Art & Entertainment News 6/11 Vietnam Next Top Models to compete in Milan   The top 4 of the 2014 Vietnam Next Top Model contest will take part in fashion shows and exchanges with international fashion designers and supermodels in Milan, Italy. The journey to Milan, well-known as a gathering spot for leading fashion designers the likes of Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace, is expected to help them gain international experience, the organizing board announced. The winner of the 2014 Vietnam Next Top Model contest will receive a two-year contract with BeU Models and appear on the cover of a leading Canadian fashion magazine. Vietnamese lacquer paintings exhibited in London   An exhibition featuring the unique of the Vietnamese lacquer is being held in London as part of a programme to promote the Vietnamese culture and tourism in the United Kingdom. On the display are over 80 lacquer paintings and handicraft items made by famous Vietnamese painters and artisans, presenting an insight on the development of Vietnam’s lacquer. The event is organised by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK. The six-day exhibition runs until November 8. Vietnamese movies participate in Republic of Korea - ASEAN Cinema Weekend Two Vietnamese movies have been selected to take part in the Republic of Korea - ASEAN Cinema Weekend which will be held in Indonesia’s Jakarta from November 7-9. The event aims to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and ASEAN countries. Two Vietnamese films include Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai (the Legend Makers) and Banh mo (Dreaming cake). Of these, the Legend Makers won the golden lotus prize at the 18th Vietnam Film Festival in 2013 and Dreaming cake was granted the first award at the Toto's Film Making Class. It is organized by the CJ CGV, the largest multiplex cinema chain in South Korea in 2014, to train young talents in Vietnam who dream about making films. The event will also screen movies from Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea. Nha Nam gathers scholars in Book Talk series HCMC-based Nha Nam Media and Publishing House will hold a Book Talk series this month, where language scholars, writers and journalists discuss literature and related issues. The event will take place on the first Saturday each month at 9 a.m. at Nha Nam Book Café in Phu Nhuan District, HCMC. In this open roundtable, readers and speakers can express critical views on books and contemporary literary issues. The first program themed “What are benefits of literature?” is scheduled at Nha Nam Book at 9 a.m. on November 8, featuring poet/journalist Nguyen Huu Hong Minh from Mot the gioi online newspaper, Tran Le Hoa Tranh, deputy head of the literature and language faculty of the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and writer/translator Tran Tien Cao Dang from Nha Nam Media and Publishing House. Participants to the event can exchange views with speakers on contributions of literature to society and share experience in exploring a literary work. KOTO to host fund-raising bike ride Participants in the twelfth annual Koto Bike Ride will cycle 55 kilometers from United Nations International School (UNIS) to Son Tinh Camp, Ba Vi District, Hanoi to raise money and create opportunities for the local community to join hands to support the at-risk and disadvantaged youth through the KOTO not-for-profit vocational training program. Growing from 30 to over 100 riders mainly through word of mouth, the event has raised over US$200,000. This year, the event will attract 200 on bikes. “This ride is a tradition. It is about raising money and bringing attention to the work that we are doing to give the at-risk and disadvantaged youth the start in life that everyone deserves. The money raised this year will be used specifically to cover the annual rental cost of training centers and housing for 200 trainees,” Jimmy Pham, founder/executive chairman of KOTO International, said in a statement. For more information on riding, volunteering and sponsoring, contact Ms Ngan on 0932 212 390 or email kotobikeride@koto.com.au. KOTO (Know One, Teach One) is a not-for-profit hospitality training organization founded by Jimmy Pham. It has trained in excess of 500 street and disadvantaged Vietnamese youth in its Hanoi and HCMC training centers. Paris-inspired fashion show set for Nov 11 Former Tourism Ambassador of Vietnam Ly Nha Ky will hold LYNK fashion show inspired from Paris Fashion Week on November 11 at the Reunification Palace in HCMC’s District 1. Ly Nha Ky told a press conference in the city’s District 4 on November 4 that around 240 invited guests would attend the event to admire diamond items of Crivelli and Paolo Piovan from Italy and 40 latest Spring-Summer designs by Toni Maticevski from Australia and Peet Dullaert from the Netherlands. These two fashion brand names are among the international brands distributed by Lynk Fashion & Jewelry by Ly Nha Ky. The show’s director Nguyen Viet Tu said a glass catwalk would be set up at the Banquet Room of the building. French billionaire businesswoman Mouna Ayoub is expected to attend the show, according to Ky. Other guests to LYNK fashion show might include celebrities Dam Vinh Hung, Mai Phuong Thuy and Ho Ngoc Ha.   She plans to make the event an annual fashion show. The event has Henri Hubert as catwalk director and hair design by L’Oreal Professionnel and eight stylists from Japan and makeup by Shu Uemura brand of the L’Oreal Vietnam. Training courses on children’s brain development Professor Charles H. Cranford, the author of popular books like Think and Grow Rich in Vietnam, Right Brain for Kids, and Quantum Path to Riches, will give a lecture to local parents on the methods to develop children’s right brain at a seminar in HCMC on November 16 and another in Hanoi on December 15. The HCMC seminar will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Thanh Nien Media Building at 345/134 Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1 while the seminar in Hanoi will be held at 25T2 Building on Hoang Dao Thuy Street, Cau Giay District. Admission to this course costs VND1.3 million per person. People who register in a group of two will enjoy a promotional price of VND1 million per person. Bookings made 10 days prior to the seminar will be charged VND1.1 million per person.Those who register in a group of 2 and above will pay VND850,000 per person only. Professor Cranford has had 30 years in brain research. He has just published the book Right Brain for Kids in Vietnamese. For further information, visit http://rightbrainkids.net or call PhD. Lan Huong, the seminar’ assistant instructor and interpreter, on 0903 789 382. Art exhibition on Vietnam armed forces There are 200 paintings, and sculptural and graphic artworks on Vietnamese armed forces, national construction and defense currently on display at Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts in Hanoi, reports VietnamPlus. The works on show were selected from 485 entries sent to the Ministry of Defense’s Arts Council by 355 artists from across the country. The exhibition runs until November 14 at the center,2 Hoa Lu Street, Hai Ba Trung District. Source: VNS/VNA/SGGP/SGT