ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 8/2 ? Talk Vietnam

Long An hosts 18th southern amateur music festival

The 18th festival of Don ca tai tu (Southern amateur music) opened at Van Phuoc communal house in My Le commune, Can Duoc district in the southern province of Long An on February 7.

It attracted more than 100 amateur artists and musicians from Long An, Tai Ninh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ben Tre provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

The two-day festival aims to keep the traditional southern amateur music alive and develop a love of this particular kind of music amongst the people.

According to Pham Van Tran, Director of the Long An provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism, the festival is part of activities to commemorate the late famous artisan Nguyen Quang Dai, who made great contributions to passing down the special art to younger generations.

Japanese venture fund invests in Vietnamese Nhaccuatui.com

Agent Ventures fund has announced it has finished injecting money into NTC Joint Stock Co, the owner of music website Nhaccuatui.com, via its Vietnamese arm without citing the detail of the investment.

It is the first venture investment of CyberAgent in Vietnam in an effort to extend its venture investment activities in Southeast Asia market.

CyberAgent said that online music is very popular with Internet users in Vietnam.

About 10 million people use the music services offered by Nhaccuatui.com each month, and the number of Nhaccuatui.com?s users is on a steady rise, it said.

Its investment comprises of both money and expertise transfer, including technological supports and business strategy consultancy.

CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam has invested in 7 technological companies in the country, mostly internet service firms and those operating online portals including VNG, VMG, vatgia, VGame, Baokim, CleverAds and Di Dong Xanh.

CyberAgent Ventures fund is a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based CyberAgent Inc ? one of the largest online service providers in Japan.

NCT JSC was established in 2008, and nhaccuatui.com is a music website developed by the company then along with other online products such as electronic commerce portal B2C and Nava.vn.

HCM City cyclo race for charity

A cyclo race will be held in Ho Chi Minh City this March, aiming to raise funds for underprivileged children.

The Saigon Cyclo Challenge 2012, the only cyclo race for charity in the world, will take place in District 7 on March 10.

Held annually for the past ten years, this year?s event will feature ten teams joining the three-wheel cyclo race around Ban Nguyet (Crescent) Lake in Phu My Hung new urban area.

The teams represent the companies that are the 10 Gold sponsors of the event, and the organizer, the Saigon Children?s Charity, hopes to raise at least US$5,000, more than 90 percent of which will be used to support needy in its SCC?s programmes.

Anyone interested in contributing to this charity event can find more information at www.saigonchildren.com/events.aspx, or contact Ms Frederikke Lindholm at freddi@saigonchildren.com, and Mr Paul Phinnis at pf@saigonchildren.com to learn more about the 2012 Saigon Cyclo Challenge.

Concert marks Vietnam-RoK diplomatic relations

Artists from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) performed at a concert in Hanoi on February 6 to mark the 20th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

The concert was co-organized by the Korean Cultural Centre in Vietnam, Concert World Company and Beauty Mind charitable organization.

Artists performed many classical pieces of world-renowned composers along with Vietnamese pop ballad songs.

On the occasion, RoK artists also held a concert for their fellow-countrymen in Vietnam.

They will perform at the Son Tay orphanage, and give lectures and present 10 violins to students of the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

Bac Ninh hosts Kinh Duong Vuong Festival

From Wednesday to Thursday, the northern province of Bac Ninh will host this year?s Kinh Duong Vuong festival whose scale is much larger than in previous years.

The festival will be convened in Dai Dong Thanh and Dinh To communes in Thuan Thanh District.

Vuong, known as Loc Tuc, was renowned for his intelligence, righteousness and generosity. He established the first primitive state named Xich Quy in the year 2879 BC.

Kinh Duong Vuong married Than Long, daughter of Dong Dinh Quan, and gave birth to Lac Long Quan, or Sung Lam, who then married Au Co and gave birth to a sac containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born. The eldest son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long later became Kinh Hung Vuong, Vietnam?s first monarch, who set up the nation?s capital in Phong Chau, present-day Viet Tri City in Phu Tho Province.

The festival features an incense purifying ceremony at the temple dedicated to Kinh Duong Vuong-Lac Long Quan-Au Co and a palanquin procession rite alongside other activities.

The event is to honor and promote the country?s traditional values, aiming to set up tours to religious cultural and historic relics in Thuan Thanh District like Dau Pagoda and the ancient bastion Luy Lau.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized the long-standing tomb and temple of Kinh Duong Vuong, Lac Long Quan and Au Co as a national cultural and historic relic four years ago.

Harry Potter returns to the big screen

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ? Part 2 is an epic fantasy film and the second of two flicks based on the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling.

It is the eighth and final installment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron and Rowling.

The final chapter begins as Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue their quest of finding and destroying the Dark Lord?s three remaining Horcruxes, the magical items responsible for his immortality.

But as the mystical Deathly Hallows is uncovered, and Voldemort finds out about their mission, the biggest battle begins and life as they know it will never be the same again. Then, Voldemort sends his soul into a living species, death snake Nagini which also has fighting power to match Harry, Ron and Hermione.

They also have to face the deathly dangers and wicked traps of Voldermort.

The film, directed by David Yates, debuts on Friday in 3D in MegaStar, Galaxy, BHD Star, Lotte and other cinemas around the country.

Programme honours Vietnamese culture

A programme entitled ?Spring Honours National Culture? was held at the Sui Pagoda historical and cultural site in Gia Lam district, Hanoi on February 6, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

President Truong Tan Sang sent a congratulatory letter and Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan sent a basket of flowers to honour the occasion.

The programme opened with a ceremony to pray for peace that attracted many Buddhist monks and followers.

The event, which aimed to honour the country?s treasured tangible and intangible cultural heritage, also included a ceremony commemorating King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong, a seminar on ?Truyen Kieu? (Kieu?s Story), and the launch of a Kieu?s Story reciting contest as well as various other cultural activities such as a lion dance and calligraphy writing.

The event was held jointly by the Centre for Supporting Talent Development, the Institute for Heritage Conservation, and the Vietnam Association of Young Scientists and Engineers under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Information Communications, as well as the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association and the Hanoi Municipal People?s Committee.

On the occasion, the ?Map of Pagodas in Hanoi? project was launched by the Vietnam Centre for Communication and Cultural Heritage under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST). This is part of the Vietnam Heritage Site Map? project to create a database of the country?s cultural heritage sites, preserve their legacies, and promote tourism while advertising the country?s image to international friends.

Asian-Pacific poetry festival concludes

The first Asian-Pacific Poetry Festival officially wrapped up in Hanoi on February 6.

The closing ceremony was attended by member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) and Deputy Head of the CPVCC Commission for Communication and Education Vu Ngoc Hoang; Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, poet Huu Thinh; Chairman of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art, Hong Vinh; and representatives from the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Education and Training, and Agriculture and Rural Development, along with Vietnamese and international poets from 24 countries and territories.

Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of the organising board, poet Huu Thinh affirmed that the first poetry festival was a great success. It provided a good opportunity for Vietnamese and international poets to exchange experience and enhance mutual understanding. Poetry is a cultural asset not only of each nation, but for all of mankind, so more favourable conditions should be created for its further development as a cultural link for peace, solidarity, co-operation, friendship and development.

International poets participating in the festival expressed their thanks to the Party, State and people of Vietnam for organising this meaningful event. They also suggested that the festival should become an annual occasion in the future.

Tra Cuon handicraft village is famous for making Tet Cakes

The Department of Industry and Trade in the Mekong delta province of Tra Vinh on February 6 convened a meeting at Kim Hoa Commune in Cau Ngang District to give recognition to Tra Cuon village as a handicraft village, famous for its Tet cakes.

Established more than 40 years ago, the tiny village of Tra Cuon located along Highway 53 in Kim Hoa Commune of Cau Ngang District in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, is famous for its savory Tet Cakes (cylindrical glutinous rice cakes).

At that time, the village had only four small workshops to make the traditional cakes.

Today, 124 households in the village are involved in cake making and more than 100 labourers are employed in this very lucrative business, which has brought great benefits to the people of the village.

Tra Cuon Tet Cakes are much more delicious and tasty because of their good quality ingredients that are carefully chosen; from the quality of glutinous rice for making the cakes to the variety of banana leaves for wrapping them.

The stuffing inside the Tra Cuon Tet Cakes is made of eggs of ducks that are allowed to openly feed off fields and meat of pigs that are fed natural feed. The cakes have brought fame to the village not only in the country but abroad as well.

Each year the village produces around 400,000 cakes of different varieties for the Mekong delta and Ho Chi Minh City markets, yielding an annual turnover of over VND12 billion.

So far Tra Vinh Province has recognised nine handicraft villages that are providing jobs to more than 10,000 local labourers.

68 per cent of the population of the village belongs to the Khmer ethnic minority group and the total income of the tiny village is only VND600 million per annum. However, households making Tet Cakes enjoy an income that is 20 times higher. Tra Cuon was recently recognized as the Tet Cake trade village by the provincial People?s Committee.

Painting exhibition of Russian artists in HCMC

A painting exhibition featuring works by Russian painters of ?Sunny Square?, an international association of artists, was held at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum to mark the 20th anniversary of the association.

Russian painter Radyuk Sergey, one of the members of the association, has travelled to Vietnam a number of times.

He said that ?Sunny Square? organised its first exhibition at the HCMC Fine Arts Museum 15 years ago.

He had then held a solo show at the museum and at the Da Lat resort town in 2005.

?Travelling to Vietnam to look for new topics is one of the activities of the association. Beautiful landscapes and friendly people are reasons that I have come to the country 12 times during the last 15 years. I travel and learn about Vietnamese culture and the lives of people of the country to create paintings on Hanoi, Quang Binh and Binh Thuan provinces, Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City. I have also shared my experiences with local artists such as Pham Do Dong, Dao Minh Tri and Hua Thanh Binh,? the painter said.

?I come to the exhibition for the second time. I took part in the ?Sunny Square? display in Hanoi in October, 2011. I felt Vietnamese people love our works. They are friendly and interested in learning about arts and literature,? expressed painter Medvedev Alexey.

Russian painters Katran Taiana, Dozorova Tatiana, Klintsova Maria and Timoshenko Annastasia presented their art works on January 19.

The artists also had an exchange with local artists like Nguyen Hoang, Trinh Dung, Ma Thanh Cao, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thanh, Tran Kieu Dung and Dao Van Hien who have studied in Russia.

Critics notice that Russian art follows many changes in composition but still maintains its unique Russian characteristics.

Sergey Radyuk, founder and president of Sunny Square explained that the organisation springs from the idea of a square earth and square light concept of the oriental people in olden days. The association has currently 100 members and 300 collaborators.

The display ended on January 28 at the Museum on 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1.

Source: http://talkvietnam.com/2012/02/art-entertainment-82/

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