During the festival, 36 pavilions were put up by 19 hotels and restaurants in the province to introduce a range of special local dishes made from seafood, organic vegetables and processed foods as well as a large of selection of beverages.

On the occasion, the organising board presented prizes to 19 of the entrants for the best pavilions, the best cook, the best artistic display, the best dishes and the most professional restaurant staff.

Entitled “Art from traditional Khmer daily life”, the exhibition introduces a kind of unique traditional painting.

The paintings reflect the traditional lives of the Khmer people which are inspired by legends, tales, folklore, epics, Buddhism and the history of the Khmer people.

Traditional painting is still preserved well today in pagodas, temples and museums in Cambodia. The pigments used in traditional painting are mainly natural.

Contemporary artist Chhim Sothy’s works at the exhibition in the past three years use traditional techniques and images to produce intricately detailed works.

His themes are Cambodian culture and traditions. Viewers can find the Cambodian version of Rama and Sita from the Ramayana epic in many of his paintings.

Sothy is a representative of the Cambodian contemporary artists who preserves the refined motives and gestures of the Cambodian Apsara dancers and characters in the Ramayana epic.

On display will be various paintings, antiques and sculptures in bronze, stone, brass and wood.

The exhibition will run until December 29 at 29 Hang Bai Street, Hanoi.

All 63 provinces and cities will contribute a single object each to the 1,000 ones that the time capsule will eventually hold. Apart from objects representing each province and city, the remaining 937 items which represent the country’s cultural characteristics and technological level will be selected by people nationwide.

Objects selected for the time capsule include typical items used in daily life and stored in the 1,000 litre air-tight container, for future generation to know more about life today. The container is made of stainless steel.

The objects selected by cities and provinces will be typical of the regions they originate from, summarising the culture, technological level and lives of people living there. The objects can be simple, everyday items such as the labels of famous products, magazines or newspapers showing current events and current trends photographs, coins or indicators of high technology such as DVDs and cell phones giving future generation a profound insight into current life.

The container will be buried in the grounds of Hanoi Museum on Pham Hung Street, Hanoi in September. On this site will be a lotus shape monument symbolising the splendour and purity of the Vietnamese people, said Vu Phuong, Vice Chairman of Hanoi Culture Fund.

He first came across the novel idea to preserve items for future generations while visiting Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea. Researchers and authorities from Seoul will help design and construct the lotus-shape monument as a gift from Seoul to Hanoi.

The organising board will cooperate with 63 provinces and cities to the regionally representative objects and will also call for the public to suggest 937 others.

Suggestion should be sent to the organising board at Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism at 47 Hang Dau Street, or by email to qvhhanoi@gmail.com. After consideration, the board will ask the People’s Committee of Hanoi City to establish a board of leading cultural activists, and scientists to select the most meaningful items.

In May, the organising committee will announce the list of selected objects and an exhibition to display all the objects will be held on August 6-15. Placing and sealing the time capsule will take place on August 15.

In this special exhibition in Hanoi, international artist Thanh welcomes the New Year 2010 of the Tiger and the celebrations of the capital Thang Long’s 1,000-year history.

With thirty paintings of oil and acrylic on canvas, the artist focuses on the architecture, atmosphere and images of an old tranquil Hanoi in the past as well as the busy city scenes of the present.

During Tet (Lunar New Year), street scenes such as the peach flower markets are bustling with people and movement. Hanoians shopping in preparation for Tet, in the background, the blue sky and drops of sunlight reflect on the pavements. Bamboo blinds hanging from balconies evoke memories and nostalgia of the artist’s childhood. Spring, with its light rain, brings a special colourful atmosphere and awakens nature, people and the city. All this is vividly portrayed in the artist’s paintings with strong brush strokes and streams of resplendent colour.

Three of her paintings on display feature O Quan Chuong, in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District. Thanh says she is mesmerised with the architecture of the historic gate. She has painted over 20 pictures of the site in many shades and from different angles, which reminds us of Monet’s endless inspiration from the Rouen Cathedral.

Thanh is also exhibiting two of her latest explorations of new materials: lacquer in Autumn Festival and marble in Autumn Dream.

During the exhibition that will run until May 16, Thanh will continuously add to her collection to ensure constant excitement.

The paintings are set to go on a world tour when the exhibition ends, visiting countries including the US, France, Spain and Sweden. Through the tour, Van Duong Thanh wants to “show off” her beloved Hanoi and its one-millennium-history to international friends.