Artisan inspires paper flower revival

Than Van Huy has trained 30 young girls in his village to make paper lotus flowers in an attempt to revive the traditional craft in Hue's Thanh Tien Village.

Huy has used traditional techniques to make paper lotus flowers for seven years.

"The products are now standing firm in the market and I feel a need to train the younger generation in the village," said Huy, adding that he had a strong desire to revive the industry.

Ten of the girls have produced paper flowers for Huy under processing contracts, and have got family members involved as well.

In 2006, Huy and his brother, Than Dinh Hoai, revived the traditional technique and started to create paper lotus flowers.

The siblings have created various kinds of lotuses, including lotus buds, blooming lotuses and lotus lanterns to attract customers.

They have found strong demand from markets in Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City, and expect to expand their business throughout the village.

Villagers hope the paper lotus flowers will thrive now it has been given a new lease of life, 50 years after it disappeared from local life.

Charity concert keeps dreams alive

A music concert to raise money for charity titled Keep the Dream Alive will be held on July 14 in Ha Noi featuring leading pop singers including Duy Khoa and Minh Vuong.

The show, organised by the Gentle Fund Organsation (GFO) which was founded by Vietnamese people in Singapore, will take place from 8pm at M-day Cafe, 110 Cau Giay Street, Ha Noi.

It's part of a music concert series launched in 2007 to support poor children's health and organise summer camps for them.

Since 2006, the GFO has helped build two vocational centres for needy children in Hue and HCM City.

Free talk on dedicated king

A free talk on one of the most dedicated kings in Vietnamese history, Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308), will be held at L'Espace in Ha Noi at 2pm on August 2.

The address will be given by Professor Tran Ngoc Vuong from the Faculty of Arts at the Ha Noi-based University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Tran Nhan Tong, whose given name was Tran Kham, was the third emperor of the Tran Dynasty. He reigned over Dai Viet (Great Viet) from 1278 to 1293.

He was confronted by threats from China in the first year of his reign. The Yuan (Mongol) dynasty of China, whose invading armies had been defeated in their first attempt at invasion in 1258, never gave up its desire to conquer its southernmost neighbour.

In 1278 Kublai Khan sent his top commanders to attack Dai Viet, as the realm was then known.

King Tran Nhan Tong, after preparing his defences with great speed, defeated the Yuan invaders in 1278 and again in 1288 – feats that are considered remarkable by students of warfare.

Professor Vuong said these accomplishments would not have been possible without the king's extraordinary ability to bring all the people together and to make use of the best talents in the service and defence of the nation.

A most outstanding aspect of Tran Nhan Tong's policies was his spirit of reconciliation and compassion. When the Mongol armies retreated in 1288, they left a trunk full of documents revealing the identities of those in Dai Viet who had collaborated with them.

Tran Nhan Tong, who had by then retired as the Father King, ordered the trunk to be burned unopened.

One of Tran Nhan Tong's greatest legacies was the founding of the Zen School of Truc Lam. It emphasises active involvement in daily life in combination with Zen meditation practices, a unique feature of East Asian Buddhism.

The talk will be given in Vietnamese.

Darts Darts Darts hosts mega music festival

The Darts Darts Darts Club will host their first Asian Music Festival on Saturday next week.

The event will feature 18 music bands from Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

The bands will perform hard rock, heavy metal, Japanese pop, blues and other music genres, including songs by Green Day, Queen and Bon Jovi.

The festival, at 224A Pasteur Street in District 3, will begin at 5pm.

Singaporean photographer holds workshop

Zero Station, a not-for-profit art space, will host a week-long photography workshop starting this Sunday with Singaporean photographer and writer Zhuang Wubin.

Wubin, an editorial board member of the Trans-Asia Photography Review, will present the process of developing personal photo projects, starting from conceptualisation to the realisation of the work.

Zero Station is at 288 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3.

Punky Myanmar band to perform at Cargo Bar

BloodSugar Politik, a four-member band from Myanmar, will perform at the Cargo Bar on July 12 and 13.

Formed in 2004, the band plays indie, punk, and the ska, a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s.

The performance will begin at 7pm. The bar is located at 7, Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4.

FHH promises good night out for family

If you want a night of casual fun, live music, good wine, complimentary finger food, why not join Friends Holding Hands (FHH) Viet Nam, a member of FHH Global, for a good night out tomorrow.

FHH will donate all the proceeds to ‘Room to Read' to buy books and set up libraries for children in need around Viet Nam.

Room to Read, founded by former Microsoft executive John Wood, is a world-acclaimed non-profit organisation dedicated to "developing literacy skills and the habit of reading among primary school children".

The event starts at 7pm at The Matchbox Restaurant in the gardens of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, 40 Cao Ba Quat Street, Ha Noi.

Entrance fee: VND180,000 (online reservation) & VND200,000 at door.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/FhhVietnam.-

Hue marks 400th Death Anniversary of Lord Nguyen Hoang

A ceremony to commemorate the 400th death anniversary of Lord Nguyen Hoang was held at the Hue Imperial Citadel on July 10.

The first Nguyen Lord, Nguyen Hoang has been credited with expanding the Thuan Hoa-Phu Xuan area as well as the other southern area.

Thuan Hoa and Phu Xuan were the southernmost provinces of the Dai Viet Kingdom, once Lord Nguyen Hoang was appointed head of Thuan Hoa (1511-1558).

Born in 1525, Lord Nguyen Hoang was the second son of Nguyen Kim, a trusted courtier in the Le Dynasty. He was given the title of Duke Doan by King Le.

He ruled the southern provinces of Vietnam from 1558 to 1613.

He was honored by local people in Thuan Hoa and Phu Xuan area, and addressed as Chua Tien. Residents adored him as a tutelary god.

‘Music to Hospital’ program marks World Population Day

‘Music to Hospital’ program will take place at the Central Geriatric Hospital in Hanoi on July 12 to mark World Population Day on July 11.

Well-known singers including Meritorious Artists Duc Long and Khanh Hoa, Thai Thuy Linh, Mai Lan, Thu Thuy, Thang Loi and MC Tran Manh Thang will take part in the event.

Indian experts will also participate in the program to instruct people on ‘Smile Yoga’.

The organizer will offer 15 gifts to the most disadvantaged patients.

Bac Lieu Province to host ‘Southern Amateur Music Festival’

The Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu has been given the nod by the Prime Minister to host the ‘Don Ca Tai Tu’ or Southern Amateur Music Festival 2014.

This will be a significant event for the province, the birthplace of ‘Da Co Hoai Lang’, an immortal Cai Luong piece written by musician Cao Van Lau in 1919, which tells the story of a wife waiting for her husband to return from the battlefield.

Many artists and musicians from ‘Don Ca Tai Tu’ troupes from neighboring cities and provinces will take part in the event.

The festival aims to keep the tradition of Cai Luong alive in the community and foster a love for this particular kind of music among the people.

On this occasion, UNESCO will give a certificate recognizing ‘Don Ca Tai Tu’ as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Culture target programme under review

Five recreation areas have been built and play equipment has been installed at 25 other playgrounds for children in far-flung, mountainous and border areas and islands since 2012 with funding from the National Target Programme on Culture in 2012-2015.

Also benefiting from the Programme was a project to preserve and develop the nation’s traditional arts through equipment provision as well as training courses held for the performers.

These are among the six projects to benefit from the National Target Progamme on Culture that was reviewed at a teleconference hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Hanoi on July 10. The event was conducted among participants in Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Da Nang .

The other projects involved upgrading historical relics, promoting the value of intangible cultural heritages and enhancing capacity of local cultural officials in supervising and evaluating the program will be carried out.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Huynh Vinh Ai reported that the programme, among 16 others, was approved by the National Assembly, with total investment of 7.3 trillion VND (roughly 347.7 million USD).

Sourced from the State budget, the funding, however, is not enough to realise the programme, participants stressed, agreeing that local budget and people’s contribution should be mobilised in the work.