Young bands to rock city show

A dozen of young rock bands in town will perform at a Rock First Season: Halloween Season show comprising of Halloween-themed fun activities and shopping at Cargo Bar in HCMC from 11 a.m. to midnight tomorrow.

The bands include NYN, Walking Toys, The Bugi, Another Think, and Feed The Bill who will excite the audience with numerous genres of rock like hardcore, hard rock, alternative, metalcore and pop punk.

Guests will be able to take part in BMX cycling, skateboarding, bike show and graffiti, just a few to be named.

The organizer - HCMC-based Dynamic Life Ltd. - expects to woo 1,000 guests to the rock event.

In June this year, Dynamic Life cooperated with Rock Viet Scene for a Hardcore United rock show at 3A Station with an aim to help young musicians to show their talent and develop local rock music.

Tickets of the event are priced at VND125,000 per person. The bar is located at 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4.

Further information can be found at the Facebook page of Rock First Motion: Halloween Season.

A glimpse of Hanoi

Hanoi-based artist Nguyen Huy An will start a solo installation exhibition entitled ‘78 bridge spans’ at Galerie Quynh this Thursday for art lovers in HCMC to get a better understanding of Hanoi.

At the exhibition, An uses black threads to feature the streets in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, collects dust on Vinh Tuy Bridge for an original work and uses a stack of paper to build a structure of Keangnam building. Via his works, the artist wants to show visitors how modernization affects people and their psychology.

An’s works also reflect the struggle between nostalgia for nature and an endless desire for fast development of human beings as well as different social and political contexts he has experienced.

An picked the best from his latest series of artworks made in the past ten years for the exhibition, which is supported by the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF).

Born in Hanoi in 1982, An has joined a number of exhibitions and performance art festivals in France, Singapore, Norway and Japan as well as HCMC and Hanoi.

The exhibition will run until November 22 at Galerie Quynh, 65 De Tham Street in HCMC’s District 1.

Photo contest for youth launched in Hanoi

Photo lovers will have a chance to show their love of Hanoi through a photo contest themed “I love my city, my people” that launched on October 25 by the city government on its official website.

The contest is open to young talented photographers aged 18-27 and the city will receive entrants’ works from October 28-November 2.

The jury board of the event includes well-known French photographer Nicolas Cornet, Maika Elan, and Binh Dang.

Outstanding contestants will advance to the second phase of the competition, called the 48h Hours Photo Marathon.

The winning works will feature at an exhibition set to take place from November 25-December 6.

Int’l workshop on Nguyen Du-Truyen Kieu opens in RoK

An international workshop on poet Nguyen Du and Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) has been jointly held by the Korea-Vietnam cultural exchange association and Chosun University in Gwangju city, the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The event was part of activities in a move towards the celebrations of Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du’s 250th birthday (1765-1820) and the UNSECO’s recognition of the poet as the world’s cultural celebrity.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Pham Huu Chi spoke highly the contributions by the association and RoK scholars, particularly Professor Ahn Kyong-Hwan who translated Truyen Kieu into the Korean language.

He emphasised the prospects for cultural cooperation between two countries.

A number of reports on the work were presented at the workshop with a view to bringing Korean readers closer to cultural values of the masterpiece and the poet.

The work is an epic poem in the Nom (old Vietnamese characters). Originally entitled “Doan Truong Tan Thanh”, it recounts the life of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman who had to sacrifice herself to save her family.

The masterpiece has been translated into over 20 foreign languages so far.

Nguyen Du was recognised by the World Peace Council as one of the world’s cultural celebrities in 1965.

Japan donates technical equipment to Youth Theatre

A package of audio and lighting equipment worth US$83,000 has been handed over to the Youth Theatre as part of the Japanese Government’s non-refundable aid to Vietnam.

The handover ceremony took place on October 28 in the presence of Japanese Envoy Yanagi Jun, Youth Theatre Director Truong Nhuan and Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien.

According to Youth Theatre Director Nhuan, the equipment package includes speakers, spotlights and wireless microphones, among others.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister Bien said audio and lighting equipment played an important role in the success of performing arts programmes.

He added that the Japanese Government’s assistance to this area made a significant contribution to strengthening the ties between Vietnam and Japan.

Earlier, Youth Theatre Director Nhuan and Japanese chargé d'affaires ad interim Hideo Suzuki signed an agreement to help the theatre upgrade their technical equipment and enhance management skills.

In addition, the Japan Foundation covered the entire fees for a short training course in Japan from March to July this year for 15 actors, actresses, directors, artists and technicians of Youth Theatre and the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema.

HCM City concert to feature two hit contemporary dances

The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera's free monthly programme to educate younger generations about music and dance, Giai Dieu Tre (Young Melodies), will this month feature two popular contemporary dances.

One is Sai Gon Sau Giac Ngu (While Sai Gon is sleeping) by well-known choreographer Raymond Esterhuizen, which was performed by HBSO Ballet at the 2014 Korea Art Festival Busan.

The other is Danh Mat va Tim Lai (Lost and Found) by young choreographers Nguyen Phuc Hai and Nguyen Phuc Hung. The dance about the joys and sorrows of love premiered last July.

The show will take place at the Opera House at 8pm today.