VN artists to perform in Hungary

A Vietnamese troupe will present traditional songs and dances at an international culture festival to be held in Hungary's capital, Budapest, this weekend.

The Far East is Far? festival organised by Laterna Magica, a cultural and educational management organisation, aims to present Asian cultures to Hungarian audiences.

During the two-day festival, participants from Indonesia, Japan, China, Thailand and Hungary will also entertain with a taiko drum show, Chinese-Hungarian fusion music, and martial art performances such as Eskrima, Karate, Kung-fu, Taekwondo, and Thai boxing.

"We will perform folk songs from throughout Viet Nam and some traditional dances," said head of the Vietnamese delegation, artist Le Thuong.

"Besides there will be performances of Hungarian folk songs and a one-act opera by composer Bartok Bela."

The festival will also feature exhibitions, cultural performances, concerts, films and handicraft workshops.

The event, created under the auspices of the European Union Integration Fund, will be held at the Heritage House, Budapest. Entrance to all programmes will be free of charge.

Vietnamese artists tour RoK, India

Two Tuoi Tre (Youth) Theatre delegations, led by Lan Huong and Trong Thuy, are touring the Republic of Korea and India.

The tours for both groups will include performances, people-to-people exchanges, and community gatherings.

Lan Huong and her group joined Japanese and Swedish performers at the “Happy Dream” exchange programme in Daejeon City’s Drama Festival.

The month-long event, including pantomime and experimental theatre performances, attracted huge audiences of native Koreans and foreign visitors.

Meanwhile, Trong Thuy’s delegation arrived in New Delhi on November 7 to attend the International Platform for Sharing of Best Practices in Advancing Rights of Persons with Disability.

The annual event welcomed disabled artists from 36 countries and territories. It aims to facilitate cultural exchange between people with disabilities and encourage community integration.

Vietnamese culture highlighted in Brussels

An exhibition featuring Vietnamese culture opened in the capital city of Brussels on November 7 as part of activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Belgium.

The event, themed “Colorful Symphony”, spotlights canvas and lacquer paintings of Vietnam’s mountains landscape by artists of different generations.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, Pham Sanh Chau said that the event is a good chance for Belgian people to learn more about Vietnam’s culture and contributes to promoting the the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Alberto Baldazzi, a visitor to the exhibition said he was very impressed by Vietnamese landscape and would travel to the country next summer.

The exhibition will run until November 29.

Nguyen Luong Hieu – for the love of canals

To many people, canals in Saigon’s past were an eyesore that they liked to ignore.

However, to Nguyen Luong Hieu – a poet and photographer – he senses city life deeply in canals and he nourishes his dream of vibrant and attractive canal areas by taking thousands of photos and writing poems.

Hieu settled in the city near Nhieu Loc Canal in 1992 after moving from his native Danang City. In that time he has witnessed the changes in canal areas and insists the times they are a changing.

In Saigon he has been a teacher, then a journalist and now photographer/poet and he always tries to view canal life in a positive way, even during the dark times. “After working long hours, tramping along the canals, I saw human fate; the rich moved out of the canals, the poor wrestled with their hardship on the polluted and stinking streams as crimes were freely committed by the villains of our society. However, from the bottom of my heart and depth of others’ eyes, I also saw beams of hope as people dreamed of a better life and greener and more beautiful canals,” said Hieu. With a small camera, he recorded life – good or bad.

He admits in the last two years the city’s many canals are more beautified and he sees kids flying kites, elderly people walking freely without any fears of being robbed, men fishing and couples kissing along grassy paths nearby canals.

He insists these are signals of change which he has been praying for.

In the last few years, armed with a more professional camera, the positive changes in canal areas have been endless inspiration for snapshots.

“Having more attractive canal areas not only beautifies the city but also weeds out the social evils from the old slum areas. Now there is cleaner water, grassy paths with water taps, long benches and many artworks made of rocks and ornaments, bonsai trees as well as lianas.”

Last year, Hieu held photo exhibition ‘By Nhieu Loc Canal’ featuring around 40 large photos depicting beautiful corners and captured moments on the revamped canal. Hieu also has released a number of poetry collections, with ten of his poems set into music by popular local musicians. He is even writing film scripts based on canals and has even established a club for canal lovers.

On November 17 at the Youth Cultural House in downtown HCMC, he will organize a solo photo exhibition on city canals. He also takes this occasion to debut his second photo book Green Rumba. “Rumba is an elegant and cheerful melody, symbolizing the endless changing of the canals as well as their beauty,” Hieu said.

AdAsia 2013 to launch hot air balloon display

‘Asian wings’, Vietnam’s first-ever international balloon display, will take to the skies above Hanoi and Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Quang Ninh and Hai Duong provinces during the Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia 2013) from November 10-30.

Ten balloons, 22 metres high and 18 metres wide, are to be flown by eight Vietnamese pilots and ten foreign pilots from the US, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan (China).

Visitors can take part in trial flights lasting from four to six minutes and reaching 40-50 metres high, after which a souvenir certificate is presented.

AdAsia 2013, which takes place in Hanoi from November 11-14, will be attended by more than 1,000 communications and marketing experts from the member countries and territories of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations, along with representatives from the media and advertising enterprises from Asia and around the world.

Radio City - Hard Rock Café’s new resident band

Hard Rock Café HCMC has announced the U.K.’s band Radio City as a resident band starting from November 16.

The British five-member band consists of Chris Tait (keyboards/guitarist/vocalist), Elle Douglas (lead vocalist), Alex Heath (bassist), Jamie Watkins (guitarist/vocalist) and Ben Sturdy (drummer) in their line-up. They are considered a high energy, young and dynamic party band.

“We rock all genres, from Pop to R&B, 60s to modern ‘top 40’ pop and funk to blues and reggae. We love to see the dance floor packed, so anything with a groove that people can dance to is a top priority on our set list. We are proud and excited to start jamming at Hard Rock Café HCMC,” Tait said in a statement.

Radio City will rock the house from Tuesdays to Sundays weekly starting 9 p.m. The band is a big part of Hard Rock Café’s initiative to kick off a brand new entertainment program.

Hard Rock Café HCMC, located at Kumho Asiana Plaza, 39 Le Duan Boulevard, District 1, has recently changed to a new “Right Portion, Right Price” menu featuring a brand new food and beverage selection.

Source: VOV/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri