in Hanoi.

Live show on President Ho Chi Minh’s journey to save nation

President Ho Chi MinhVietnam Televison Station (VTV1) at 8 pm today ( June 4th ) is to telecast the special live show, “ Celebrating 100 th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s journey to salvage the nation”.

Known in those days as Nguyen Tat Thanh, a patriotic young man, Uncle Ho made the decision to go abroad in June 5th 1911 and travel to to Africa, America, Europe…to discover the pathway to freedom and to seek ways for national salvation.

The first great turning point was Uncle Ho’s departure in the summer of 1911, when he was 21 years old. On June 5, 1911, he left the nation on the ship, Admiral Latouche Treville using the name Van Ba and began to earn his living by working at various jobs, together with self education and exploration of realities.

Two guests invited by the live show - Associate Professor Ph.D Bui Dinh Phong ( from the Hochiminh Institute of Administration ) and the military strategy researcher Tran Trong Trung also retold about his strategic and timely policies in the days of hardship and difficulties of Vietnam’s revolution. June 5, 1911 was an especially significant milestone, not only in the life of a person but also the history of a nation.

The live Show introduces valuable documents of President Ho Chi Minh: the letter Nguyen Tat Thanh sent to the President of France and the Minister of Colony of France, his determination to liberate the nation, then his was wake to Marxism-Leninism and became a communist devoted to the entire Vietnamese people.

The strong point in the program is the interview of President Ho Chi Minh by the then famous French journalist Danielle Hunebelle, which had been broadcasted in France TV on June 5th 1964 on the occasion of the 53 th anniversary of the day Uncle Ho left the mother land to seek pathways for national salvation.

The precious document belongs to the France National Reserve Institute.

On June 3rd, a seminar was organized by the Hochiminh Museum in Thua Thien– Hue province entitled “President Ho Chi Minh’s journey to salvage the nation”

Addressing the seminar, the Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee of Thua Thien – Hue province, Ngo Hoa said that the seminar provided a deeper understanding of President Ho Chi Minh’s Thought and his trip for national liberation.

He also called on people to study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s Thought and morality in order to to promote the revolutionary tradition as well as building the form of socialism chosen by the Party, President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people.

Thua Thien – Hue province was not the birth place of the late President but the province was where President Ho Chi Minh underwent his childhood, Mr Hoa stressed.

Delegates delivered a wide range of speeches and reports grouped under ten themes highlighting the historic significance of President Ho’s journey for national salvation which changed the destiny of the nation

The 90s has come back

Vietnam’s 90s pop ballads will make a comeback to Ho Chi Minh city through an acoustic music program that tour the city’s live-music cafes.

Named “Café tour”, it will feature typical love songs of the 1990s that once were biggest hits during the decade and have made the names of established divas like Hong Nhung or My Linh.

However, younger generations will take the lead this time, as singers like Hien Thuc, Mai Khoi, or the 2011 Vietnam Idol runner-up Van Mai Huong will cover these songs with their own interpretation.

Especially, Kyo York, an American who is known for singing Vietnam legendary composer Trinh Cong Son’s songs with a perfect Vietnamese will share their stage.

York will also sing “Ly ca phe Ban Me” and “Em muon song ben anh tron doi”, whose Central Highland inspiration has made the singer Siu Black, hailing from the area, famous for her wild and powerful vocal.

“I think everyone knows or can sing along at least one song from the 90s,” singer Mai Khoi said “I love them and always sang them even before I became a singer,”

“This is a great chance to perform what I am so excited about, especially when the current music scene is full of low-quality products,” she added.

The 1990s spirit will be revived at Ho Chi Minh’s cafes that play live music including I-coffee, Jardin d’Amour, Yen, Bet, Hollywoodome and Regina.

Starting on June 3, the acoustic “Café tour” will last until June 26 from Thursday to Sunday every week.