Thứ Hai, 21 tháng 1, 2008
HCM City puppet troupe marks 30th anniversary of foundation
The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City awarded certificates of merit to members of the Ho Chi Minh City Puppet Troupe who have made outstanding contribution in the puppet art at the ceremony celebrating 30th anniversary of the foundation of the troupe yesterday.The Department of Culture and Information of the city also gave badges to 25 individuals who have worked have a strong attachment to the troupe for many years.
The Ho Chi Minh City Puppet Troupe has attracted the public with nearly 300 plays and toured to the remote areas across the country during 30 years.
The troupe also traveled to foreign countries including Canada, the U.S, Singapore, Thailand, China and others to introduce the Vietnamese typical kind of art.
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Michael Cherito - + 84.903454427. Email : trafest@trafest.com
www.trafest.comLargest M’Nong-Viet dictionary published in Dak Nong
The province of Dak Nong has published a M’Nong-Viet dictionary with over 10,000 words for the first time, after two years of doing research and editing printed material. This is considered the biggest M’Nong dictionary in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands).
The dictionary was designed to build a system of standard M’Nong letters so that they can be used widely in the mass media, particularly, in the M’Nong community, particularly by Vietnamese teaching and learning the M’Nong language at boarding schools.
The dictionary would contribute to increasing the quality of education, preserving the history and culture of the M’Nong ethnic group, and improving the material and spiritual lives of the M’Nong and other ethnic minority people living in the Central Highlands.
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Michael Cherito - + 84.903454427. Email : trafest@trafest.com
www.trafest.comAge-old architecture
According to a French researcher in the 1930s double roof houses only existed in the central Binh Dinh and Quang Tri provinces.
New research has also uncovered the houses in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.
New discovery
More than 70 years ago, Pierre Gourou, a French expert in geology and humanities who worked for the Vien Vien Dong Bac Co (French School of the Far East), conducted a survey on houses in Vietnam.
The survey focused on the north and middle areas of the central region, from Thanh Hoa to Binh Dinh provinces, aiming to differentiate between the two architectural styles on opposite sides of the Gianh River.
In his study, the French scientist asserted that double-roof houses were concentrated in Binh Dinh and Quang Tri provinces.
It was not until the year 2000 that painter Nguyen Thuong Hy from the Quang Nam Province’s Center for Heritage and Relic Preservation, who has 30 years experience in measuring and drawing ancient houses, discovered many double-roof houses built before the 1940s in Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh, Tam Ky and Tien Phuoc districts.
The prize of the find—Nguyen Huynh Anh’s house in Tien Phuoc— is over 120 years old and well-preserved by generations of the family.
The residence gained particular notoriety after Anh refused to sell it to Ngo Dinh Diem, the Saigon regime’s president from 1955-1963.
In a recent survey on architecture in Vietnam’s rural areas, experts from the Vietnam Institute of Architecture Research unearthed many double-roof houses aged between 70-100 years on Ly Son Island of Quang Ngai Province.
They also discerned that the roofs of houses here are steeper than those of houses in Quang Nam.
Modern adaptations
According to experts, double-roof houses reflect the local style of architecture.
On the southern bank of the Gianh River, the roofs point south-ward and bear a cross-inheritance between the Vietnamese and Cham people.
Most houses are built in areas with the sultriest weather far from water sources and tile kilns, especially in Quang Nam which abounds with jackfruit wood and has many skillful carpenters.
Since the 1940s, the double-roofs of many houses in Quang Nam have been changed.
The upper thatch-roof and lower earth-roof are replaced by tile roofs.
House-owners change the roofs to avoid fire because these age-old houses of jackfruit wood are prone to burn due to carelessness and lightning.
The clay walls have been replaced by other materials.
With their historical and cultural values, double-roof houses represent a unique artifact of the central region.
This style of architecture, now in danger of vanishing, should be carefully preserved for future generations to enjoy.
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Michael Cherito - + 84.903454427. Email : trafest@trafest.com
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Main activities of Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in 2008
One of the main tasks of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in 2008 is to prepare for the exhibition on Southeast Asian cultures, including collecting objects and documents in Myanmar, Brunei and Singapore, and preparing the texts for displays and the lighting system.
The museum is currently focusing on collecting photos and videos related to 7 exhibit subjects (textiles, everyday life, social life, handicraft, manuscripts, art performances, and religion of Southeast Asian peoples – except Vietnam). Life and cultural aspects that connect to real objects are also needed. Initially, tens of books and approximately 200 pages of documents and 150 photos have been found through searching in libraries and the Internet.
In 2008, the museum will also organize other exhibitions on Lai Xa village and modern religious culture in Vietnam, activities during the traditional Tet holiday, Mid-autumn festival, and water puppetry performances.
In addition, the museum will continue to implement projects to preserve objects and photos, and preserve and promote heritages in the museum.
The museum has been collecting objects relating to the highway No 9 in the stystem of the East-West economic corridor, which passes through Vietnam’s central Quang Tri province and Lao’s Savanakhet province. In Quang Tri province, a delegation from the museum will work with three ethnic minority groups, including Bru-Van Kieu, Ta-oi and Kinh in Da Krong, Huong Hoa and Cam Lo districts. In Savanakhet, they will work with several ethnic villages of Tri, Ma-coong, Ca-tang, Xuoi, Phu Thay and Laos in Se Pon, Muong Phin, Phalaxay and Se No districts. These working trips will research the effects of the Highway No 9 on economic and socio-cultural life to prepare for an exhibition at the museum in 2009. Earlier, four such trips were carried out.
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Michael Cherito - + 84.903454427. Email : trafest@trafest.com
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