Top Chef Vietnam to premiere

Sixteen professional chefs will compete against each other in a brand new soap opera called Top Chef Vietnam scheduled for 8 p.m. every Sunday on HTV7 from November 23.

Top Chef Vietnam is a reality competition show for professional chefs based on the format of U.S. Top Chef which has been broadcast by Bravo cable television since 2006.

Overtaking other participants in the audition rounds held across the country, 16 contenders of Top Chef Vietnam include chefs coming from hotels and restaurants and those in gastronomy-related fields. The competition attracts the participation of overseas Vietnamese people from other nations such as Indonesia and Singapore.

Each contender will be eliminated after one episode and the final chef will become the winner. Each episode lasting 45 minutes will feature two parts Quickfire Challenge and Elimination.

After the elimination challenge ends, the chefs are required to present and introduce their dishes to the judges. Then the judging panel will taste and decide who has to leave the competition. The remaining three chefs will compete in the final episode which will not feature Quickfire Challenge.

One-time model Thuy Hanh will host Top Chef Vietnam. The judging panel consists of Robert Danhi, Anh Le and Alain Nguyen.

Robert Danhi is a lecturer at the Culinary Institute of America and director of Mortar & Press. Chef Anh Le is the owner of LêLê restaurant chain located in the Danish city of Copenhagen and the author of two books LêLê’s Street Kitchen and LêLê’s Green Kitchen. Chef Alain Nguyen, who graduated from FTSR Ferrandi, the French School of Culinary Arts in Paris, has many years of experience working for luxurious hotels and restaurants in Paris and assumes a number of positions at Vietnam’s high-class resorts such as Victoria Sapa, Victoria Phan Thiet and Anantara Muine Phan Thiet.

The winner of Top Chef Vietnam will receive VND500 million. In addition, the winner in each episode will be awarded VND20 million.

Paris exhibition honours Vietnamese people in World War I

Vietnamese people in the First World War (1914-1918) is the highlight of a photo exhibition being held in Paris from November 19 to December 30.

On display are more than 100 documentary photos depicting the working and living conditions of the first Vietnamese who were brought to France by the French colonial government in the early 20th century to serve the war.

Historian Pierre Brocheux introduced the historical context since nearly 100,000 Vietnamese people, mainly from poor areas of Vietnam, were sent to France together with 240,000 colonial soldiers from Africa and Indochina.

The Vietnamese expatriates had to work in weapon and gunpowder factories clean up battlefields and carry wounded soldiers, and even had to join the combat, he added.

Researcher Francois Trieu, who spent four months to collect and study documentary photos, described the exhibition as a “spiritual responsibility” to pay tribute to the deceased.

The event is organised by the Vietnamese Association in France.

Old Quarter celebrates Viet Nam Heritage Day over four days

A four-day carnival of cultural activities will dot the streets of Ha Noi's Old Quarter to celebrate Viet Nam's Heritage Day, officially on November 23.

Free ca tru (traditional ceremonial music) shows at Kim Ngan Temple on Hang Bac Street began last night and will continue tonight. The music is an accompaniment to the temple's collection of photos featuring old Ha Noi that will stay mounted from today till December 31.

For the more adventurous or textile inclined, an exhibition of traditional yem – brassieres of northern Vietnamese women – will be held at Dong Lac Temple on Hang Dao Street till the end of the year.

Late composer Son's songs given new life in chillout albums

Two chillout music albums featuring late composer Trinh Cong Son's songs highlighting the Central Highlands and the forest was introduced to the public early this month.

Rung Xua Da Khep (Old Forest Has Closed) and Hoa Am Cua Dai Ngan (Jungle Harmony) are arranged and produced by composer Vo Thien Thanh, who is known for producing chillout and electronic music albums.

Rung Xua Da Khep includes 10 love songs popular among local and foreign audiences like Ha Trang (White Summer), Phoi Pha (Fading), and Toi Ru Em Ngu (Sing You to Sleep).

They are sung by female pop stars Phuong Vy, Thao Trang, Nguyen Thao, Khanh Linh and Lan Huong.

Composer Thanh said: "I have worked hard for years to make the album to make Trinh Cong Son's music become easy to listen to".

Hoa Am Cua Dai Ngan features 10 famous works depicting the beauty of Viet Nam's forests and the Central Highlands, including five songs composed by Thanh.

It highlights Ngon Lua Cao Nguyen (Highlands' Flame) composed by Tran Tien, Binh Minh Tren Cao Nguyen (Dawn on the Highlands) by Thanh, and Ly Ca Phe Ban Me (Ban Me Coffee Cup) by Nguyen Cuong.

The songs are presented by talented singers Ha Anh Tuan, Xuan Lan and Hong Ngan.

"Two albums are the combination of Vietnamese signature music with electronic music that are hoped to bring new feelings to audience when listening to such familiar songs," Thanh said.

Thanh, a native of the central province of Binh Thuan, began studying music at the HCM City Conservation of Music in 1993, and then started composing songs.

Since 2000, Thanh has been known among young people for his songs, including Tieng Rao (Street Cry), Ban Toi (My Friend) and Tinh 2000 (Love in 2000).

In 2006, he wrote songs and produced the electronic and dance album Thien Dang (Paradise) for pop star Thu Minh, receiving praise from audiences and critics.

He was granted the Cong Hien (Devotion) Award for the Composer of the Year given by The Thao &Van Hoa (Sports and Culture) daily at the same year.

In 2013, Thanh produced Pham Thu Ha's debut album Classic Meets Chillout, which helped her win Devotion Award for the Album of the Year.

The Danish Embassy in Hanoi has organized a contest called Climate Change in Photography in an effort to raise public awareness on environmental protection and negative impacts of climate change.

The competition attracted thousands of entries across the country with 118 of them belonging to photographers aged between 18 and 35 chosen. The jury comprising Micheal Daugaard from Denmark, Maika Elan from Saigon and Nguyen Hoai Linh from Hanoi will pick the best three photos for the awards.

Prize category includes a grand prize worth US$2,500, and one smartphone prize and one people choice’s prize each worth VND6 million. These 118 photos are now being displayed at Nha San Collective (24 Ly Quoc Su St., Hanoi) and Sao La Gallery of the HCMC Fine Arts Museum (97 Pho Duc Chinh St., HCMC) until this Friday.

The pictures recreated the adverse influences of climate change that make viewers feel startled because nature is severely devastated. On the other hand, some photos also manifest the natural beauty and environmental protection.

“In a fast developing world we are constantly faced with the consequences of climate change and environmental issues. The purpose of this contest is to explore how these issues and consequences are perceived and expressed in photography” said Danish Ambassador to Vietnam John Nielsen in a statement.

More Korean books to be published in Vietnam soon

Local and Korean experts last week had an exchange on literature of the two countries and to promote Korean books in Vietnam in the near future.

The event was held in HCMC with the participation of the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, and the HCMC Van Hoa Van Nghe Publishing House.

According to Huynh Thi Xuan Hanh, director of the publishing house, Vietnam is one of the target destinations of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea to promote its literature to the world. Thus, in near future the publishing house will release many novels by Korean authors in Vietnam and Vietnamese works will be published in Korea as well.

The meeting featured two popular writers, Nguyen Ngoc Tu from Vietnam and Kim Young Ha from Korea, whose books were adapted into successful feature films. The book “Canh dong bat tan” by Nguyen Ngoc Tu which was translated into in Korean in 2007 was her first work to be published overseas. She didn’t believe that one day she could tell the world her book about life in a remote village in Vietnam.

Kim Young Ha’s books have been translated into English, French, Spanish and Polish and he has been invited to write for the International New York Times. He shared with local media that he had a special connection with Vietnam when his book was translated into Vietnamese. His father took lots of pictures in Vietnam and bought local souvenirs to send to Korea for family during his time in Vietnam’s battlefield in 1960. Thus, Kim had many memories of Vietnam since he was a child.

Six styles in ‘The Chain’

As many as 20 paintings by five local artists Nguyen An, Do Nhu Tran Ngoc Tuan, Nguyen Pham Dinh Tuan, Truong The Linh and Le Truong Thanh are being displayed in a group exhibition ‘The Chain’ at Tu Do Gallery in HCMC’s District 1.

The show has been inspired from the idea that the society is formed by many chains linking people, organizations and stories of the community and individuals. Therefore, artists depict human fates swept away by chains of the past, present and future.

In An’s paintings, people live with past memories and ignore the present while Ngoc Tuan seeks some light for dark corners in human’s souls. Dinh Tuan, affected by pop-art style, presents his distress about destinies of miserable girls in fabulous dresses, a lonely man with a dog or strangers sitting together in silence.

Linh shows off scratches imprinted in skinny statures, mournful faces and insight battles of soul and body. Thanh takes visitors to familiar images in urban life in Speaker, Flowers and Red Streaks.

The show will run until November 28 at the gallery, 53 Ho Tung Mau Street in HCMC’s District 1.

Hanoi braces for Italian fashion exhibition

With Vietnam gaining a reputation in the international fashion arena, the Centre of Italian Culture and Brands in Hanoi has decided to host an exhibition featuring the latest designs of iconic Raffaella Curiel.

The exhibition taking place November 24-December 7 will showcase 22 of her best costumes, which highlight the eclectic socialism of her artistic creative resources while creating a rich collection and unforgettable style.

Born in 1943 near Trieste, Raffaella Curiel had fashion in her blood. Her mother Gigliola owned a famous atelier in her native city, which had gained her notoriety between the aristocrats of her time. She was the first to take the Italian ready-to-wear fashion to the USA, with her ‘Curiellino’, a casual dress women could wear all-day long.

The exhibition has been organized by the Embassy of Italy in Vietnam to coincide with the occasion of Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Benedetto Della Vedova’s visit to Vietnam.