A collection of black and white as well as colour photographs by the French herbalist and photographer showcases what it is about the country that captures her imagination. The Vietnam-Travelling Diary exhibition features well-known landscapes as well as remote areas of the northwestern province of Lao Cai and portraits of local people. The 42 photographs were chosen from several thousands that she has taken over the last 20 years.

“I want to introduce Vietnam – a beautiful and peaceful country – its people, culture and lifestyle to the world through my photographs,” Isabelle said. “I love capturing elderly people and children who live in remote areas. Through their faces and smiles, you can see a peaceful life.”

Isabelle, who began dabbling in photography when was just 12 years old, insists she is an amateur. But she has modern techniques and computers to store her photographic images.

She had organised three well received exhibitions featuring Vietnam and its people in Paris. Isabelle first visited Vietnam in 1989 and though one day she would live here. She made that move 17 years later, settling down in HCMC and working for the Institute de Development Vietnam Pacifique as a herbalist.

Last year, her first photo exhibition at the IDECAF (The Institute of Cultural Exchange with France) featuring 45 colour photographs made a good impression on both Vietnamese and foreign viewers. Some described her work as a documentary on Vietnamese people living in different regions of the country. Vietnam-Travelling Diary will remain open at the Lotus Gallery, 67 Pasteur Street , District 1 until February 5.

Despite being buried for a long time underground, many of these characters are still readable and culture experts said they are possibly sanskrit of the ancient Cham people.

Songs at the festival will be about the Party, late President Ho Chi Minh, national heroes and Thang Long-Hanoi.

Singers to the festival will come from Red River Delta provinces of Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong City and the capital city of Hanoi.

Those localities will be host of the annual festival in rotation in spring.

Chau Van singing is a spiritual form of music used to invoke spirits during ceremonies. It is highly rhythmic and trance-oriented.

The art of Chau Van singing originated in the Red River Delta and dates back to the 16th century, later spreading to the whole country. It has also adopted the essential beauty of folk songs from the uplands and highlands of the North, Centre and South.

Chau Van singing combines trance singing and dancing; a religious form of art used for extolling the merits of beneficent deities or deified national heroes. Its music and poetry are mingled with a variety of rhythms, pauses, tempos, stresses and pitches.

Numerous objects dating from 4,000 years ago have been discovered during excavations recently carried out in the mountainous district of Son Ha in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The artefacts, including a stone axe, pestle and grater and ceramics like pots and bowls from the post Stone Age era have a high cultural and historical value, quoting archaeologist Doan Ngoc Khoi from the Quang Ngai Museum.

Traces of the Kor, Hre, Kdong and Champa indigenous groups as well as those of Vietnamese people from the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties were found which shows that people exchanged goods even in these ancient times.

The objects discovered have opened up a new direction for research on the Sa Huynh Culture, which stretches from the Highlands region to East of the Truong Son mountain range to the Delta region.