Literature and art works on Thang Long- Hanoi awarded; Hue city conservationists complete king’s tomb restoration; Propaganda posters competition launched; Italian contemporary dance on Hanoi stage

An award ceremony for literature and art works in response to the campaign ’Study and Follow Ho Chi Minh Moral Examples’ and to mark the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi was held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Hanoi yesterday.

After two years of launching, the Organising Board had received 45 stage scripts, 34 ballet pieces and 58 pieces of music including symphony, chorus and song. There were no first prize in the three categories.

Three stage scripts which won the second prize were ‘Thousand Year Love Story’ by Nguyen Dinh Lap, ‘Beauty and Hero’ by Chu Thom and ’Roll of Honour’ by Tran Dinh Ngon.

The second prize in ballet went to ‘God’s Will and Earth’s Love’ by Ung Duy Thinh and ‘The Capital’s Fire’ by Thai Phien.

In the music category, instrumental piece ‘Thang Long - Thousand Year Meeting’ by Nguyen Thieu Hoa and the song ‘Oh, Mother of Lotus Village’ by Tran Manh Hung won the second prize.

The winning pieces in the literature and art contest will be arranged and made public in the near future.

Centre set up to Northwest ethnic minorities’ culture opened

The Centre Research for Preservation and Promotion of the Muong and Northwest ethnic minorities Culture made its debut on March 26 in Hoa Binh city.

This is the fourth regional centre established by the Centre Research for Cultural Preservation and Promotion of the Vietnamese nationalities’ culture.

The centre’s establishment aims to preserve and promote the Hoa Binh traditional culture which is considered having developed brilliantly and thrivingly in the ancient times.

In the coming time, the centre will co-ordinate with relevant agencies to conduct scientific projects on folk artworks of the Muong and Northwest ethnic minority people such as the ‘The Birth of Earth and Water’ epic, Muong’s space of gong culture.

Its establishment and operation is also in accordance with the Vietnamese Communist Party’s policy on building Vietnam’s advanced culture imbued with national identity.

Hue conservationists complete king’s tomb restoration

An inaugurate ceremony of Hien Duc Gate - Minh Mang Tomb was held by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre in the central city of Hue yesterday.

This is one of the activities to mark the 35th anniversary of Thua Thien-Hue’s Liberation Day (March 26).

Enlisted as one of 100 most endangered sites by the World Monument Funds (WMF), the restoration project of the Tomb of Minh Mang King, the second ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty started in 1998.

Hien Duc Gate, one of the buildings in the complex of the Minh Mang Tomb covers an area of 114.475 sq.m and 9.01m in height.

According to director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre Phung Phu, natural materials and traditional construction technology were used during the restoration process with the participation of many experienced architects, engineers and artisans.

The restoration project of Hien Duc Gate deployed in July, 2008 with the total expenditure of VND 4.28 billion was sponsored by the WMF and the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group.

Propaganda posters competition launched

A national competition for propaganda posters was launched yesterday in Hanoi in response to the campaign on “Studying and Following President Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Examples”, the millennium anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is the organiser

Posters should be presented in the paper size of 54 cm x 79 cm in graphic design and sent to 38 Cao Ba Quat street, Hanoi from April 26-30.

The competition is eligible for all professional and amateur Vietnamese artists at home and abroad and foreign artists living in Vietnam.

Selected entries will be displayed at the Vietnam Centre for Culture and Art at No. 2 Hoa Lu street, Hanoi from May 18-26.

Italian contemporary dance on Hanoi stage

Italian contemporary dance named ‘Touch’, produced by ‘OPLAS Danza’ troupe, will be on stage of Youth (Tuoi Tre) Theatre on April 1.

‘Touch”, which is directed by Luca Bruni and Mario Ferrari, is a new dance of OPLAS and resulted from a choreography research started in 2007.

“The dance is one of the events under the Italian Culture Season 2010 in Vietnam. This is more significant when it coincides with various activities held to welcome the millennium anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi,” said Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrea Perugini.

“This is also the first event receiving the sponsorship from the Italian President,” the Italian ambassador added.

With the message “Art is the colour of life, art wherever”, OPLAS has been performing since 1993 both in Italy and abroad. OPLAS is one of the most well known art troupes in Italy and has won many international awards.

‘Touch’ will start at 8pm at Youth Theatre, 11 Ngo Thi Nham street. Free tickets can be collected at Italian Embassy, 9 Le Phung Hieu street, Hanoi.

Hanoi Old Quarter Information Centre inaugurated

The Hanoi Old Quarter Information Centre made its debut yesterday at the Quan De Temple, No. 28 Hang Buom street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi.

Addressing at the ceremony, Mai Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism said:

“The Hanoi Old Quarters Information Centre is aimed at promoting Hanoian architectural and intangible cultural values. It helps enrich knowledge for the capital’s youth about the national cultural values and the traditional handicrafts. The centre also provides visitors and travel agents with full information on cultural projects as well as high-quality tourism services.”

According to Hanoi researcher Nguyen Vinh Phuc, the restoration of the Quan De Temple not only helps protect the city’s cultural heritage but also makes it a home of the new cultural place for tourists.

Exhibitions on intangible heritage will be held on a regular basis at the Centre in the coming time and on the other hand, various objects, such as household utensils, traditional handicrafts (silk weaving, lacquer painting, etc), festivals, customs, and cuisine of the Hanoi ancient quarter are on also displayed.

Classic guitar concert brings charming melody

A classic guitar concert was held at the Republic of Korea Cultural Centre yesterday as one of the weekly performance series ‘Art Corner in Wednesday Afternoon’

Students from Vietnam National Music Academy and volunteers from the RoK’s International Development Agency (KOICA) brought audience appealing, charming and melodious pieces of music.

The concert features melodies of Vietnamese songs such as ‘Tinh Ca Du Muc’ (Nomadic Love Song), ‘Giac Mo Cua Toi’ (My Dream) or ‘Lang Nghe Mua Xuan Ve’ (Listening to the Coming Spring) by second year student Duy Phong and fifth year student Khanh Duy.

“This is the first time I performed at the RoK Cultural Centre. I find this a very good chance for audience to get closer to classic guitar and also for us to get more performing experience,” said Khanh Duy.

Soundtracks of Korean films which have been popular among many Vietnamese audiences were played by amateur Korean artist Oh Kyung-won.

Ngoc Anh, an audience, said that: ‘It’s wonderful when I can listen to my favourite songs performed by Korean artist. I really enjoy the concert.”

Last week’s ‘Art Corner in Wednesday Afternoon’ attracted many young audiences who came to enjoy samulnori dance from a group of Hanoi International School and symphony orchestra from the Vietnam National Music Academy.

Director of the RoK Cultural Centre Keum Gi Hyung revealed that next week’s performance will be for rock lovers with performance ‘Rock with Me’ by Hanoi Rock Fan Club.

He also said that the ‘Art Corner in Wednesday Afternoon’ takes place in half an hour, from 5pm, every Wednesday with the aim of introducing various genres of art such as music, fine arts, magic trick, tea drinking culture and fashion of both Vietnamese and Korean artists.

Nguyen Tri Phuong shrine inaugurated

The restoration and innovation of the shrine and statue of Nguyen Tri Phuong was inaugurated on March 21 in Phong Chuong commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien – Hue province.

Nguyen Tri Phuong, a General in the Nguyen Dynasty, had made great contributions to the anti-French resistance.

In 1873, when French troops attacked Hanoi Citadel, General Nguyen Tri Phuong led Hanoi inhabitants to defend the citadel. Although being badly wounded and imprisoned, he would rather starve himself to death than surrender.

The shrine, which was recognised as the national cultural and historical site in 1990, also honours Nguyen Lam and Nguyen Duy, his son and brother.

Ham Rong Victory Festival to recall a glorious time

A grand festival to mark the 45th anniversary of Ham Rong Victory will be held in the central province of Thanh Hoa on April 3-4.

This is one of the most important events of the province in 2010, Thanh Hoa province has established the Steering Committee and Organising Committee to start implementing the preparation work for the festival since late 2008.

As many as 2,000 artists together with people of all strata and armed forces in the province will take part in the festival with a wide range of activities such as: an arts performance entitled ’Ham Rong - An Immortal Epic’, incense offering and requiem ceremonies for heroes and fallen combatants, cultural camps, tourism fairs and exhibitions, music gala and handicraft village fairs, etc…

Thanh Hoa is well-known for a lot of historic and cultural relics and scenic spots including Ham Rong Bridge (Dragon’s Jaw) where also marks a glorious victory of the Vietnamese army and people in the anti-US imperialist resistance war.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party, Ham Rong Victory 45 years ago has become a heroic symbol of the Vietnamese people’s fight against the war of destruction. The most resounding exploits was their brave fight against the fiercest waves of air attack by the enemies to protect Ham Rong Bridge, a life line for the supplies to support the Southern Battle Front.

Not only well-known for its resounding victory on April 3 and 4 in 1965, Ham Rong is also steeped in its thousand year history which is overbrimmed with cultural sediments and archaeological sites such as Nui Do and Dong Son. This land also witnessed and went together with the cause of national construction of the ancient Viet as well as a burning battlefield of many struggles against foreign invaders.

The war has gone by, 45 springs have passed, Ham Rong today is writing its new song. Industrial zones, buildings and monuments are under construction. In the near future, Ham Rong will become a key historical, cultural, industrial and tourism site of Thanh Hoa province. The celebration of the 45th anniversary of Ham Rong Victory is also a good opportunity to introduce to people inside and outside the province as well as international friends about achievements recorded by Thanh Hoa during the past years.

PV