Vietnam Culture & People

Anyone who ever visited Mai Chau in Hoa Binh Province never forgets the rolling landscape or the friendly, charming nature of the local Thai and Mong people.

Mai Chau Lodge is a four-star hotel which was built in the style of a typical house-on stilts of the Thai ethnic people in the Mai Chau Valley. From the window of the hotel, one can behold the beauty of peaceful hamlets, green lakes, romantic hillsides and the ever stretching rice fields swaying in the fresh mountain breeze.

Lac and Pom Coong Hamlets are typical of Thai minority communities. The houses are built on stilts, 1.5m above the ground, having bamboo floors and roofs made from Goi or May leaves. The area under the house is usually reserved for livestock, but for the sake of the tourists, at some houses this area has been converted into a souvenir shop flaunting items such as shawls, dresses, bags, purses, brocade cloths and multi-colour cloth balls skilfully made by Thai ethnic people. In some houses tourists can witness local women diligently working at a loom, weaving colourful brocade fabric. Also, a visit to a local hamlet is not complete without trying the famous Can wine (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes) that is made from sticky rice, Hinh ho leaf, Meo leaf and ginger that fascinates any visitor.

Continuing on to the tour with the next destination of Hang Kia Commune, tourists will enjoy melodious tunes of flute and mingle in the life of locals at Pa Co market where they can buy typical products of Mong ethnic people as presents for relatives and friends. Then they will visit Mo Luong Cave which is famous for mysterious stalactites in different shapes of flowers and springs.

Tourists are encouraged to stay at homes of local families and enjoy a special artistic programme with fascinating dances and songs of Thai ethnic people. After dances of gongs, Xoe, Gia gao and Xoe quat, they will be invited to participate in a Sap dance with the locals. Overnight stays in homes floating on the lake are also available, where one can take in a gorgeous sunrise and enjoy the clean and pure atmosphere of the early morning.

 Story: Bich Van

Photos: Thong Thien - Copyright © Vietnam Pictorial

After over six hours, more than 400 students completed a mural of over 100m length and1.5m width, the longest environmental painting in Vietnam. 

Hundreds of students who are members of 20 Go Green clubs gathered at Hanoi University of Technology in the morning of November 29 to take part.

The mural, 112 meters long and 1.5 meters tall, broke the previous record for the longest painting in Vietnam. The first record was set in Nha Trang with a 100-meter long, 1.4-meter high mural.

The new painting highlights the problems of global warming, air pollution, and logging; as well as environmental solutions for a greener future. In addition to illustrating environmental problems, students were encouraged to express hopes for a better, more beautiful future in the images they created. 

 The Record Environment Painting Festival was co-organized by Toyota Vietnam, the General Department of Environment and the Ministry of Education and Training to raise awareness amongst youth about protecting the country’s environment.

The event also featured several games and music performances, which encouraged young people to become environmental advocates.

VietNamNet/SGGP/VNE

In real life and on canvas they compliment each other, capturing the imagination with contrasting styles

One dabbles in "hotly" coloured daily life while the other remembers war and soldiers in grey and black.

But in real life and on canvas, they complement each other.

Pop art: Veteran artist Dang Thi Duong is interested in portraying landscapes, girls, flowers and animals, which capture people’s dreams and passions.

The painters, Dang Thi Duong and her husband, Phan Oanh, work on canvas, acrylic and sketches.

While Duong worked as a teacher at the HCM City University of Fine Arts, Oanh, a former soldier, was the director of the Southwest Region’s Armed Forces Museum.

After several years of living and working in HCM City, the couple decided to work together on a joint exhibition titled Dau Cham va Duong Thang (Point and Line).

The show has more than 200 works of different materials, many of them on canvas and do paper (a kind of traditional handmade paper). Although their paintings deal with different topics, the couple say they are united in wanting to express their love and memories of life and people through their art.

"Through my work, I hope viewers will be able to see and feel their life and love accompanied by memories of the past, making them think about how they should live in the present and the future," said Oanh, who spent more than 40 years in the battlefield.

Born in 1949 in Hai Phong but living in HCM City, Oanh joined the army during the American War to portray images of soldiers.

He had had several personal and selected group exhibitions in France, South Korea and Japan "but only in Viet Nam did I find myself meeting with viewers", Oanh said, adding that this time he was very eagerly awaiting the response of art lovers in HCM City.

The highlights of his works include Rung Sac (The Sac Forest) and Phong Tuyen Vi Xuyen (Vi Xuyen Defence Line), both sketches that capture the courage of soldiers. "I find an unlimited source of inspiration in soldiers," the 60-year old artist said. "My works convey my soul, imagination and memories of my time in war." Unlike her husband, Duong is more interested in portraying landscapes, girls, flowers and animals.

For her, these simple things capture people’s dreams and passions.

The artist is unrestrained in her expressions. Her works exude a child-like love and enthusiasm for people and life.

"I always see life and art with fresh eyes," Duong said.

Duong said she shared with her husband the deepest thoughts and love for their homeland, Viet Nam.

"Through [our] paintings, we hope visitors can also share their memories with us," she said

She believes in art as a unifying force, bringing people together.

A master graduate in fine arts from the HCM City Fine Arts’ University, she’s held several solo and group exhibitions in Viet Nam and abroad.

Duong believes that the art brings people together.

The exhibition will remain open until November 15 at the Fine Arts Museum, 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1, HCM City.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

The History and Revolution Museum of Thua Thien - Hue province, has received a set of rare wood blocks with stories to tell.

During a field trip to take photos of pagodas in Hue, researchers from the Cultural Research Institute in Hue discovered a set of 54 wood blocks in the Thien Hoa pagoda in Thuy Xuan commune, Thua Thien – Hue province.

Nguyen Phuoc Bao Dan from the Cultural Research Institute’s Hue branch said that this set of wood blocks was made from the early 20^th century to 1945. Nearly the entire spiritual activities of Hue people are described in this set of wood blocks, from soil worshipping to star worship. There are also Buddhist holidays documented as well as prayers.

Some of the blocks are carved with Chinese scripts, some with Nom scripts and some with a modern Vietnamese scripts.

The most unique wood blocks are spells to expel demons.

Cao Huy Hung, director of the Thua Thien – Hue History and Revolution Museum, said the blocks are a basis for cultural researchers to learn about Hue’s folk culture.

The museum is about to print the content of the 54 blocks as part of an exhibition about Hue’s spiritual and cultural life.

VietNamNet/Dan Tri

A cartoon competition with the theme of Ha Noi traffic has been launched in the capital with the announcement that a Bamboo Dragon cup would be presented to the winner as well as cash prizes.

The name came from the drama Bamboo Dragon, by president Ho Chi Minh, who was the pioneer of the Vietnamese press cartoon.

The Viet Nam Press Cartoon II competition is the second of its kind open to Vietnamese and foreign amateurs and professional cartoonists living in Viet Nam.

It would be a chance to show the cartoonists view of the traffic, said Ngo Ha Thai, deputy general director of the Vietnam News Agency.

"The first contest was welcomed by veteran and young cartoonists alike," Thai said. "Some veterans had given up cartoon drawing but they eagerly took part."

Contestants can enter up to 10 cartoons at least 210mmx297mm in size and no bigger that 297mmx420mm.

The final and winning works will be published in a book and displayed in a exhibition early next year. They will be on www.thethaovanhoa.vn/biemhoa for voting.

The jury board will include veteran cartoonists, journalists and critics, who will award a first prize, two second prizes, three third prizes and five consolation prizes. The prizes total VND60million (US$3,260).

The biennial competition is funded by the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund of the Danish government and the Ford Foundation. Last year, it attracted 99 entrants and 900 cartoons.

Entries can be sent to the Culture&Sport office, 33 Le Thanh Tong street, Ha Noi, by January 2 next year. Phone 04.38248602 for further information.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News