Veteran composer Xuan Giao dies at age 82

Noted composer Xuan Giao, famous for popular songs made during the American war in Viet Nam, has passed away following a series of strokes and a serious gall bladder disease. He was 82.

Giao was born in the northern province of Hung Yen in 1932 and grew up in the northern coastal city of Hai Phong. He began his career in music as a bass-voiced singer in the Music and Dance Troupe of the General Politics Department.

He has composed a number of children's songs such as Em Mo Gap Bac Ho (I Dream to Meet Uncle Ho) and Chau Yeu Ba (I Love Grandma), as well as songs composed for young volunteers during the war against the US such as Co Gai Mo Duong (Volunteer Building Road Women) and Chao Song Ma Anh Hung (Hello Brave Residents by Ma River).

The wake is to take place tomorrow at the National Funeral House at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street.

Vietnamese writer leaves lasting legacy

Well-known Vietnamese writer Anh Duc died on Thursday in HCM City aged 79 after many years fighting illnesses.

Anh Duc was born Bui Duc Ai in 1935 in the southern province of An Giang.

He took part in the American war at a young age and was assigned to work at Nam Bo Cuu Quoc newspaper in 1953. Around this time, he received his first national award of Cuu Long Literature and Arts.

Three years later he won first prize in the short story category at a competition organised by the Literature and Arts Magazine.

Later, he was awarded the Nguyen Dinh Chieu Prize for Literature in 1965 for his novel Hon Dat about the war.

An extract from Hon Dat is often used for high school literature students, and it has been turned into a movie with the same name by director Hong Sen.

In 2000, Duc grabbed the Ho Chi Minh Prize, one of the top awards in the country, for his great contribution to Vietnamese literature during the war.

Duc has been described as gentle, profound, free and easy, which are all reflected in his works.

Duc did not write many works but his masterpieces such as Mot Chuyen Chep O Benh Vien, Giac Mo Ong Lao Vuon Chim and Buc Thu Ca Mau have become bedside reading for many generations of Vietnamese literature lovers.

Duc was also a successful manager. He was editor-in-chief of Van Nghe Giai Phong newspaper, editor-in-chief of Van Magazine and a member of the HCM City and Viet Nam Writers Associations' executive committees.

His funeral will be held on Sunday and he will be laid to rest at the city's Thu Duc Cemetery.

Concert features beauty of hair

A concert entitled Hair Sonata – When Her Hair Sings will feature a special violin with a bow made of real hair on September 4.

Conductor Le Phi Phi, A-list pop singers Thanh Lam and Hong Nhung and violinists Xuan Huy and Khanh Linh will perform songs featuring the beauty of girls' hair.

Veteran director Pham Hoang Nam will create the stage set. The concert will take place at Ha Noi Opera House.

German film festival to set screens alight in six cities

The Fifth German film festival returns to theatres in six cities of Viet Nam next month with a collection of the latest and most popular films from Germany.

According to the website of the Goethe Institute here, the festival will screen films by famous and new but promising filmmakers at theatres in the cities of Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Hue, Da Nang, HCM City and Thai Nguyen from September 4 to 21.

The festival promises to screen movies for various audiences with a variety of tastes and preferences. Film subjects range from current issues to fiction fantasies and fall into the genre of comedy, drama, tragedy and suspense thrillers.

The festival opens with the showing of Visitors on September 4 at the National Cinema on 87 Lang Ha St., Ba Dinh District here. Director Constanze Knoche and scriptwriter Leis Bagdach will be at the screening of the 92-minute drama.

It tells the story of a family that had drifted apart long ago but ended up reconciling with each other years later. It provides the realisation that parents and children must eventually be emancipated from each other.

Tickets for the free showing are available from 12pm today at the Goethe Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.

Central highland province receives Dong Son antiques

The UNESCO Club on the Research and Preservation of the Value of National Antiquities on Saturday handed out more than 100 antiques to the local museum.

Club members in the central province of Gia Lai collected the antiques, dating back to the Dong Son Culture (700-100 BC) for donation to the museum.

The artifacts include farming tools, copper gongs and utensils for daily use such as copper bowls and ceramic jars.

The club also gave the province a map of Viet Nam, made up of 250 ancient coins dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries from the club members.

An exhibition of the artifacts along with nearly 100 others gathered by local collectors was opened to the public at the museum on the same day. The exhibition will run till September 6.

Exhibit highlights ASEAN cultures

The culture, society and people of the ASEAN countries will be the focus of an exhibition to be held at the Viet Nam National Library.

Entitled ASEAN Cultural Space, the exhibition will display 1,000 documents including photos, paintings, books and newspapers in different languages. The exhibits were selected from the 2.5 million documents stored in the library.

Visitors will learn about the founding of the ASEAN community and the co-operation between the ASEAN countries in different fields such as politics, economy and culture.

The research of Vietnamese scholars on the cinematography, literature, architecture, dance and music of these regional countries will be presented.

The highlight of the exhibition will be documents that express the friendship between Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries, and their consistent support to Viet Nam in protecting its sovereignty over the sea and islands.

The exhibition will also reflect Viet Nam's achievements in economy, culture, education, health and international co-operation since the renewal process began in 1986.

The exhibition will run from August 28 to September 15 at the National Library, 31 Trang Thi Street, Ha Noi.

Bac Giang to host sixth festival for ethnic minorities

Northern Bac Giang province will host its sixth festival of culture, sports and tourism for ethnic minorities in October, according to the provincial People's Committee.

The event, held every two years, aims to honour the local people's values and cultural identity and provides an opportunity for ethnic minority groups to strengthen solidarity and exchange experiences in preserving and promoting their culture, sports and tourism potential.

It will feature a conference on tourism, and activities including a series of art performances showcasing traditional customs, costumes, food, folk games and sports.

Photo exhibition in tribute to legendary General

A photo exhibition entitled “Vo Nguyen Giap – General of Vietnamese people” was held at Exhibition House, 93 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Hanoi on August 24.

The event aimed to mark what would have been General Giap’s 104th birth anniversary and the first anniversary of his death.

The photos were taken by war veteran Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Trong Nghi and featured 102 out of 500 photos taken during the lifetime of General Giap.

During the exhibition, former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu was moved by the victorious memories of General Giap.

General Giap set a bright example for generations, and the Vietnamese people will forever be eternally grateful towards him, Phieu said.

Vietnamese water puppetry fascinates Australian audiences

Thousands of Australians were awe-struck by Vietnamese water puppetry performances presented by Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre (TLWPT) at the Darwin Culture Festival from August 21-24.

Through four shows, Vietnamese artists introduced Australian people to the special features of Vietnamese rural areas and history.

Chu Dac Duoc, TLWPT Vice Director said artists wanted to promote Vietnam’s land, people and culture to international friends through water puppetry – a special cultural arts of Vietnam.

“We are very happy to have received such a warm response from the festival’s organizing board, Vietnamese representative offices and people in Australia,” Duoc said.

Darwin Culture Festival is one of the largest festivals in Australia, reflecting the unique aboriginal unique culture of the “Land of Kangaroo”.

Vietnamese water puppetry is seen as a friendship bridge, helping Australian people and international friends gain a better understanding about the country’s culture.

Vietnamese culture spotlighted in Singapore

Several Vietnamese ancient ceramics are garnering a great deal of attention from visitors to an exhibition themed – China Mania! The Global Passion for Porcelain 900-1900 – ongoing in Singapore from August 2 to September 14.

The intricately designed ceramic objects reflect the creativity of ancient Vietnamese artisans.

The highlight of the exhibition is a Vietnamese blue and white bottle neck vase which was made in the north of Vietnam sometime in the 15th century. According to the organizing board, it is not exactly clear how the blue colour was made.

However, creating such a colour is quite sophisticated and Vietnamese are the only artisans from Southeast Asia from that time period known to be capable of producing it.

Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM) curator Ms Kan Shuyia also highlighted Vietnamese artisans’ creativity and arts, stressing that many Vietnamese ceramic products have been found in the Philippines, Java, Sulawesi, Malaysia, Japan and Turkey.

Vietnam has played an important role in making ceramic products in the world, especially in Southeast Asia. Since the 14th century, the country has become one of the largest centres for making and exporting porcelains, she said.

Film screenings mark Vietnam’s National Day

The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has launched a nationwide film screening drive to mark the 69th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day of Vietnam (September 2).

At the cinema from August 19 to September 5 are the feature film “Bien doi” (Waiting sea), and two documentaries “The 69th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day of Vietnam”, and “Vietnam’s sea and islands”.

On this occasion, the ministry’s Cinematography Department and central Quang Tri province are also screening several films to mark the 60th anniversary of the traditional day of Vinh Linh Special Zone (August 25), the day seeing the last French soldier leaving the district.

Fashion designer Hoai Nam launches new collections in Rome

A Gala Dinner in Rome, Italy, on August 23 introduced two new collections of Vietnamese fashion designer Do Trinh Hoai Nam consisting of 40 designs inspired by the natural landscape of Vietnam and the nation’s devotion to peace.

Twenty designs of the collection, Transatlantic, drew inspiration from the inherent beauty of the nation’s ocean waves, coral reefs and pearls. The second collection, Golden Feathers, projected the imagery of pigeons as the symbol of the nation’s quest for love, peace and happiness.

During the visit, the designer’s entourage held exchanges with Italy’s prestigious fashion brands, visited production establishments and a number of showrooms in Italy.

Nam is expected to cooperate with foreign companies in Europe to outsource products, transfer production technologies and open distribution agents for well-known brands in Europe.

Maker of giant traditional lanterns

A man from Thanh Oai, an outlying district of Hanoi, is locally famous for having made giant lanterns for the mid-autumn festival.

Craftsman Vu Van Sinh learned to make lanterns and other traditional decorations for the festival when he was a boy.

His name became more locally renowned in 2006, when he, together with other craftsmen, made a giant lantern 6.5 metres high and 2.56 metres wide. The lantern was displayed at the Hanoi Children's Culture Palace and listed in Vietnam’s Book of Records.

He makes hundreds of lanterns of various sizes to meet the rising demand of the mid-autumn festival. Some of his clients place orders for giant lanterns that can cost into the tens of million of VND.

This year, he is making a giant lantern which 2.1 metres high and 1.4 metreS wide. "Even though this is not a commission and nobody has offered to buy it yet, I'm still devoted to making it. I'm happy to see them used during the festival," he said.

Like many other traditional crafts in Vietnam, lantern-making is gradually fading away.

Nguyen Thi Hanh, Sinh’s wife, said, “Making of lantern is a traditional craft that has been maintained for several generations in our family. But it just doesn't bring in much money. Craftsmen do it now just out of the love of the art.”

Sinh said that he is willing to teach anyone who is interested in making traditional lanterns, as he hopes to preserve the craft. 

PM approves master plan on performing arts development

The master plan, to 2020 and visions towards 2030, aims to build up an advanced Vietnamese culture with strong national identity and develop performing arts with priorities to foster human resources and complete the sector’s technical infrastructure system.

It also helps preserve and promote traditional arts while acquiring the world’s arts quintessence.

Together with that, the plan will boost popularizing performing arts and encouraging organizations and individuals at home and abroad to invest in the sector's infrastructure system.

To achieve these objectives, the plan sets to complete mechanisms and policies; boost human resources training; enhance capital mobilization; and enhance international cooperation.

It will carry out the construction of collection policies, restore and promote the traditional arts form in danger of oblivion and loss; encourage, motivate and honor artists in the fields of performing arts; train and retrain to improve the creation and presentation of the work of the creative team, performers and technicians in the field of performing arts.

The plan will upgrade some theatres in localities which have been degraded and build a modern performing center in Ho Chi Minh City.

At the same time, it will reorganize units of public arts  to become professional products; encourage organizations and individuals to invest in developing the performing arts as prescribed by law; gradually improve the organizational capacity of the art performance art units across the country; among others.