Art & Entertainment News Headlines 21/2 Concert celebrates late composer Son The Institute of Cultural Exchange with France on February 28 will host a concert featuring compositions by late musician Trinh Cong Son. Ha Noi's singer Giang Trang, who has released two albums highlighting Son's music, will perform along with guitarist Nguyen Van Tuan and contrabassist Minh Duc. The show will begin at 8pm at 31 Thai Van Lung Street in District 1. Canadian singer to perform in HCM City Canadian composer, vocalist and pianist Mary Ancheta will perform at the Boudoir Lounge of Sofitel Saigon Plaza from February 25 to May 4. She taught piano at the Ontario Conservatory of Music. Ancheta also played at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, as well as venues in Asia, Middle East, North America and Europe. The shows will start from 8pm daily, except Mondays. The hotel is at17 Le Duan Street in District 1. Melting Pot Festival features art, dance The Saigon Outcast will hold the Melting Pot Art Festival on February 22 and 23,featuring exhibitions featuring illustrations, woodcut prints, photos, clothing and handmade accessories by expat and local artists and organisations. Live music and dance will be performed at the event, which will raise money to buy musical instruments for local orphanages. The festival will open from 1pm to 10pm each day at 188/1 Nguyen Van Huong Street in District 2.  Top model Hoang Thuy shines in London   The winner of Vietnam Next Top Model 2011, Hoang Thuy, has made a great impression on audiences at the 2014 London Fashion Week. In her latest photo shoot, Hoang Thuy’s effortless beauty made even casual wear appear both dynamic and stylish. The Vietnamese model has since been overwhelmed with invitations from famous designers, including Palmer Harding, Haizhen Wang, and Jean Pierre Braganza, asking her to model their collections at high profile fashion shows. “I am seizing great opportunities to develop my career,” Hoang Thuy confided. Thuy’ unique Asian beauty stood out and immediately captured the attention of foreign fashion designers and international audiences. Japanese garden retreat to open in HCM City A Japanese-style garden, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, will open in HCM City on March 2. Based on Japanese materials and culture, the 20,000sq.m Rin Rin Park (Tung Son Thach Hoa Vien) in Hoc Mon District combines rocks, water and plants, offering a tranquil retreat in the heart of the city. Hundreds of bonsai trees, 4,000 tonnes of rocks of different sizes and colours, and an outdoor pond with 200 Japanese Koi fish have been arranged by a Japanese artisan and more than 100 Vietnamese workers. Ngo Chanh, the garden's owner, an overseas Vietnamese who lived in Japan for 31 years, said that he spent seven years preparing materials for the construction, which took seven months to complete. "Vietnamese visitors will understand more about Japanese culture as they enjoy a Japanese-style green space as well as unique Japanese cuisine offered in the food court," Chanh said. The Viet Nam Association for Ornamental Creatures has chosen the garden as the venue for the International Ornamental Creatures Contest in the Asia-Pacific region in 2015. VN-Korean language final to be held on Saturday Nineteen Vietnamese and Korean students will compete in the final round of the Vietnamese and Korean Language Speaking Contest at Da Nang's Trung Vuong Theatre on Saturday. The final round, which is being jointly organised by the central city's Union of Friendship Organisations and the Viet Nam-Korea Cultural Exchange Centre, will include a question and answer session and eloquence in both languages. The winner will walk away with US$1,500 in each division, while a special prize of $2,000 will be presented to the best Korean student. It's the seventh edition of the contest which has drawn the participation of Vietnamese and Korean students studying in different colleges in Viet Nam. An offbeat way to spend lunch If you want to have your lunch break in style, join the first-ever Lunch Beat in Ha Noi, an offbeat way to spend your lunch hour, on Thursday, February 27. Lunch Beat began in Stockholm in the summer of 2010 when a group of 14 friends decided to dance their lunch breaks away in their office garage. After four years, the event has become a worldwide phenomenon, organised in more than 90 cities worldwide. Ha Noi's first-ever Lunch Beat will be hosted at the Swedish Embassy, on 2 Nui Truc Street. DJ Tung Do will stir up the dance hall with his great music. Vegetarian sandwiches and soft drinks will also be served during the one-hour event. The Lunch Beat will start at 12pm. To join the event, contact camilla.bjelkas@gov.se or lam.pham.tung@gov.se before Friday, February 21. Full agenda for movie goers The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD) will present Crash (USA, 2004) and In a Better World (Denmark, 2010) in the second week of Oscar film month. Tackling the subject of racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California, Crash won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing in 2006. In a Better World won the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011. The screenings of the Crash and In a Better World will start at 2pm and 7.30pm, respectively. The movies will be presented in their original languages with Vietnamese subtitles at Level 4, 51 Tran Hung Dao Street. The screening is for educational purposes and entrance is free, but guests are welcome to donate to the TPD Centre's Young Cinema Fund. Manzi Art Space is continuing a new series of experimental movie and video art screenings titled Chieu Bong (Vietnamese for Cinema). On Sunday, The Cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney will be screened – a series of five visually extravagant films which took eight years to finish (1994-2002) and run for nearly eight hours. The screening will start from 10am at Manzi Art Space, 14 Phan Huy Ich Street. Free entry. Viewers are free to come and go as they please. Please pre-register at manzihanoi@gmail.com before 2pm on Saturday. Iconic northern theater plays to the South The Hanoi-based Tuoi Tre Theatre has decided to send several of their best artists to produce plays in HCM City in hopes of attracting a bigger audience there. The programme has taken on the name “Thi Hen du xuan” or “Ms. Hen takes a spring walk”, and includes several plays. Even though the audience in HCM City have proven more enthusiastic about theatre than their northern counterparts, they also exhibit particular tastes. The decision to bring northern plays to the south is something of an experiment. “We are looking for a new experience to find out what we can and can't do. If we fail this time around we will take it easy," said director Bui Nhu Lai, head of the theatre’s company 1. The director of the theatre, Truong Nhuan, said, “Actually we want to prepare a more meticulous programme, and over 20 of our artists are very eager to perform in front of a new audience. They are especially inspired after Chi Trung, who successfully brought Luu Quang Vu’s plays to HCM City during the lead up to the Tet, and People’s Artist, Lan Huong, who signed several contracts to bring the play "Hon Truong Ba da hang thit" or “Truong Ba’s soul but slaughterer’s appearance” to the South.” The programme will start from March 3. Apart from 10 nights in HCM City, they will also perform three nights in Dalat. The theatre recently received funding worth USD100,000 from the Japanese government for upgrades to their sound and lighting systems. Under the aid package, 13 artists from the theatre will be sent to Japan in late March for a four-month training period. Source: VNS/VNA/VOV/Dtinews