Although silver jewelry making is known as a traditional craft of the Nung ethnic minority group in Hoang Su Phi district of Ha Giang Province, only a few people know how to carve antique patterns on silver jewelry. Chang Thanh To living on Po Ly Ngai peak is the single silver graver who can make 12 sets of traditional jewelries for Nung brides.
Ta Nam Long has explored caves across the country from the northernmost point of Lung Cu in Ha Giang to the southernmost point of Mui Ca Mau in Ca Mau. Long has been in 30 large and deep caves in Vietnam, including those difficult to reach, like Doc Nan, Dia Nguc and Ong.
Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning director Connie Field has come to Vietnam to introduce her latest film “The Whistleblower of My Lai”. The documentary features the creation of a music opera which explores the tragedy of My Lai through the perception of Hugh Thompson, a young army helicopter pilot who accidentally witnessed and tried to stop the massacre in Son My commune, Quang Ngai province in 1968.
After many failures, Nguyen Tran Hiep, who had always wanted to get rich from the traditional craft in his hometown of Tu Son in the northern province of Bac Ninh, finally succeeded when he became the youngest national artisan in Vietnam at the age of 37. Thanks to a drastic renovation and a large investment, his small workshop, Hiep Thang, developed into a large scale fine-art furniture cooperative which has changed the thinking and the old way of practicing the craft of many locals in the region.
Tran Giang Nam is one of a few craftspeople in Vietnam who can make very small models - the copies maintain accurate aspects but are much smaller than the actual size of the original objects. With 15 years’ experience working with miniature models, Nam has created 400 pieces and is recognized as a record holder of miniatures in Vietnam.
Pianist Trinh Mai Trang (also known as Trang Trinh) graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has a long list of international prizes and has all the criteria needed to flourish on the Western stage but she chose to come back to her fatherland to realize the dream of bringing classical music to the masses in her own way.
Nguyen Trung Ky from Ho Chi Minh City has spent his life promoting marquetry, which is the art of using wood veneers to form pictures. The artist has used this foreign art style to create gorgeous pictures about Vietnam.
On December 22, 2016, with skilled moves to keep their balance when putting their heads together, two Vietnamese brothers, who are circus performers, climbed all 90 steps of the Girona Cathedral Church (in Girona, Spain) in 52 seconds.
