HA NOI — Representatives of the city of Chengdu in China's Sichuan Province signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism co-operation in Ha Noi on Wednesday.
The MoU encourages co-operation and exchanges between travel agents of the cities of Ha Noi and Chengdu, including joint development and promotion of tours and linking of tourism websites.
Sichuan is the largest province in China with 88 million people, of whom 13 million live in the province's capital city. The city has an annual per-capita income of over US$5,000.
The expanded Ha Noi has nearly 1,300 trade villages, including 285 traditional craft villages, to attract tourists, according to Ha Noi People's Committee vice chairwoman Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, and the city was planning to hold an exhibition in Chengdu this year to launch the co-operation programme.
British Council teaches festival organisation skills
Ha Noi — The British Council is holding a training course on festival organisation and management in the central city of Hue, the second of its kind the British Council has held in Viet Nam, following its first course in Ha Noi in March.
The three-day course ending on Sunday is designed for festival organisers and cultural administrator from Ha Noi, Hue, and HCM City, as well as the provinces of Quang Nam, Da Nang and Binh Thuan. Arts experts from the UK and Indonesia are discussing how to prepare and organise an art festival and contemporary trends in arts festival.
The course is part of a project of the British Council and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism being carried out through 2012. The project aims to increase arts management skills, promote cultural exchange, and increase co-operative programmes in festival organisation between the two countries.
Artist's solo exhibition tickles the viewers fancy
HA NOI — A solo exhibition of the irreverent, witty and provocative works by artist Nguyen Nghia Cuong will open at the Art Viet Nam Gallery today.
Cuong once again delights in provoking the audience to laughter with his gleeful humour and whimsical view of life expressed on canvas. "Laughter is the most beautiful music in our life, an endless field of laughter's: a loud laugh, a muffled laugh, a happy laugh, a laugh with tears, a belly roaring laugh, a split-one's-side laugh," he muses. All are expressed in his creative, playful works.
His kaleidoscope of colour provokes the images to jump off their canvases and spring to life. The artist's intent is to delight and prod the audience to mirthful laughter, says Suzanne Lecht, the gallery's director.
Cuong has exhibited his works in France, Australia, Singapore, South Korea and the US. His show will run until July 5 at the Art Vietnam Gallery, 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, Ha Noi. — VNS