Quang will perform a contemporary dance entitled Nón (Conical Hat) with choreographer Vu Ngoc Khai in Hanoi on July 21. The show will also be held in HCM City on July 26 and 27.

He is also carrying out a new project with musician Nguyên Lê.

Quang spoke about Nón and his new project.

What makes you confident to participate in a dance programme?

I met choreographer Ngoc Khai at an art show entitled Duyên Dáng Vietnam (Charming Vietnam) in HCM City in 2014. We talked and shared many things about our careers. And Nón was born. It was premiered in HCM City in 2015.

I’m very happy because we will perform Nón in Hanoi this time.

What’s new in Nón for the Hanoi show?

The year 2016’s Nón will be a skillful combination of Khai’s contemporary movements and my acoustic music. I will play traditional instruments, including dàn tinh (gourd lute), aàn môi (Jew’s harp) and dàn bau (monochord).

I will sing a complete song at the performance. I sang at the previous show too, but it was an extract. I finished the song after a year. It represents various melodies and colours of nature.

Dances by Khai will include his improvisations.

What is the Hanoi Duo project in which you and musician Nguyên Lê are collaborating?

I met Nguyên Lê when we performed together in Toulouse, France. I was a guest playing with his trio Saiyuki. My performance made impression on him and he sometimes invites me to perform with his trio or just himself.

Thanks to the several times we have performed together, I can see that my music style suits Nguyên Lê’s fusion style. Hence, the Hanoi Duo project.

The project will provide a wide and diverse panorama of Vietnamese music, from its roots to the future. I like the idea because it focuses on creativity based on Vietnamese folk music. In addition, I will play both traditional and new pieces on Vietnamese instruments in combination with electronic music.

We have finished our recordings. Hanoi Duo is expected to be released in this autumn in Europe.

Do you have your own project?

I’m very busy this year. I’m working on a quan ho folk music album in the Netherlands. It will be launched in Vietnam.

What are the opportunities and challenges you are facing in the Netherlands and other European countries?

I’m enjoying life because it gives both challenges and opportunities for me to build my music career. I am grateful for the scholarship to study in the Netherlands. It has changed my thoughts about music completely.

I’m studying music composition mainly in relation to western instruments. But I also write music for a small orchestra with Vietnamese instruments. I like it because it is related to Vietnamese music.

Over the past two years, I have been studying to compose a music piece and how to access new things in music.

One of the most important benefits I have had is that I get to meet many talented artists in Europe and opportunities to learn from them.

In the initial days, I was worried about facing new situations such as the chilly winter, unfamiliar food and culture shock.

However, these challenges help me to become stronger and gain life experience to overcome difficulties.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition took place on July 7 at the gallery on Nongbone Road, Xaysettha district. The photographs on display portray the relationship uniting cats and humans in Kenya taken by Julie Delfour, along with photos taken in Laos by Stany Khol.

The exhibition presents some captivating photos and also reminds us of the importance of animals in our lives and encourages people to nurture and protect them.

The exhibition runs from July 7 to July 20 and is open to the public free of charge.

Julie Delfour is well known for her colourful, exuberant photos from around the world and has held various photo exhibitions, but this is her first in Laos.

She is the holder of diverse literary and scientific diplomas and works with several French institutions to study the circumstances of various animal species.

Stany Khol is French and has lived in Laos for a long time. He enjoys photographing cats in Laos and this is the first time his work has been exhibited.

Both photographers love animals, especially cats, and enjoy capturing their various poses and situations.

Julie Delfour says the relationship be tween cats and humans started around 10,000 BC when farmers began feeding wildcats to fight the rode nts who plundered their harvests.

In the Middle East, the domestication of cats accompanied the development of agriculture.

Then the first domestic cats followed men in their migrations all over the world. They spread and adapted everywhere. But they got closer to us through opportunism, feeding on our scraps and on mice attracted by our granaries, while keeping their independence and their ability to find food by themselves.

Nowadays, most domestic cats are able to survive without us. Even without an owner and homeless, they know how to take advantage of our presence without ever belonging to us completely. The relationship between cats and humans is based on mutual respect, according to a kind of secret pact like those found in beliefs and religious practices.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Julie Delfour and Stany Khol warmly welcomed guests and explained the background of the exhibition and the significance of the photos.

“Since childhood, I have been fascinated by the links that weave between human beings and animals. When I was a child, I looked after injured animals in my bedroom, which I transformed into a sort of hospital. Today, I use writing and photography to highlight these links which unite us with animals, in particular with cats. The cat fascinates me for this wild part which it has never lost completely,” said Julie Delfour.

“That is why I went to the island of Lamu in Kenya, where there are numerous cats. From this journey was born a book illustrated by a large number of photos, called “Cats of Lamu, on the tracks of the first cats” (Ulmer, 2015). I wish today to pursue this work exploring the link between human beings and cats in Laos.”

The first-time display of this 18m-long Chinese creation in Malaysia will be the highlight of “The Enchanting Orient” exhi­bition jointly organised by Starhill and Han Culture Centre Malaysia.

The dough creation is based on the celebrated master work of Song Dynasty’s imperial court artist Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), which depicts the daily life of people then and the landscape of Bianjing (today’s Kaifeng in Henan pro­vince).

The original Song piece is now kept in the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Regarded as China’s national treasure, the silk scroll painting measuring 5.25m x 25.5cm features a river meandering from countryside through to a busy city.

The painting captures, amidst the hustle and bustle of life, the various expressions of 814 people from all walks of life and 60 animals.

Also included are 28 boats, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, eight sedan chairs and 170 trees.

According to Wikipedia, the artwork was revered by empe­rors and court artists of subsequent dynasties had gone on to reinterpret it.

The scroll went through seve­ral private hands before returning to public ownership.

The painting was a particular favourite of China’s last emperor, Puyi of Qing Dynasty.

The Qing version is now in the Taipei Palace Museum.

The show also features other paintings, porcelain creations and calligraphy of local artist Prof Dr Cheah Thien Soong whose works will be exhibited until July 24.

The 74-year-old Malaysian from Negri Sembilan is consi­dered the second-generation Nanyang-style contemporary ink-painting artist.

Dr Cheah, who has won numerous awards from art institutes in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, said his works that would be displayed consist of a series of lotus flower paintings, Chinese calligraphy and pottery he had created in China’s porcelain capital, Jingde­zhen, in Jiangxi province.

Among the prominent people expected to grace the exhibition is Malaysian film star Michelle Yeoh.

The exhibition features 10 artworks called “Raincoats”- and a 100m-long river created by truc chi paintings, in which ordinary stories in the lives of Vietnamese people are told. The works are combined with light, music and video installations.

The exhibition name was inspired by a quote from Heraclitus: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

“Life and creation are ceaseless motions,” said Bang. “Bamboo plants are born and grow by rivers. They die and are revived into a new form, truc chi paper.”

Originally, truc chi was a kind of paper made from bamboo pulp. Based on the traditional process of making the paper, Bang created a new type of art, do hoa truc chi (Trucchigraphy), in which artists create paintings on truc chi paper.

The production of bamboo paper has a long tradition in some Asian countries, but the process is usually completed with the moulding of the paper. This is just the beginning for Trucchigraphy. Artists interact with the wet structure of the paper on the frame and use water pressure and other graphic techniques to change the surface. In this way, unique images are created, which some artists further process through brush or collage techniques.

“Bamboo is a cultural symbol in Vietnamese people’s minds,” said Bang. “It has a strong connection to the spiritual life of the people, sometimes it symbolises Vietnamese people.”

“I use bamboo for my project because I want to develop this new art form on the basis of traditional values.”

Speaking at the exhibition, painter Nguyen Thanh Son said he was attracted by Bang’s interesting narration.

“He uses the metaphor of the river to depict people’s memory, childhood, life, and the flow of the era and the creation,” said Son. “Through the stories told on truc chi paper, we realize ourselves and our nation. We respect the tradition and learn to respect the traditional cultural values expressed in contemporary creations.”

Bang developed this new form of art and collaborated with art students and painters to found Vietnamese truc chi art in 2012.

Bang studied graphic arts in Hue and at the University of Industrial Fine Arts. He completed his Master’s degree in fine arts at Maha Sarakham University, Thailand. He has taught at the Hue Arts Academy since 1996. His artworks have been presented in numerous group and solo exhibitions.

The exhibition will run until July 15 at the Goethe Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi. Then it will be moved to the Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities.

The second part of the awards, held yesterday at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, honoured the best in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries. The first part of the awards on Thursday evening recognised winners from the Telugu and Kannada film industries.

Actress Nayanthara, whose given name is Diana Mariam Kurian, swept the Best Actress award for both the Tamil and Malayalam film categories. She won for her roles in the Tamil comedy Naanum Rowdydhaan (Even I Am Rowdy) and the Malayalam film Bhaskar the Rascal.

She drew excited cheers from the audience, which numbered more than 4,000, when she requested to receive her Best Actress (Tamil) award from the film’s director Vignesh Shivan – who won Best Director (Tamil) – and they shared a hug on stage. She is said to be romantically linked to him.

The film Naanum Rowdydhaan also bagged Best Comedian, Best Music Director and Best Playback Singer (Male), making it the big winner for Tamil films.

The film that received the most awards last night, however, was the coming-of-age Malayalam film Premam, which bagged six awards, including Best Director, Best Actor (Critic’s Choice) and the coveted Best Film award.

A total of 36 awards were given out last night and the ceremony ran on until 1.45am today. This led many award recipients, including Best Actor (Tamil) winner Vikram, to begin their acceptance speeches with “Good morning” and the 50-year-old actor jokingly dedicated his award “to everyone here for staying so late.”

The ceremony included dances performed by actresses Vedhika, Hansika Motwani and Huma Qureshi to hit Tamil and Malayalam songs and a live set by composer-music director Anirudh Ravichander, which had the audience on their feet and actor Allu Arjun dancing on stage and in the crowd.

This was the fifth edition of the awards that started in 2012. It was held twice in Dubai, as well as in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and in Kuala Lumpur. This was the award’s first time in Singapore and it was presented by the Singapore Press Holdings’ Tamil-language publications Tamil Murasu and tabla! and events company De Ideaz.

MAJOR WINNERS

Best Movie: Thani Oruvan (Tamil) and Premam (Malayalam)

Best Actor: Vikram for I (Tamil) and Prithviraj for Ennu Ninte Moideen (Malayalam)

Best Actress: Nayanthara for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Bhaskar the Rascal (Malayalam)

Best Director: Vignesh Shivan for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Alphonse Puthren for Premam (Malayalam)

Best Music Director: Anirudh Ravichander for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Rajesh Murugesan for Premam (Malayalam)

Lifetime achievement award: Panchu Arunachalam

Created by Patra Aditya, Anky Prasetya and editor Indra Nabun, the comic book is set in a post-apocalyptic world. The members of Koil, which consists of vocalist Otong, bassist Adam, drummer Leon, and guitarist Doni, are figured as the Dragonian Warriors.

The idea for the comic book was born when Patra created a fan art version in 2012. The story was further developed after Anky joined the team.

Otong told Rolling Stone Indonesia that the comic had actually been finished in 2015, but had been subject to several revisions requested by Doni and Adam regarding the details. “So it will be more into Koil as the character,” he said, adding that the comic book’s 200 copies would be printed in black and white.

Originating in Bandung, Koil has offered a unique style of music since the 1990s, drawing mass attention with the release of its first album, Koil, in 1996.

The troupe’s performance of a dance titled “Water Symphony” sought to preserve Pangalay, a living link to traditional dance cultures in the Asian region where sensitivity is the key to learning and mastery of the many nuances of traditional dances.

The dancers performed in front of officials and members of the public after a speech to explain this dance form and encourage the audience to enjoy the show.

Pangalay has the closest affinity to the Indian, Javanese, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian styles of classical dancing, and unfortunately is one dance form in Asia that is being pushed to oblivion.

Amidst these challenges, there are dedicated teachers, dancers, social scientists and researchers who strive to conserve traditional dance forms.

The dancers presented a mesmerising performance to a harmonious musical backdrop, and were dressed in costumes that reflected the characters they represented.

The performance was well received by officials from Laos’ Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippine Embassy and foreign ambassadors to Laos.

The AlunAlun Dance Circle (ADC), a non-profit organisation, was established in 1999 by a group of professionals inspired by the beauty and versatility of the Pangalay. The group derives its name from the graceful strength of waves or “alun” that shaped the coastlines as well the diverse cultures of the Philippines.

The troupe aspires to revive, stimulate and sustain interest in ancient Filipino art forms, notable the Pangalay dance style, through comprehensive dance instruction, research and performances.

Since its establishment, the ADC has appeared in hundreds of performances like concerts, national festivities, dance recitals, inaugurals, art exhibits, international conferences, and television shows.

The ADC performed at the 4th Asian Performing Arts Festival in Taipei in 2006 and the following year gave a series of performances in Paris.

In 2009 the group performed for the Philippine embassy in Hanoi on the occasions of the 11th Philippine Independence and National Heritage Month.

The group was also active in teaching Pangalay to young people through both local and international dance workshops.

The show was a great success and gave the people of Vientiane an insight into a beautiful art form with strong cultural roots.

Over the 3 years the competition has been running, 89 countries have sent their short films in for judging.

856 Media House’s Aravan is a three minute film that tells the story of a girl who time-travels to the past by touching forbidden and haunted Lao traditional silk.

The film’s director, Phouthasone Keomoungkhoune said they had spent a month in preparation for the one day it took to shoot the film.

The film invited first runner up of Miss Laos 2013, Ms Piyamarth Phounpasert as the lead as well as models from First Modeling Lao to join as supporting actors says the film’s Director of Photography, Souksakhone Keomoungkhoune.

The film wrapped up production on May 30 and then was sent to the competition for review with the winner expected to be announced on July 2.

Phouthasone said he did not expect to win the grand prize but hoped the film could promote Lao culture on the international stage and encourage more filmmaking in the country, as well as promoting his own local production house.

He also wanted to thank First Modeling Lao for their support and representing with their models.

The film hopes to be a bridge for a bigger project targeted to a Lao audience.

People who want to watch a short clip or vote for the film can visit the website:

http://www.rode.com/myrodereel/watch/entry/2496

The Singapore connection is strong with Kygo, who will be performing here for the first time on the weekend of his 25th birthday. He revealed in a Twitter Q&A last year that he was born in Singapore and spent a few years here as his globe-trotting father worked in the shipping industry.

The mega dance music festival – which will be held on Sept 10 and 11 at a venue dubbed Ultra Park at 1 Bayfront Avenue – will also see the likes of Swedish house music duo Axwell and Ingrosso, Dutch DJ Afrojack, French up-and-comer DJ Snake and Canadian producer Deadmau5 spinning here.

Other artists announced include Asian-American dance music collective Far East Movement, London electronic trio Nero as well as supporting acts Jauz and Marshmello. Other than the main and live stages, Singapore will also host the Resistance stage, which will showcase techno and deep house. Forty artists are expected to be announced in total in the lead-up to the event.

Kygo, whose real name is Kyrre Gorvell-Dahll, has had a meteoric rise in the EDM scene, popularising tropical house music with tracks such as Firestone and Stole The Show.

Even before the release of his debut album Cloud Nine last month, he was already the fastest artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify last year. Unlike many DJs who stay behind the console, the classically-trained pianist’s live shows typically involve him playing keyboards on stage.

Ultra Park will be located in a field across from Marina Bay Sands and the event will run from noon to 10.30pm on both days. Organisers are expecting 25,000 festival-goers each day.

Early bird tickets, which went on sale in January, are sold out, but advance two-day tickets at US$160 (S$215) are still available, and going fast, according to organisers. Premium tickets, which include express entry lanes and premium access to dedicated restrooms and food and beverage stalls, are US$185 each.

Ultra Miami, the flagship 17-year-old festival held in March in Miami, Florida annually, saw headline acts such as Pendulum and Armin van Buuren this year.

Singapore is the only South-east Asian country to host the full-fledged Ultra festival. Last year, it was one of the venues for Road To Ultra, a smaller, one-day event that is part of a series of international dance music parties launched by the producers of the dance music festival brands Ultra and Ultra Worldwide. The event here saw superstar DJs such as Skrillex, Alesso and Nicky Romero playing to a crowd of 11,000 at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Sept 19.