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GALLERIES

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Galerie Quynh
Contemporary Vietnamese Art
http:// www.galeriequynh.com

Salon Natasha
30 Hang Bong Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (4) 826 1387
email: nkraevskaia@fpt.vn

Moco Gallery
Garden View Court, ground floor, 101 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: +84 (8) 825 1174
email: mtk628@hcm.vnn.vn

Lac Hong Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
97A Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: +84 (8) 821 3771
email: lachonggallery@hcm.vnn.vn

Art XXI
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection including paintings by Bui Suoi Hoa, Ho Huu Thu, Nguyen Minh Phuong, Nguyen Than and Nguyen Trung Phan.
1 Le Thi Hong Gam, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (8) 821 4227; Fax+ 84 (8) 829 8540
email: art21gallery@hcm.vnn.vn

Codo Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
46 Hang Bong Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: +84 (4) 825 8573
email: codogallery@hn.vnn.vn

Blue Space Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection. 1A Le Thi Hong Gam, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tel: +84 (8) 821 3695; Fax: +84 (8) 821 3696 email: blu.space@hcm.vnn.vn

Galerie Vinh Loi
"The Colors of Vietnam" - exhibition of works by Hong Viet Dung, Nguyen Thanh Binh, Bui Huu Hung, Le Vuong, Phung Quoc Tri, Dao Hai Phong, Hoang Phuong Vy and Nguyen Trung Phan.
41 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (8) 822 2006; Fax: +84 (8) 822 3154
email: vinhloi.art@hcm.vnn.vn

Mai Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
3B Phan Huy Chu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (4) 825 1225; Fax: +84 (4) 934 6020
e-mail: maigallery@fpt.vn

Nhat Le Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection including paintings by Nguyen Nguyen and Nguyen Van Cuong.
1 Le Thi Hong Gam, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: +84 (8) 821 6447
email: nhatle@hcm.vnn.vn

Tu Do Gallery
"Childish Folk Games" - solo exhibition of works by Le Ky Thuong.
53 Ho Tung Mau Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (8) 821 0966; Fax: +84 (8) 821 8690
email: tudogallery@hcm.vnn.vn

Hong Hac Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
9A Vo Van Tan Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (8) 930 4160
email: honghac@saigonnet.vn

Van Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
25-27 Trang Tien, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (4) 825 1532; Fax: +84 (4) 934 6197
email: tranthuha@fpt.vn

Apricot Gallery
Exhibition of works from the gallery collection.
40B Hang Bong Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 (4) 828 8965; Fax: +84 (4) 828 7304
email: apricot@fpt.vn


FESTIVALS

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SPRING IS THE TIME FOR TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS
VNCW-2/16/2001

Spring is the time for traditional festivals. So there is nothing more enjoyable than making excursions to the various festivals held in Kinh Bac if you happen to be in Hanoi during this time of the year. You will find yourself going back in time to live through Vietnam’s early history and to feel yourself part of the local community in its festive spirit.

The Lim festival of quan ho singing
Kinh Bac has 49 quan ho singing villages, so naturally the region also boasts several quan ho singing festivals. The Lim festival in Bac Ninh Province, held on the 13th day of the first lunar month, however is the most popular. Quan ho is a particular genre of folk singing that involves trading both traditional and improvised lyrics between singers. The tunes to which the singers make their verses are traditional and held in common by all the singers. Like other categories of folk singing, there are numerous quan ho songs composed by successive generations of artists. Quan ho music is very rich– it is possible to list hundreds of different tunes of quan ho.
The Lim festival usually begins with a formal quan ho singing contest held in Hong Van Pagoda located on Lim Hill. After that singers scatter over the hill to participate in informal singing contests and performances. They seek partners to exchange songs and love ditties in the open air. The male singers wear white trousers, silk gauze tunics, turbans and slippers. The female singers wear multicoloured dresses, satin trousers, sandals, and hold flat palm hats with silk-tasselled straps to protect their eyes from the sunlight and to make themselves more elegant during singing contests and exchanges with other singers. Singers can also invite their partners to sing in boats on village ponds. The scene is very romantic as each group of singers sits on a boat and exchanges songs with their counterpart boat, their voices echoing across the water’s surface.
Other singing contests occur in houses: singers often begin by performing a number of songs to greet and introduce each other, then exchange love ditties and finally close the party with farewell songs. Contests can last throughout the night, during which singers try to show their talent, especially in improvising words to traditional melodies.
While the Lim festival is especially known for traditional singing performances, it also hosts many other games and competitions: swinging, weaving cloth, and most interestingly the chess game in which all the chess pieces are beautiful young boys and girls wearing traditional costumes.

Ly Bat De (Eight Ly Kings) Temple festival
The native village of the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225) is Bang Village (or Dinh Bang, Tien Son District, Bac Ninh Province). In 1010, Ly Cong Uan (974-1028) proclaimed himself King Ly Thai To, founder of the Ly Dynasty, which eventually put eight Ly kings on the throne. The temple, also called Do Temple, was built at the beginning of the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) in the southern part of the village and dedicated to the eight Ly Kings. Though there is a festival every year, a very large festival is organised only every three or four years. Both the small annual festival and the large one run for four days, from the 15th to the 18th day of the third lunar month. On the 15th day, the statue of King Ly Thai To is enthroned with great pomp and ceremony. On the 16th day, there is a procession to carry the statues of the eight Ly Kings from the Temple to the Co Phap Pagoda, where Ly Cong Uan spent his childhood as a Buddhist monk.
Besides rituals, rites and processions, there are many games: wrestling, chess using human pieces, cock fighting and other activities. The chess game is played in font of the temple on the 17th day of the month and the winner is solemnly carried around the temple yard three times before he enters the temple to thank the deities. The chess game is designed to commemorate the heroic deeds of the Ly Kings in defending the country.

Dinh Bang Communal House festival
Dinh Bang Communal House is dedicated to nine gods. Among them, three are of natural origin: Cao Son Dai Vuong, the God of Mountains; Thuy Ba Dai vuong, the God of Water; and Bach Le Dai Vuong, the God of Farming. Villagers worship these gods and pray to them for happiness and prosperity. The six remaining gods are of human origin–they are the deified ancestors of the six clans who re- founded the village after a war in the 15th century. The Communal House was built in 1736, an excellent architectural and sculptural work.
The Communal House festival is held annually from the 12th to the 16th of the second lunar month. Votive offerings at the festival include a roasted buffalo, a boiled pig and a big tray of cooked sticky rice. There are also many games at the festival: cock fighting, chess playing, wrestling and martial arts contests. It is said that the Ly Kings paid special attention to wrestling. In all royal contests of martial arts to recruit military generals, the candidates had to pass a wrestling competition. The Dinh Bang Communal House festival also attracts best wrestlers from other provinces around the country.

Dau Pagoda festival
Luy Lau Commune (or Lien Lau or Dau Village, Thuan Thanh District) was once a centre of Buddhism. This is also the birth place of Buddha Mother Man Nuong and her four famous daughters Phap Van (Goddess of Cloud), Phap Vu (Goddess of Rain), Phap Loi (Goddess of Thunder), and Phap Dien (Goddess of Lightning). In some aspects, Man Nuong is considered as the Great Mother of the Viet. Her daughters symbolise the climatic phenomena closely relating to water, a must of the ancient Viet wet-rice growers. These five Goddesses are worshiped at five pagodas in the district and their festivals are organised on the same day (8th of the fourth lunar month–the birthday of Buddha). After the incense offering ritual at each pagoda, the local inhabitants respectfully carry four Daughter- Goddesses to Man Xa Pagoda to meet their Mother. Then they are carried back to their respective pagodas after the rituals of offering incense and saying prayers. During the processions, there are many performances on the way: dance with sticks, lion and tortoise dances, dance with drums, and water robbing. And at To Pagoda, there are such games as wrestling, human chess, and burning fireworks at night.

Festival of Dong Ky
Dong Ky firecracker making village Dong Ky is located in Dong Quang Commune, Tien Son District. Legend has it that under the reign of the fourth Hung King, Cuong Cong, a native of Dong Ky, put down a rebellion against the king. Cuong Cong had recruited soldiers from his home village, dividing them into four wings commanded by four generals. Before going into battle, he had a feast for his army and set off firecrackers to encourage them.
From that time on, Dong Ky villagers praised him as their tutelary deity. Every year, they hold a festival on the 4th day of the first lunar month to commemorate his victory. On the Lunar New Year’s Eve, villagers choose four old men and the latter put on red garments to represent the four generals. The four generals are taken to the communal house where they sit talking, drinking tea and smoking tobacco. At midnight, they must compete with each other to hold the Thai Bach pillar, the heaviest pillar in the communal house.
A special ritual of the Dong Ky festival used to be the setting-off of huge firecrackers and long strings of small firecrackers, but since the government outlawed firecrackers for safety reasons, this traditional practice has no longer been part of the festival. The Dong Ky firecracker festival may be a vestige of traditional agricultural rituals. There are also other games during the festival, such as blind man’s buff, catching eels from a big water jar, and a boat race.

Giong Festival
Giong Festival, Phu Dong Village, Hanoi (formerly Phu Dong festival of Bac Ninh) Giong is a genie and legendary hero who defeated northern invaders in ancient times. His festival is celebrated from the 6th to 12th of the fourth lunar month with a series of processions, rituals and performances, each taking place on a particular day. On the 6th, there is a ceremony of carrying water from the well at the Mother Temple to the Upper Temple. On the 7th, flags are carried to the Mother Temple. On the same day offerings of boiled rice and salted egg-plants are also carried to the Upper Temple, a practice that commemorates the agricultural meals of early times. Another vestige of ancient times occurs at night on this day when young men and women run after one another on the dyke of the Red River. Also on the 7th day a water puppet performance is held in front of the Phu Dong Temple. On the 8th day, 28 women are selected to represent the generals of the Yin invaders.
The main day of the festival is the 9th of the fourth lunar month. On this day flags are carried from the Mother Temple to the Upper Temple and sacrifices are made to the genie. The guilds perform ritual dances and songs and there is a tiger catching show. Fighting against the Yin invaders is re-enacted and there is a solemn march of the Van Lang army. Finally, the two battles against the invaders at Dong Dam and Soi Bia are symbolised by flag dances and victorious feasts.
On the 10th day the "troops" are reviewed and the invader-generals, after "being defeated", give offerings to Giong. On the 11th, the ceremony of cleaning and washing weapons with holy water takes place. On the 12th, a procession goes to inspect the battlefield. On this day of the festival tribute is given to the gods of heaven and earth.
VASC