Project to preserve gong culture in Lam Dong; Thanh Hoa holds Eating-Drinking festival; Vietnam attends book fair in Hong Kong; Sa Pa stones exhibition opens; Vietnam builds statue in honour of Heroic Mothers; New publisher made debut

The project, which will research in detail the kinds of gongs used among ethnic groups, will be co-developed by the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and various local agencies.

The project will also promote the government’s involvement in gong culture and raise people’s awareness of the importance of this unique art form.

Musicians and groups, both foreign and local, who help to preserve this local cultural heritage, will also be honoured.

As part of the larger gong culture in the Central Highlands, Lam Dong gongs represent the most prominent traditional and cultural traits of ethnic groups living in the south, including the Ma and CoHo.

Unlike other groups in the Highlands who use only gongs, the Ma and Co Ho gong set, or droong, includes the mbuot (a pan-pipe made from gourds, with 6 strings) and the dinh dio (made from bamboo, with six strings).

Gong melodies are used as background music for the elders of northern ethnic groups who sing songs based on their stories and epics.

A prominent cultural trait amongst ethnic groups in the south is that gongs are played by both men and women at the same time.

Meanwhile in the central region, the Bana, Ede, Gia Rai and other ethnic groups, gongs are played exclusively by either men or women.

Thanh Hoa holds Eating-Drinking festival

A Culinary and Beverage Festival highlighting the northern provinces has been held in Sam Son town in Thanh Hoa province.

The festival, themed “a Village market’s beauty and aroma”, attracted 20 groups from Hanoi, Haiphong, Ninh Binh, and Nghe An and a number of local tourism businesses to take part in two days from July 28-29.

The event, located on Tay Son road, featured a traditional Vietnamese village market where visitors can taste special cookings and drinks by famous chefs from different areas across the country.

It aimed to promote cultural exchanges between localities.

Vietnam attends book fair in Hong Kong

The Vietnam Corporation for Import-Export of Books and Magazines (Xunhasaba) showcased its products at the 20th Hong Kong Book Fair, one of Asia’s most influential cultural events, held in Hong Kong from July 22-28.

The fair drew the participation of more than 500 exhibitors from 20 countries and territories worldwide.

This year’s event attracted a record number of 900,000 visitors, an 8 percent increase over last year.

During the week-long fair, there was a series of forums and discussions on the reading culture and its development trend in the computer age.

Sa Pa stones exhibition opens

An exhibition on a site of standing stones near Sa Pa Town in the northern province of Lao Cai will open between September 27 and November 8 at the Swedish-based Vasterrbotten Museum.

The show includes 150 replicas of the stones and a large number of photographs of the site, taken by the Hanoi Fine Arts College since 2003, and artistic impression of life in the pre-historic era.

The show will also be held at the Hanoi Fine Arts College in association with the host country’s Umea Fine Arts Academy to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Sweden diplomatic ties.

Vietnam builds statue in honour of Heroic Mothers

The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a giant statue dedicated to Heroic Vietnamese Mothers has taken place in the central province of Quang Nam in the presence of Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and a number of heroic Vietnamese mothers.

Addressing the ceremony on July 27, Mr Nhan confirmed the statue’s ‘gigantic historical meaning’ in honouring the services of the heroic mothers. He also praised Radio the Voice of Vietnam for its efforts in encouraging people nationwide to raise funds to build the statue.

The stone statute is 18.5m tall and is more than 24m thick. Inside there is a memorial house to heroic mothers and a stone stele that contains the names of nearly 50,000 heroic mothers. A square, which lies in front of the statue, has eight 9m-high pillars, which are carved with the stories of heroic Vietnamese mothers in different regions across Vietnam.

The statue was modelled on mother Nguyen Thi Thu, whose nine children, one son-in-law and one grandchild were killed in the revolutionary wars.

The project is expected to be finished in 2011 at a total cost of more than VND81 billion.

New publisher made debut

The ‘Thoi Dai’ (Epoch) Publishing House has recently made debut. Under Vietnam Publishers’ Association, Thoi Dai is the 56th publisher in Vietnam.

This new publisher will publish books and documents on political and law matters in Vietnamese and foreign languages as well as in bilingual. The publisher also runs popular books covering various fields such as information technology, economy, society and culture, literature , dictionary and curriculum for training.

PV