[VN Courier 29/6] Sport & Cultural Briefs

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Sport & Cultural Briefs

Hanoi Art College and the French language-civilization centre have
jointly organized the "Itinerary" exhibition to introduce 40 paintings
by 16 young artists and teachers newly graduated from Hanoi Art College.
These 16 artists are members of the contemporary art creation camp which
is part of future cultural and art exchange between the two countries.

A book of poems by Jose Marti has been published in Spanish by the World
Publishing House at a cost of 300 million VND following a decision by
the Vietnam Ministry of Culture and Information. These books will be
sent as a gift to Cuban primary school pupils in the next 1997-1998
school year.

The Thai Art Ensemble, a 36-artist troupe, will visit and perform in
Vietnam from July 17 to 20. The Ensemble is expected to perform in Ho
Chi Minh City on the evenings of July 18 and 19. Vietnamese dancers will
join in the performance.

The Lac Hong Gallery has just opened in the precinct of Ho Chi Minh City
Art Museum. The Lac Hong gallery collection consists of 128 works by
famous Vietnamese painters from To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Bui Xuan
Phai, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Duong Bich Lien, etc. to contemporary painters
like Ho Huu Thu, Trinh Cung, Bui Suoi Hoa and Nguyen Trung.

American film studio Zoetrope is planning to shoot the film "Together
with Charlie" here. The film will take twoyears to make and shooting
will begin later this year. Its content is built along scenario
No.219/GD-KB by the Movies Department. HODAFILM will work with the
American studio. Following approval by relevant agencies, the film will
go on general screening.

To celebrate the handover of Hong Kong on July 1, the Vietnam Ministry
of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Culture of the People's
Republic of China will jointly organize a "Hong Kong photograph
exhibition" from June 26 to July 2nd at the Culture and Art Exhibition
Centre (Van Ho - Hanoi).

The Oxford Publishing House has joined Fahasa Company in inaugurating an
exhibition of English language teaching books at the Youth Cultural
House from June 22 to 26. The exhibition consists of 800 book titles of
different. The Oxford Publishing House says in the near future it will
produce a new range of dictionaries to supplement its range and improve
training in Vietnamese colleges.

"Basic problems of Han characters" (published by Ho Chi Minh City Social
and Humanities College - 1997) is a book of nearly 200 pages by Han
literature researcher and teacher Le Dinh Khan. The book is both a
curriculum and tool for research, reference and understanding of one of
the world's most difficult scripts to learn. The author has made great
efforts to understand the history, development process and specific
structure of Han characters and has produced a detailed introduction of
the simplest, easiest and most practical way to write, read and remember
Han characters.

The 1997 4th competition of Mekong delta workers held in Soc Trang from
22 to 27 fune has attracted some 400 competitors in six games: volley
ball, table tennis, badminton, tennis, chess and athletics. This is an
annual competition to be hosted in turn by provinces of the region meant
to boost the movement of sport training and health improvement.

The 3rd Wilson cup tennis championship organized by the Vietnam Tennis
League runs from June 23 to 29 in Hanoi. One hundred and forty players
(20 women) are participating.

The 5th Vinh Long province tennis championship has finished. Forty four
players from 5 units competed. Fourteen-year-old Dang Cong Huan took
first prize in the individual event. The Tourist Company team scooped
nine out of 11 prizes.

Vietnam has slipped to 109th place in the latest FIFA listings, a drop
of ten places since the end of 1996.

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