Ministry blocks cable-car plan for giant cave

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has told Quang Binh Province authorities to postpone the highly controversial Son Doong Cave cable-car project.

The ministry also told the authorities they should seek tighter compliance with Vietnamese and UNESCO heritage and conservation requirements.

The ministry issued a document demanding the Ministry of Construction withdraw the cable car project from a master plan on Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. The cave is both a national and UNESCO heritage site.

On September 30, the construction ministry asked the culture ministry to add the project to the National Park plan, following a suggestion by provincial authorities.

The ministry said the project must comply with Vietnamese cultural heritage laws and receive thorough consultation from UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

However, the UNESCO office in Ha Noi demanded that Quang Binh authorities submit the project to be analysed for compliance with UNESCO's requirements.

Late last month, Quang Binh People's Committee allowed an investor to survey the cable car project without consulting the ministry or UNESCO.

News on the project has created a surge of opposition from people around the world who want to save Son Doong, the world's biggest cave from modern developments, according to the British Cave Research Association.

Online petitions and Facebook pages also call for the project's termination.

Apocalaughs Now at Cargo Bar

The Apocalaughs Now comedy show featuring Jeffrey Tam from the Philippines and Nik Coppin from the UK will be held at Cargo Bar on November 19.

Comedian and magician Tam, who received the "Merlin Award" from the International Magician Society in 2012, has performed in Southeast Asia, the UK, Spain and France.

Coppin started performing in 2000 and presented his debut solo show in 2006. He has toured in France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

The event will begin at 8pm at 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4. Tickets and can be booked at http://saigoninternationalcomedy.com/book-a-seat.

City to host nations' first night run

Viet Nam's first night-time fun-run and music festival Prisma will be held in District 2 on November 22.

A performance of lights and music will be set up along the 5km race. It will be followed by a music concert with US-based rapper and DJ Lil Jon, who has received three Billboard Music Awards for performing crunk, a hip-hop style.

The event will be at Truong Van Bang Street. The run will take place from 5.30pm to 10 pm.

Registration and more information can be found at http://ticketbox.vn/event/prisma-the-night-run-10048#.

Musicians invited to join Soundwalk workshop

Musicians who can record sound and have a computer are invited to apply for the Soundwalk Creation Workshop - a joint workshop for creating soundwalks hosted by DomDom Creative Studio and Echoes Project.

The three-day workshop, conducted by Hans Sydow - a sound artist from Denmark, will equip participants with the skills to create a soundmap. The attendees will also get the chance to experience their own creations.

A soundwalk, or soundmap, is a map of sounds, each of which has a specific location. When you physically get near each sound, it plays, creating a continuous audio experience as you walk from sound to sound. You choose the direction and the sounds follow you.

The workshop will take place at the Phu Sa Studio, 21/52 To Ngoc Van Street, on November 17, 19, 20. Attendance fee: VND200,000.

To register, fill out an application at http://j.mp/echoesdomdomwken by November 15.

Free music gala to highlight ambition and patriotism

Dozens of artists will perform at a free gala performance on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province tomorrow to highlight youth and patriotism.

The event, Khat Vong Tre (Youth Ambition), will feature pop stars My Tam, DamVinh Hung, Le Quyen and Phuong Vy, as well as dancers, musicians and pop bands.More than 200 local students will accompany them on the stage.

Cai luong (reformed opera) star Que Tran and performers from the Kien Giang Traditional Art Troupe will also participate in the evening. They will perform extracts from famous plays which praise the country and its soldiers.

The artists will present before an expected audience of 16,000 at an outdoor stage in Duong Dong Town.

The concert organised by Viet Nam Youth Union will begin at 8pm. It will be aired live on Viet Nam Television's VTV1 channel.

Climate change photo show opens in Ha Noi, HCM City

Selected photos that compete in The Talent Prize 2014 Climate Change in Photography are being displayed respectively in Ha Noi and HCM City until November 19 and 20.

The Danish Embassy's Talent Prize competition has attracted photographers from all over Viet Nam who has captured and reflected various impacts of climate change on daily activities of ordinary Vietnamese people from the north to the south.

"In a fast developing global world, we are constantly faced with the consequences of climate change and environmental issues. This contest explores how these issues and consequences are perceived and expressed in photography," says Danish Ambassador to Viet Nam, John Nielsen.

"I hope this competition will contribute to underpin the fact, that the climate agenda is more and more important and that each and everyone of us can make a difference," said Nielsen, who has been Earth Hour Ambassador for the last three years.

The exhibition is held in Ha Noi at the Nha San Collective, 24 Ly Quoc Su Street, and in HCM City at the Fine Art Museum, 97 Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1.

By the end of the exhibition in HCM City on November 21, a photography workshop is going to be held at the exhibition venue, followed by the closing ceremony and winner announcement of Talent Prize 2014.

Cultural activities mark Teachers Day

A cultural festival and a concert featuring music, dance and fashion shows teachers are among the events being held in HCM City to mark Teachers' Day, November 20.

The five-day festival begins today at the Youth Cultural House with more than 300 teachers and students from secondary schools taking part in games and sports.

A Thu Phap (calligraphy) contest will begin tomorrow, featuring students aged 7 to 15.

Music and song programmes and fashion shows by young performers, mostly from local universities and colleges, will be performed nightly.

The music concert titled Thay Va Tro (Teachers and Students) performed by artists of the city's Music Conservatory will be staged on November 19.

More than 50 veteran and young musicians will play famous works in jazz, rock symphony, flamenco acoustic music.

Music teacher Hoang Diep will conduct the orchestra, and the event will be aired on HTV9.

Among other events that will begin tomorrow at the Dam Sen Park is a music gala called Nhung Bong Hoa Dang Thay Co (Beautiful Flowers for Our Teachers), featuring songs and dances in praise of teachers.

At the Women's Cultural House, specialists in healthcare, beauty treatment, marriage and other family issues will be invited to address the attending teachers and families.

Meanwhile, educational authorities have called on the public to support poor teachers and give them gifts. They also will honour the outstanding achievements of young teachers who live in remote areas.

Flower and gift shops are expecting a surge in sales as this is a popular time for people to show their respect and affection for teachers.

Shopping malls and supermarkets have rolled out promotions, offering clothes, cosmetics and jewellery at massive discounts.

An online tribute to teachers set up last year, "Thay Co Oi!" (Dear Teacher!), is back to mark Teachers' Day 2014.

A brainchild of Le Hoang Thach, the marketing director in Viet Nam for an international contest to make short films within 48 hours, the event is expected to be more interesting this year and attract the participation of famous people.

To be uploaded on YouTube, it will feature a "90s story challenge" in which people can list three outstanding memories from their time in school, one happy, one sad, and one about impressive teachers before asking three others to do the same.

The project has so far received 11 clips, five of them from famous people like Kyo York, Khanh Binh, Mai Quoc Viet, Nguyen Phuong, and Truong The Vinh.

There will be a short film about education and teachers' competence, an outdoor event featuring exchanges between teachers, famous people, and young people, and a photo and painting exhibition.

Last year Thach and a group of 20 students set up Facebook page www.facebook.com/ThayCoOi and put up a photo collection and two clips on it to solicit "thanks" from young people for their teachers. 

HCM City hosts Japan Festival 2014

The 2014 edition of the Japan Festival kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on November 15 gathering the participation of more than 50 participating enterprises from the education, tourism, culinary and trading sectors of the two nations.

Prominent figures attending the event included Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Fukuda Hiroshi and Vietnam Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son

It is hoped the festival, organized by the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Alliance, would  deepen mutual understanding between the two countries and provide a boost to education and trade cooperation.

Many cultural exchange activities have been planned to transpire during two-day event, such as a Cosplay performance and Japanese traditional dance.

Vietnamese food, handicrafts enthrall Egyptian Bazaar

Vietnam joined 13 other Asian countries to attend the Asian Food and Crafts Bazaar, which was held by the Asian Diplomats' Spouses Association (ADSA) in Cairo on November 15.

Handicraft products and traditional food prepared by Vietnamese diplomats' spouses and students lured great attention from a large number of visitors.

More than 200 bowls of noodle soups, more than 10kg of fried basa fish and over 600 spring rolls were served at the event.

In addition, Vietnam presented guests with brochures and posters on its land, people and landscape.

The bazaar is an annual event held by the ADSA with the aim of raising fund for charitable activities in Egypt and strengthening cultural exchange, friendship, solidary and mutual understanding among Asian diplomatic missions in Egypt.

This year’s bazaar attracted more than 1,000 guests, providing a good chance for Vietnam to promote its image to Egyptian and international friends.

Homeland melody in France

A special art performance entitled “Homeland Melody” was held at the Vietnamese Cultural Centre (VCC) in France on November 15, marking the end of Vietnam Year in France.

Overseas Vietnamese and French people had a chance to enjoy Vietnamese traditional songs and music presented by famous singers like Alain Vu Hoang My, Le Quyen, Nguyen Vinh Tien, Thu Thuy and “Tieng To Dong” band.

VCC has becomes a home to cultural activities of Vietnamese expats and French friends over the years.

Particularly, the centre hosted many cultural events in the France Year in Vietnam and Vietnam Year in France in 2013 and 2014, leaving deep impression on peoples of both countries.

The centre expects to conduct more activities and cultural exchanges in the coming time to promote its image, tighten bilateral ties between Vietnam and France, and attract more OVs to activities toward their homeland.

Hanoi to host Persian carpet exhibition

More than 200 high-quality Persian carpets hand-woven in the traditional way by Iranian artisans will be exhibited at Melia Hotel in Hanoi from November 21-23, announced by the Iran Embassy in Hanoi on November 14.

The second-of-its-kind exhibition will offer an insight into the 2,500-year-old handicraft of the people of Iran, through the introduction of two noted Iranian artisans, Bagher Seirafian and Amir Erami. They were named as the two best carpet weavers at the National Carpet Festival held in Tehran in August this year.

Ambassador to Vietnam Hossein Alvandi Behineh hoped the second carpet exhibition, following the successful one held here in 2009, will be an effective cultural event in the process.  

He revealed that the Iranian Embassy will host more cultural events in the coming time to boost bilateral friendship and cooperative relations.

Hanoi hosts photo exhibition “I Love My City”

A collection of photos taken by budding Vietnamese photographers,18-27,opened on November 11in Hanoi at the French Cultural Centre L' Espace.

Themed “I Love My City”, the collection provides insight into how youth are becoming more observant to their surroundings – a positive sign for future generations in Vietnam.

The project was first launched in 2010 by French photographer Nicolas Cornet, who worked in Vietnam since 1987 and published three photo books about Vietnam.

The event runs through December 6.

Workshop to highlight Dong Son Civilisation

The National Museum of History will host a workshop dedicated to Vietnam's Dong Son Civilisation (dating from 1,000BC to 100AD) on November 18.

Aiming to honour its significant historical and cultural value, the event will review all research achievements of scientists over the past 90 years since 1924, when the site of the ancient civilisation was first discovered in Dong Son Village, Ham Rong Ward, Thanh Hoa City in the central province of the same name.

The workshop will also unveil new discoveries and research on the culture.

Scientists of the Institute of Archaeology, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and the associations of Cultural Heritage and Historical Sciences, as well as cultural managers and museum experts will participate in the event.

The museum will also cooperate with the Hanoi Museum and provincial museums in Hung Yen, Lao Cai and Nghe An, besides Thanh Hoa and Yen Bai, to organise special displays about the Dong Son Culture from November 18, 2014 till April 2015.

The objects on display, including bronze drums, working tools and household goods, as well as weapons, music instruments and jewellery, will give visitors a deep insight into this ancient society that dates back more than 2,000 years.

Ancient labour tools discovered in Son La

Several stone objects suspected to be ancient tools and two rusty bronze axes were recently discovered in the northern mountainous province of Son La .

A farmer in Da Do Village in the commune of the same name in Phu Yen district found the objects at the shore of the Song Da reservoir where Da Do Stream flows into the lake.

The axes are about 85cm long with five-centimetre blades.

Bui Van Manh from the provincial museum said the Da Do Commune used to be an excavation site. It is at this site that Vietnamese archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old bronze jar, a typical item of the Red River civilisation.

Germany sponsors exhibition on Vietnamese culture

Germany will sponsor a special exhibition on Vietnamese culture which is scheduled for autumn 2016 in Herne City, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

With the approval of German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the exhibition will be held at the Nordrhein-Westfalen archaeological museum, focussing on culture and history of the Southeast Asia country from the Stone Age until now.

The highlight of the event will be archaeological finds from Thang Long Royal Citadel, many of them have not been exhibited overseas yet.

Invaluable artifacts, including ancient statues excavated at ancient temples, caves, sepulchres and Thang Long Royal Citadel will also be on display.

After Herne, the exhibits will be transferred to Chemnitz in Sachsen State and Mannheim in Baden-Wurttemberg State in 2017.

This is considered the most comprehensive exhibition on Vietnamese culture and archaeology in Germany so far.

Hanoi Int’l Film Festival to kick off its 3rd edition

The 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF) set for November 23-27 will showcase more than 130 films from 33 countries around the globe, including China, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Germany, France, the UK and US.

The festival is set to kick off at the Viet Xo Cultural Center, at 91 Tran Hung Dao, Hoan Kiem District, at 8pm on November 23 and will be aired live on national television VTV1 and VTV4.

Vietnamese movies to be screened at the festival include Diu Dang (Gentle), Nuoc (Water), Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai (Legend Makers), Song Cung Lich Su (Living with History) and Huong Ga (Perfume).

Nhung Nguoi Con Cua Lang (Children of the Village) and Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere) will vie for best feature film.

The short film category is also attracting many Vietnamese films, particularly Bac si Tran Duy Hung – Mot nguoi Ha Noi (Doctor Tran Duy Hung-A Hanoian) and Nho Cu Cai (Plucking radish).

Apart from screenings, HANIFF plans include a camp for young talents and an exhibition on advertising contexts of films and famous destinations in Vietnam.

Ha Noi to welcome New Year with Japanese festival

A Japanese cultural festival will be organised at Ha Noi's Giang Vo Exhibition Center to welcome the New Year at the end of December.

AKEOME! 2015 takes its name from ‘akemashite omedetou meaning ‘Happy New Year' in Japanese.

It will feature traditional Japanese decorations and carp lanterns.

Visitors can participate in activities to welcome the New Year like omikuji fortune-telling and buy souvenirs from Japan.

The festival hopes to attract young people and enhance friendship between the two countries.

HCM City to bustle with year-end festivities

Foreign and domestic visitors to HCM City will have the opportunity to attend several festivals between December and January.

According to the city's Department of Tourism, the festivals to be held at 23-9 Park in District 1 and Tan Son Nhat International Airport will feature sales of tourism products and food.

Around 500 retailers, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, and beauty care businesses will take part.

VNS/VOV/VNA