Siu Pham and Jean-Luc Mello grace Tu Do Gallery

Artist Siu Pham and her husband Jean-Luc Mello are staging an art exhibition called ‘Companion – Chair and Wind’ at Tu Do Gallery in HCMC’s District 1, featuring 25 artworks made of acrylic and Chinese ink on paper.

Twelve pieces made of acrylic on canvas by Siu Pham present the graceful and romantic emotion of a woman who live and work in the charming ancient town of Hoi An. She uses bright colors to depict her inspiration by motherhood in Mother and daughter, by natural beauty in Hair and Wind and human inside meditation in Return, Still Life and her Self-portrait.

The remaining 13 pieces are mainly self-portraits by Mello. Unlike many past or contemporary artists who make self-portraits using their own faces or characteristics, Mello uses Chinese ink to depict himself as a mask. Light colors and uneven circles make the artist mysterious.

Images in Mello’s paintings look like symbols that are made to enhance visitors’ creativeness and imagination. He prefers traditional materials as he evaluates the existence of traditional cultures in modern times.

Born in 1946 in Hanoi, Siu Pham studied fine arts, literature and cinematography from 1963 to 1992 in Vietnam and Geneva. She left for Switzerland in 1983 and has since held many exhibitions in Switzerland, U.S, France and Vietnam.

Swiss national Jean-Luc Mello, 71, has had many exhibitions in Paris, Geneve, Lausanne and Neuchatel.

The couple has made a variety of documentaries in Switzerland as well.

Since 2009, they came back to live in Vietnam and have made various films, with Here or there and Homostratus gaining much applause at Busan Film Festival in South Korea and Piec Smakow film festival in Poland.

The exhibition runs until April 28 at Tu Do Gallery, 53 Ho Tung Mau Street in HCMC.

New portal to history, culture and food

Dr. Nguyen Nha, who is the chief of a book titled “Pho Viet” (Vietnamese pho), launched a portal at www.hannguyennguyennha.com last Friday for people to look into Vietnamese history, culture and food.

The new site is aimed at raising public awareness of Vietnam’s history, culture and education, especially that of young locals. The portal consists of texts and pictures divided into four sections to show the historical truth related to the country’s sovereignty, introduce Vietnamese specialties to the world, promote Vietnamese folk music at local schools and encourage youngsters to contribute to the nation’s development.

On this occasion, the book featuring Vietnam’s national dish pho made a debut. The book, which was composed by leading Vietnamese researchers and culinary experts, tells many stories from the origin, quintessence and variety of Vietnamese pho.  

Also on the same day, the Center for Vietnam Book of Records awarded a certificate to Vietnamese Iron Chef 2013 Nguyen Van Lap to recognize his original food creation “Cha duoi phung”, which can be translated as Vietnamese sausage made in the shape of phoenix’s tail).

Over 200 images, artefacts, books and newspaper stories on the formation and development of “Don ca tai tu”, Vietnam’s latest piece of world intangible cultural heritage, are being offered to the public at the Museum of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The eight-day exhibition, opened on April 8, aims to honour artists, composers and researchers who have created, preserved and brought into play values of the typical musical art of southern Vietnam .

Recognised as an intangible cultural heritage in December 2013 by UNESCO, Don ca tai tu is said to have both scholarly and folk roots and developed in the south of Vietnam in the late 19th century.

It is performed at numerous events, such as festivals, ‘death anniversary' rituals, and celebratory social events. The audience can join in by practicing, making comments or creating new lyrics for songs.

It has been transmitted from generation to generation through official and unofficial forms of education in all 21 southern provinces.

The art form is played on a variety of different instruments, including the kim (moon-shaped lute), co (two-stringed fiddle), tranh (16-string zither), ty ba (pear-shaped lute), song lang (percussion), bau (monochord) and sao (bamboo flute), and the violin and guitar, which were adapted to fit the style.

Influenced by other forms of cultural heritage from the central and southern regions of Vietnam, such as nhac le (ceremonial music) and hat boi (classical theatre and folk song), the music genre was added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012.

Music show to highlight Dien Bien Phu victory

A special art performance will be held at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on April 26 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7, 1954) that helped end the French colonial rule in Vietnam.

Dozens of domestic artists, many of whom used to perform on the battlefields to support the spirits of the soldiers, will take part in the show that features peace aspirations.

Audiences will have an opportunity to experience a story about Dien Bien Phu through various melodies, said young artist Bui Chi Trung.

Earlier on April 8, a campaign was launched to call on families of war veterans to donate battlefield remembrances to the Vietnam Women Museum. The archives, which help relive the historical moments of the nation’s resistance wars against America and France, will be put on show at a photo exhibition on April 26 at the centre.

The Dien Bien Phu victory, a golden page in Vietnam’s history, underlines the sound and creative people-based war strategy designed by the Party, President Ho Chi Minh and late General Vo Nguyen Giap, as well as the lessons drawn from the campaign – altogether helping fuel patriotism and self-reliance among the masses.

It also features the alliance between the countries of Indochina, namely Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, along with the support and assistance from international friends, especially the Soviet Union and China, that contributed to the victory over the French with Dien Bien Phu being the peak of the triumph.

Alongside the famous historical site Dien Bien Phu, the northwestern Dien Bien province is also home to famous sightseeing spots such as the Muong Nhe primeval jungle, Hua Pe and U Va hot springs, and Pa Khoang and Huoi Pa lakes.

Book festival to feature various activities

The 2014 Book Festival, featuring a large number of culture activities, will be take place from April 20-26 at the National Library of Vietnam, 31 Trang Thi Street in Hanoi.

Under the theme ‘The book – From the past to the present’, the annual festival is held to celebrate Vietnam's Book Day (April 4) and World Book and Copyright Day (April 23). It is intended to honour reading culture and create an opportunity for authors to introduce their works to the readers.

The festival will offer young readers an opportunity to learn more about Vietnamese history and culture through games and interactive activities. A series of books that were honoured with the Ho Chi Minh award or other awards issued by the Vietnam Writers' Association will also be presented at the event.

Additionally, visitors can participate in educational games and buy books at discounted prices.

The highlight of this year’s festival is an exhibition of historic documents on printing techniques used over the ages. The featured artifact is the facsimile of a book taken from the bronze original that recordes a text written by Minh Mang King in 1824.

Under the framework of the event, the National Library of Vietnam will call on organisations, publishing houses and bookshops to supply books to libraries across the country.

Water procession launches Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Festival

The Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Festival, held annually in the northern province of Ninh Binh, opened on April 7 with a water procession.

The procession comprised demonstrators holding colourful flags, musicians, drummers, palanquin carriers, village elders and a man playing the role of king. They started from the King Dinh Tien Hoang temple and headed down the Hoang Long River.

Water taken from the river was brought back to the temple as an offering made during a ceremonial prayer for peace, favourable weather conditions, bumper crops and prosperity for local people.

The annual festival is held to commemorate the 1046th anniversary of the enthronement of Dinh Bo Linh (968–2014), who defeated 12 warlords to unite the country under the name Dai Co Viet.

A series of activities is taking place during the festival, including a dragon dance, a wrestling contest, a boat race and a volleyball competition. The Ninh Binh provincial museum is hosting an exhibition of treasured antiquities from the Dinh dynasty.

Bauhinia Flower Festival opens in Son La

The Ban (Bauhinia) Flower Festival has opened in Son La city, the capital of northern mountainous province of Son La, during the full bloom of ban flowers across the region, with various traditional festivities of the Thai people in the locality.

The event, held for the first time in Son La city, aims to promote the landscape and cultural values of Son La city to domestic and international friends.

This year’s festival features a range of traditional cultural activities and folk games, including a culinary competition, fishing contest, cockfighting, walking on stilts, tug of war, and nem con (throwing cloth balls).

A beauty contest and a mass xoe dance performance also took place.

The festival will be held annually starting this year.

Asian festivals celebrated in Hanoi

Representatives of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, India, and Sri Lankaparticipated in an artprogrammein Hanoi on April 8 to mark the traditional New Year festivals of these countries.

The event was the result of a joint effort of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), the Hanoi Buddhist Sangha, and the Embassies of the six countries.

Speaking at the function, Dao Van Binh, Chairman of the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organizations (HUFO), extended New Year wishes to the participating guests and stressed that Hanoi wants deepen solidarity and mutual understanding with people from across the globe, including those in Asia.

Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthup thanked VUFO for organising such a significant exchange programme, which he said will help foster traditional friendly ties among Asian countries.

“We are here to honour our friendship and promote cooperation. I strongly believe that our cooperative relations and solidarity will be further enhanced in the future,” he noted.

During the exchange programme, many traditional rituals and festivals were held, including the bathing of Buddha statue, Songkran water festival, and the Holi Festival of Colours.

Visitors to the event also had a chance to enjoy music and dance performances and taste traditional dishes of the six Asian countries.