Italian cities to join in Ha Noi’s 1,000th birthday celebrations

Authorities of Italy’s Florence province and its cities of Trento, Milan and Genoa have pledged to actively celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of capital Ha Noi.
The cities and province will hold cultural activities from now until the grand ceremony on October 10.

Florence will hold a photo exhibition in May on the province’s former Mayor Giorgio La Pira, who represented the UN General Assembly to Ha Noi for peace talks with President Ho Chi Minh in November 1965.
The province has also invited a water puppet troupe from Viet Nam to perform in October.
Many other activities aimed at promoting cultural and trade ties between Florence and Ha Noi, as well as Viet Nam in general, will also take place in the near future.

Northern Trento city plans to send its popular child chorus to Ha Noi on this occasion.

Milan decided to send its orchestra of La Scala theatre to Viet Nam, while Genoa set up a committee to support the anniversary of Ha Noi.

Vietnamese short films to be screened in Los Angeles

Five Vietnamese short films will be chosen for screening at the 5th Cinema Symposium at the University of California at Los Angeles on April 18.

Organised every other year by the Vietnamese-American Arts&Letters Association and Vietnamese Language&Culture, the Cinema Symposium promotes Vietnamese or Viet Nam-related cinema.

Directors from Viet Nam or of Vietnamese origin have been invited to submit films about Viet Nam of no more than five minutes in length, subtitled in English and uploaded to youtube.com.

Each contestant can submit multiple films, but each film must be accompanied by an application which may be obtained from www.vietfilmfest.com and submitted to vietfilmfest@yahoo.com by March 15.

Publishers issue 500 titles for Ha Noi anniversary

Five publishing houses, including the People’s Army, Youth and Social Science publishing companies have jointly published about 500 books simultaneously in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi this year.

The books have been published under five major topics: the 120th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh; 35 years since the liberation of the south in 1975, Vietnamese culture, the geography of Viet Nam and the 1,000th anniversary of the capital.

A total of over 500,000 books will be distributed nationally, making it the largest ever publishing event in the country’s history.

Dak Lak hosts festival of arts, music and games

More than 600 artisans from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak took part in a Culture and Sports Festival which was held earlier this week in Buon Ma Thuot city to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the city’s liberation.

Gong and dance performances were staged by 14 ethnic troupes. The artists, dressed in traditional costumes, sang, danced, and played traditional instruments like the cong and chieng (gong).

Ancient Cham tower discovered in Binh Thuan 

An ancient Cham tower has been discovered in Ban Binh district in the southern province of Binh Thuan, said Nguyen Xuan Ly, director of the provincial museum.

The tower’s base is nearly intact. The main part of the tower is 4m high and 14m long. According to experts, it dates from the 9th century.

The tower’s construction is similar in style to the Pashanu Cham tower in Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province, experts said.

Earlier, officials from the provincial museum discovered a Cham tower in Ham Thuan Bac district that dates from the 11th century.

Japan helps to upgrade animal museum 

Japan will provide funding for a project on upgrading displays and audiovisual equipment for the museum of animals of the University of Natural Sciences.

According to an agreement inked on March 5 between Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Sakaba Mitsuo and the university’s Principal Bui Duy Cam, Japan will provide a maximum in capital of US$67,181 for the upgrade.

The university museum’s collection now includes invaluable specimens of thousands of types of animals, including 3,000 mammals, 3,400 birds, 2,000 insects, 5,000 amphibians and 10,000 species of fish.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Sakaba said he expected the project would help improve the conservation and display of the animal specimens, making the museum a more popular destination for visitors.

Exhibition highlighting Vietnamese women opens in Hanoi

An exhibition showcasing films that highlight the image of Vietnamese women in wartime and in the process of national reconstruction opened on March 5 in Hanoi.

The exhibition at the Vietnam Women’s Museum displays 28 posters and 120 pictures showcasing Vietnam’s 136 most outstanding movies produced since 1959.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the museum launched its website at www.baotangphunu.org.vn (or www.womenmuseum.org.vn ) and unveiled a picture entitled “ Vietnam beauty” made of scraps of fabric. The picture vividly portrays the images of women from all 54 ethnic groups in traditional costume.

The exhibition will be open through April 5.

PV