Category: Fashion

Three Ilocano short films produced by local talents in Ilocos Norte province were featured in film festivals at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex in Pasay City, Metro Manila over the weekend. ‘Karkarma,’ a short narrative film directed by Melver Gomez, was part of Cinemalaya 2023 under its Next Generation section. The film revolves around the story of a woman on a journey to discover her karkarma, or a person’s second soul in Ilocano culture. Gomez is a faculty member of the College of Arts and Sciences – Department of Languages and Literature at Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU). Meanwhile, the documentary film “Arapaap” (A Dream) directed by Ryand Angelo Ugalde, an incoming junior Bachelor of Arts in Communication student, was selected as a documentary finalist under the 35th Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video (Gawad Alternatibo). ‘Arapaap’ is a story set in a “perya” (carnival) about young dreamers. MMSU alumnus John Gabriel Gantala’s film “Baklaak” (I’m Gay) was also a finalist in the Gawad Alternatibo under the short feature category, the story of a transwoman preparing for a pageant. Cinemalaya, now on its 19th year, is the Philippines’ leading independent film festival, while Gawad Alternatibo is one of the longest-running film festivals in Asia. ‘This is another feather to MMSU’s cap. Congratulations to the MMSU talents. So proud of you!’ said MMSU president Shirley Agrupis on Monday as she shared her excitement about the latest achievement of the state-run university in filmmaking. In support of local artists and filmmakers, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is inviting applicants for next year’s competitive grants for the development, protection, preservation, and dissemination of Philippine culture and arts. The projects are categorized per sub-commissions such as arts, cultural and traditional arts, cultural dissemination, and cultural heritage, with a total grant of PHP107 million. Deadline for submission of proposals is on Aug. 31, 2023. Filmmaking falls under the visual arts category.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The 13th World Skills ASEAN competition is being held at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore between Jul 22 and 27. Lao contesters expect to win one medal at the event.

The competition was opened on Jul 22 by Singaporean President Halimah Yacob in the presence of diplomatic corps, experts, trainers, competitors from ASEAN member states, and representatives of donors and international organisations.

Some 187 skilled workers from ASEAN member states have joined this year biannual competition.

Ten Lao competitors are competing in five out of 22 skills competition events namely Graphics Design, Web Technology, Fashion Technology, Electrical Installation and Cooking. They are accompanied by 11 experts, five trainers, five interpreters and seven supporting staff.

Laos has won one silver medal (Electrical Installation – 2014) and 24 ASEAN skills-standards certificates for its 10 times of presence in the World Skills ASEAN competition.

World Skills ASEAN competition is held every two years in a rotary basis among ASEAN member states. The competition aims to promote labour skills development among youth, and students and exchange of innovation and technology in ASEAN member countries.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Vietnam Dance Week 2023 was officially launched on July 15 with the preliminary round – the 24-second video challenge, reported the Vietnam Dance Artists’ Association (VDAA) the same day.

Activities during the country’s annual biggest dance event, including a folk dance competition and an international dance festival, will take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from July 15 to October 29.

Co-organised by the association, the Hanoi municipal Department of Culture and Sports, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, the management board of Hanoi Thong Nhat park and Kinh Ky Foundation media company, the event is open to all professional and amateur artists living in Vietnam, including foreigners, who could compete in four age categories of 6-9, 10-18, above 18, and above 50.

In the folk dance competition, the preliminary round is underway from July 15-17 while the semi-final is slated for September 22 on an online format, and the final in the south from October 19-22 and in the north from October 26-29./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

On June 17, 2023, Institut français organised a special edition of Fête de la Musique (International Music Fest).

As stated by the Ambassador of France Siv-Leng Chhuor in her introductory speech: “This year 2023, the Fête de la Musique also echoes the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Association between France and Laos. We could only celebrate this anniversary with an artistic, cultural and intercultural encounter between our two countries.”

Started in France in 1982, Fête de la Musique was quickly adopted by European countries before conquering the world.

Now celebrated in 120 countries, the event promotes music in two ways: “Fête de la Musique” and “Faîtes de la Musique”.

Pronounced the same way in French language, the first celebrates musical creation while the second encourages young people to play music.

On the stage of Institut français, amateur and professional musicians shared various types of music with the public, from Lao, French and international classical songs to pop and rock music. Most of all, the stage welcomed Aluna Thavonsouk, Lao Music Hub and the French singer and musician Gatha.

Aluna and Gatha had spent several weeks exchanging views before they finally met in Vientiane to share their repertoire and cocreate songs. They melted their voices, their worlds and their instruments together – the khaen for Aluna, the cello for Gatha bring the best out of their own cultural and artistic influences. The audience, more than 600 people of all ages and origins throughout the day, warmly welcomed this new artistic performance by singing and dancing along.

France is well-known for its unique way to implement cultural diplomacy as well as for its commitment to a more feminist diplomacy. With this female and cross-cultural scene, France also wishes to highlight the deep words and voices of artistically committed women, to show how sharing singularities builds collective genius and inspires young female artists and leaders to take their place in a mostly male universe.

France is also committed to supporting cultural heritage preservation. As part of Fête de la Musique, a khaen contest was organised on June 24 by Sala Sujipuli in coordination with Lao Khaen Music Association and the National School of Performing Arts. The competitors, aged between 7 and 18 years old, presented their amazing mastery of this instrument to the Padaek audience.

Ambassador Siv-Leng Chhuor expressed her satisfaction at seeing the younger generation proudly carrying the torch of khaen practice and reminding us of the importance of also preserving the unique Lao expertise in making this instrument.

Altogether, this joyful and meaningful event, supported by the European Union, Institut français de Paris, Le Fair, BFL, Beerlao and KP Group, brought together more than 50 bands and musicians, expressing the vitality of the Lao music scene.

Source: Lao News Agency

Hundreds of artists from various fields will participate in performances on the occasion of the 325th anniversary of Sai Gon – Cho Lon – Gia Dinh – Ho Chi Minh City (1698-2023) and 47 years since Sai Gon – Gia Dinh was officially named after President Ho Chi Minh (July 2, 1976 – 2023).

Cultural and artistic activities on this anniversary are planned by the People’s Committee of HCM City and will be carried out by the City Centre for Light Music.

According to Meritorious Artist Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, deputy director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, the special art programme will be officially kicked off at 7pm on July 2 at the main stage area of District 1’s 23/9 Park and broadcasted live on television and radio.

Besides these performances, relevant authorities of HCM City will organise a wide range of activities, including water puppet shows, sports events, cooking contests, and a traditional costume show, among others, with an aim to tighten relationships among family members and celebrate the role of the family in social life.

On this occasion, the city will also hold a ceremony to announce and award OCOP products in HCM City with the theme “A new day in the countryside”, taking place at 7pm on June 30, at 23/9 Park./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Black Pink, the Republic of Korea’s girl group phenomenon, is storming Hanoi at My Dinh stadium for two nights on July 29 and 30.

The announcement was unveiled on their fanpage and official website. Tickets will be up for sale on July 7 at ticketbox.vn.

“Born Pink World Tour” is the ongoing second worldwide concert tour by the group in support of their second album “Born Pink”.

The group kicked off its tour in Seoul in October 2022, and since then it has head to North America, Europe and Asia.

According to statistic of Touring Data, Black Pink’s “Born Pink World Tour” became the highest-grossing tour by a female group in history, surpassing legendary British girl groups Spice Girls’ Spice World -2019 Tour which made 78.2 million USD over 13 sold-out shows.

Meanwhile, the Born Pink tour has made 78.5 million USD over 26 shows with 366,000 tickets and the tour has not yet finished.

The girl group is formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of four members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album Square One.

Blackpink has broken numerous online records throughout their career. Their music video for “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” was the first by a RoK group to surpass 1 billion views and is currently the most-viewed by a RoK group on YouTube.

Blackpink’s music videos for “Kill This Love” (2019) and “How You Like That” (2020) each set records for the most-viewed music video within the first 24 hours of release, with the latter breaking three and setting two Guinness World Records./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency