‘Saigon Greets Spring’ won Ho Chi Minh City Photo Contest 

Photographer Huynh Pham Anh Dung won the Gold Medal of the ‘Ho Chi Minh city- The Hidden Charm’ photo contest with his photo entitled ‘Saigon greets spring’.

24 other photos were also awarded in the prize presentation ceremony held on April 4.

Under the theme ‘24 Hours in Saigon – Ho Chi Minh City’, the contest attracted 64 photographers with 585 entries, 82 of which were selected for display at the September 23 Park
 
Bac Ninh to get two UNESCO certificates
 
Vietnam’s Quan Ho (love duets) and Ca Tru (ceremonial singing) folk songs will be officially recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritages at the Bac Ninh Festival 2010 due to open on April 19, 2010.

The information was released on April 9 by the director of Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Dang Tuc.

In addition to recognizing 40 Quan Ho artists, Bac Ninh province will upgrade the Quan Ho Folk Song troupe to the Quan Ho Folk Song Theatre and establish a Faculty for Quan Ho at the provincial culture and arts college.

The province will also support Quan Ho by restoring some traditional festivals, collecting Quan Ho melodies, and publishing recordings to introduce the art form to domestic and foreign audiences.

Bac Ninh now has three Ca Tru clubs and is one of 15 provinces nationwide where Ca Tru is performed.

‘1000-year old Thang Long bookcase’ to be completed in July

‘1000-year old Thang Long bookcase’, a key project among works to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi, will be completed in July.

Under the project, about 100 book titles featuring the 1000 year old culture of Thang Long – Hanoi are expected to be published in July, of which, 18 book titles have been finished until now.

The Thang Long bookcase covers various fields such as geography, economics, literature, history, culture and society.

The bookcase is scheduled to make its debut on October 2, 2010.
 
HCM City food and tourism festival in town 

The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2010 opened on April 8, featuring more than 150 pavilions from travel companies, hotels and airlines both in and outside the city.  
 
The festival is the first in a series of planned cultural and tourism activities to celebrate 35 years of the South’s liberation and the national reunification (April 30) and the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

It is designed to promote tourism development by introducing visitors to a wide range of culinary specialities and attractive tourist destinations, as well as helping the participating businesses seek partners.

This year will mark the first time an art parade will be held within the framework of the festival, drawing the participation of 80 tourism units and over 1,000 amateur artists.

Visitors to the festival will have the opportunity to enjoy special dishes and performances from southern cities and provinces.

The annual festival is expected to attract 100,000 visitor.
 
Thousands turn out for traditional Hue prosperity ritual 

A traditional worshipping ceremony, known as the Xa Tac Devotion Ritual, was held in Hue City’s Thuan Hoa Ward of Thua Thien Hue Province on April 8.  

The time-honored ritual was organized as it would have been hundreds of years ago, aiming to honor the God of Land (Xa) and the God of Grains (Tac), as well as to pray for the prosperity of the country. 

A delegation of more than 500 people including the King together with mandarins, troops, Nha Nhac (royal court music) artists, horses and elephants in all manner of finery departed from the Thai Hoa Palace in the evening, accompanied by gongs, flags and torches.

The parade traveled down the streets of August 23, Le Huan and Ngo Thi Nham before arriving at the Xa Tac Platform at around 8 pm.

Three tables of incense were stationed along the parade route, with the attendance of hundreds of elders.

On two larger incense tables at the Xa Tac Platform, an offering of a buffalo, deer and pig were made.

The solemn worshipping ceremony then began at 8:15 pm and wrapped up at 10 pm.

At this year’s event, 100 local elders were also in attendance, representing 100 family names from around the country.

After the ritual, thousands of locals and visitors gathered at the Xa Tac Platform to pray for national peace, safety for the people, health, wealth and a good harvest.

In 1806, the Gia Long King ordered the establishment of the Xa Tac esplanade to the west of the Hue Imperial Palace in Thuan Hoa Ward, now Hue City, as a place to worship the soil and rice gods.

A ceremony was then held twice a year by the royal court, in the autumn and spring, to pray for prosperity.

 Country’s play scripts need improvement: experts
 
Once again this year, the jury of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association (VSAA) Awards 2009 opted not to bestow a play script with the Awards’ top honor, demonstrating that Vietnam is facing a dearth of good scriptwriters.  

The event, held March 31 in Hanoi, aimed to honor the country’s best plays and writers, but failed to recognize a single standout script. Instead, play writers shared second and third place awards.

To address the problem an annual script-composing camp was set up in the past to help local writers develop their potential.

Each participant receives tens of millions of VND to write quality scripts during the camp, but so far, the activity has failed to produce the desired results.

While a plethora of writing has been turned out, the quality of the scripts has not yet improved.

Such investments have so far been wasteful, said the chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Stage Artists Association, Le Duy Hanh.

This year’s scriptwriting camp should be changed to foster the improvement of writing quality, and only writers who produce good works will be funded, he added.

The HCMC Stage Artists Association will organize a scriptwriting contest nationwide in July, aimed at discovering and encouraging potential young talent.

Other experts argue that some good scripts are not developed into stage dramas due to conflict between directors and writers who don’t see eye-to-eye on projects.

According to industry insiders, directors, producers and writers should take time to communicate about such issues and work toward compromises so that more quality plays can be produced.
 
Ca Mau Culture and Tourism Week to be held

A week -long culture and tourism festival will be held in Ca Mau province from April 24 to 30 on the occasion of the UNESCO’s recognition for Ca Mau Cape as the World Biosphere Reserve.

The festival is also to welcome the 35th anniversary of the liberation of South Vietnam and the national unification as well as the millennium anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.

Under the theme ‘Ca Mau – Rising from the Green Cape’, the festival is aimed at advertising the Ca Mau Cape World Biosphere Reserve, contributing to preserving the ecosystem and promoting the provincial tourism.

A commerce and tourism fair in order to introduce the land, people and ecosystem of Ca Mau province will also be held under the framework of the festival.

The event brings opportunities for tourists to explore the biosphere reserve and other provincial attractive destinations.

The festival will also include various activities, including a mass art performance, a meeting to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Liberation of South Vietnam and the National Unification and a parade to praise the provincial socio-economic achievements.
 
Phu Tho ready for grand festival
 
Preparations for a grand ceremony to commemorate Hung Kings believed to be the nation’s founders have been completed in the northern midland province of Phu Tho, according to the organising board.

This was announced at the board’s meeting in Phu Tho province on April 10 to examine its preparations for the Hung Kings Temple Festival which is going to take place in the next few days. 

Phu Tho has worked with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and relevant agencies to draft tentative plans for the approved events.

About 1,000 artists are working hard to rehearse the opening and closing ceremonies and other cultural activities during the festival.

The province has put up stages, arranged seats and designed costumes for delegates attending the incense ceremony.

The sub-committee for security and order has set up a plan to ensure the security and traffic during the festival. The organisers have asked businesses, restaurants and hotels to ensure food safety, hygiene, and accommodation for delegates and guests.

A media centre has also been established at the Phu Tho provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The full-dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony will be held on April 13, and the incense ceremony will be on April 23 with Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front leaders and representatives from ministries, agencies and localities attending the events.

Viet Tri city has been decorated with colourful banners and posters to welcome guests to the festival, and Nguyen Thi Kim Hai, Vice chairwoman of the Phu Tho People’s Committee, said this year’s festival will be the largest ever, showing “the gratitude to our ancestors”.

The Hung King Temples Festival is observed on the 10th days of the third lunar month. This year it will coincide with the culture, sports and tourism festival for ethnic people in the Northeastern region.

Ho Chi Minh posters exhibited in Laos
 
The Luong Prabang Department of Information and Culture in coordination with the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Laos on April 8 opened an exhibition of propaganda posters featuring the late President Ho Chi Minh.

The 120 posters on display reflect Ho Chi Minh’s great ideas on national independence, people’s happiness and friendship and solidarity with other peoples.

The head of Luong Prabang province, Bunhuong Duong Phachan, said that the event is of profound educational significance and will enable people to learn more about the life and cause of the late President Ho Chi Minh. 

The exhibition will last until April 16.

Vietnam, Japan boost culture exchange
 
The Japan-Vietnam Culture Exchange Centre in Vietnam will organise a series of activities between May and October to introduce Japanese culture and boost culture exchange with Vietnam.

The Director of the centre, Takeji Yoshikawa, says there will be an exhibition on Japan’s contemporary art performances by Japan’s leading pantomime artist Naoki Ikimuro and a Japanese film festival in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City.

The centre will also organise concerts and film screening as well as events to introduce several Japanese books which have been translated into Vietnamese.

Within the framework of the culture exchange programme between the two countries and in preparation for the centre’s second founding anniversary, the centre plans to invite several Vietnamese artists to visit Japan.

The Japan-Vietnam Culture Exchange Centre, under the Japan International Exchange Foundation was established in 2008 and is the fifth rep. office of the foundation in Southeast Asia.

During the last two years, the centre has been working to boost cultural cooperation between the two countries, focusing on supporting Japanese language teaching at Vietnam’s high schools.

Art corner introduces mime show by hearing-impaired children

A special mime show by hearing impaired children of Miracle Mime Club was held at the Republic of Korea Cultural Centre on April 7 as the fourth performance of the weekly performance series ‘Art Corner in Wednesday Afternoon’.

The show introduced three performances by the Miracle Mime Club members who are though hearing impaired still made a good impression among audience with their skillful movements.

Kim Han Kyu, a Korean audience said: “This is the first time I watch mine show by Vietnamese artists and I am very surprised when learning that the show is performed by hearing impaired children.”

“Like the RoK, Vietnamese mine is still at the first stage and I really admire those children in pursuing such a difficult art,” Kyu added.

Miracle Mime Club was set up in 2005 by mime artist Ke Doan who, with a great passion for mime and devotion to those disadvantaged children, gradually makes Vietnamese mime become more popular.

PV