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Alisa Gallery Brings French Urban Art to Vientiane

For the first time in Asia, the Alisa Gallery headed by Alisa Phommahaxay, one of the curator associates for Art42, invites seven French artists from this collection to show their work. Entitled “Art42, Hors Les Murs // Extramural : Vientiane,” the event will be held from the 6th to 15th of January 2017 from 5:30pm at the French Institute in Vientiane.
French Urban Art
ART 42 is the first (anti) urban art museum in Paris, France, which opened in October 2016.
Featured Artists
BAULT: a French street artist and illustrator born in 1978. He uses a mix of acrylic paint and low pressure.

ERELL: Erell spreads his distinctive square-shaped patterns on the streets all around the world like a virus.

ROMAIN FROQUET: The work of Romain Froquet is an invitation to the fantasy and the uniqueness of a universe stemming from his own subconscious. Froquet, a self-taught ar7st directs his passion for drawing to diverse mediums without prejudice. He is as comfortable painting on an easel, or on the street enveloping the walls of lost dismal areas of town or creating site specific installations. He wishes to express himself with or without a public, sometimes choosing obscure urban areas to dress the walls with his delicate tree like representations that bring colour and joy to an otherwise gloomy background. The surface is of no importance nor the visibility of his installations, here he presents himself as an ephemeral ar7st and as a performer –it is his process that becomes paramount not the actual public display.

KAZY: In a crazy world full of realism and fiction, Kazy develops a personal world where strange characters come to life.

CLÉMENT LAURENTIN: After his studies in Visual Arts at the Boulle school, one of the most renown public school in France, Clement Lauren7n joined the 9e Concept in 2001. In his work, Clement developed a graphic and semiological style with distinct lines, in which he tries to make them coexist as so many aspects of the same personality. His drawings can be spontaneous or thought, his portraits can be set in the reality or related to an oneiric imagery. Nevertheless what is important for Clement is to play with the opposite and spring up the unexpected. His particular interests are music, street art, printing, but the melting pot is also among the themes that inspire him. His peculiarities such as being mind-blowing, inventive, positive and curious, can be seen in his works which are full of energy and optimism.

MADAME: Madame was born into an artistic family. She is one of those few people who fall under this category. Her moniker sounds sophisticated and theatrical, just like a stage name for a prima donna, which resonates with the nature of her professional background. But in case you feel like it sounds just a bit too classy, consider her other alias: Madame. A healthy sense of humour casts a different light on the artist, denoting how femininity and masculinity can overlap at times. After years of exploration and cultural uplifting, which involved theatre studies, Madame eventually found her own favourite genre: pasting.

perroquet

STEW: STeW is a French contemporary artist born in 1978 in Les Lilas, Paris. He is well known for his Japanese inspired artworks, and murals created throughout the world. From an early age, he had shown a tendency towards art, redecorating his own room when he was only four years old! What makes him recognizable are his Japan-inspired artworks. Samurais are resurrected in modern world, but STeW always inserts something of his own into pieces. Such a powerful source of inspiration turned into reality in such a magnificent way. Besides Japan, he loves and is a passionate collector of stamps. Nature is another one of his inspirations. Traveling, even if happening only inside his head, gives the artist enthusiasm to continue his work.

36RECYCLAB (Special Curator Guest): 36recyclab (Alexis Cladière) does large scale street exhibitions of black and white engineering collages creating new perspectives and many more projects as sculpture.

The public is invited to come to discover the up and coming, exciting French Urban Art Scene!

Public Urged to Support Local Pottery Makers

The Lao Handicrafts Association (LHA) is aiming to introduce some new additions to the pottery range in Vientiane, which it hopes will attract more customers.

The association already supports local potters to produce various items including jars, mortars and vases, and customers can place orders directly with the association.

President of the Lao Handicrafts Association, Mr Hansana Sisane, spoke about the need to diversify pottery products at a workshop on the business recently.

Phase II of a skills development programme took place at the Santiphone Pottery Factory in Vientiane as part of a strengthening technical and vocational education and training project.

Mr Hansana said the association needs to increase understanding of the importance of supporting local pottery makers rather than purchasing products made elsewhere.

We are now worried about pottery businesses in Laos because the demand for pottery increases each year but the number of local people actually making pottery products has decreased, he said.

In response, the LHA’s policy to support sustainable pottery aims to respond to production needs by ensuring the long term viability of pottery businesses.

During the training course participants discussed their work. As part of the project, communities were required to implement a viable and sustainable pottery management model allowing villagers to earn more income from the pottery they sold to markets, he added.

He explained that the LHA was continuing to promote Lao handicrafts at home and abroad while tackling the issue of pottery preservation by encouraging pottery production at the local level.

While Lao handicrafts are proving popular with domestic and international customers alike, some people have sought out imported pottery when local raw products are in short supply.

Mr Hansana said we believe that customers are interested in items like plates, cups, spoons and other utensils made by Lao people.

So we use raw materials found in Laos like clay to make pottery products here and of course these will also be made with the use of Lao people’s skills, he added.

The Lao Handicrafts Association will also look to local markets in Vientiane for inspiration before creating any of the new pottery products.

The association hopes to expand these new products to other provinces especially if they see increased customer interest in them.

According to the association, in October and November this year, the Lao Handicrafts Association held an exhibition of Lao handicrafts to present the new pottery products at Lao-ITECC.

The association invited customers from shops, hotels and restaurants around the city to attend the exhibition, when they were able to purchase new pottery items.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Hospitals Prepare to Treat New Year Road Accident Victims

Hospitals in Vientiane are making preparations to treat the expected influx of patients involved in road accidents over the New Year.

Mittaphab, Setthathirath and Mahosot hospitals will have 24-hour emergency teams on standby to treat accident victims between December 29 and January 2, a hospital official said.

Deputy Director General of Mittaphab Hospital, Dr Tavanh Manivong, told Vientiane Times yesterday about their plans when giving a rundown of preparations in the lead up to the New Year.

Mittaphab and hospital networks are preparing medical staff and equipment in response to the expected surge in demand for services.

We have medical emergency teams on duty at all times so that we can provide good service, especially as the number of accidents is increasing each year, he said.

Last New Year Mittaphab had to handle about 400 road accident victims in just five days, which placed a lot of strain of doctors and nurses, he added.

On some days, we had to send accident victims to other hospitals because we didn’t have enough beds available. We believe the number of accidents could go as high as 800 this year over the same period.

Dr Tavanh said hospitals were partnering with the Foundation for Assisting Poor People of the Lao PDR, which provides aid to road accident victims and sends patients to Mittaphab and other hospitals nearest the scene of an accident.

He said that last year, doctors were sometimes unable to resuscitate accident victims because they were dead on arrival, the emergency team was busy with other patients, or there weren’t enough doctors on hand when casualties arrived.

Most accident victims are brought to the hospital at night, according to the Emergency and Critical Care Unit at Mittaphab.

According to the latest report from the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security, there were 530 fatalities among 2,754 road accidents nationwide in the first six months of 2015.

Along with the 530 fatalities, 583 people were left in a critical condition, 1,716 were seriously injured and 2,022 people were slightly injured.

In addition, 189 vehicles were written off, 2,399 sustained moderate damage and 2,324 vehicles sustained minor damage.

Vientiane again the topped the list with 730 accidents, including 126 fatalities and 983 people injured. Some 1,400 vehicles also sustained damage.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Gift Basket Sales Drop This Year

Many retailers in Vientiane have seen a decline in sales of gift baskets during the year-end shopping season.

Gift baskets are top selling items among company staff and government officials who buy them to give to their customers and people held in esteem in the run up to New Year.

But vendors are struggling to make a profit this year.

We have been able to sell about 100 gift baskets during the end-of-year period, only half the number we sold last year, said shop owner Ms Ang.

This decline is part of a trend that has been observed over the past few years. The dip in popularity of the baskets has been attributed to the economic slowdown, the government’s policy of thrift, and the growth in the number of retail shops which is encouraging more people to spend their money on other kinds of gift, Ms Ang said.

I am one of the biggest retailers in the Dongpalan area but I have sold only about 100 gift baskets. Most of the buyers are businessmen and company staff and only a small number of customers are government officials, she added.

Her gift baskets range in price from 100,000 kip to 1 million kip depending on what kind of items the customer wants.

Another retailer in Xiengngeun village said she too was unable to sell a large number of gift baskets like she did last year.

Last year, she sold more than 100 of the brightly packaged baskets but this year had sold only 30-40.

I have no idea about the fake or expired products in gift baskets that many people have commented on, but at my shop we always check the goods before packing them into baskets ready for sale, the vendor said.

The Food and Drug Department under the Ministry of Health recently warned the public to be careful when buying a gift basket because some of the items it contains may be imitation or past the sell-by date. This may not be obvious because they will be mixed in with other items.

Out-of-date or imitation items could pose a serious health risk, a department official said.

Before New Year each year, health officials visit markets in Vientiane and the provinces to look for expired goods among mixed goods and gift baskets in the interests of consumer safety.

Health officials carry out inspections in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

This year, they discovered imported products and foods that were imitation, such as frozen seafood, tobacco, and herbicides.

They also found that some of the products were past their use-by date and some had been mixed in with other products.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Water Route to Sky Lake in Attapeu Remains Unexplored

Attapeu province has yet to conduct a water route survey to the popular NongFa (Sky Lake) after the provincial governor approved a proposal some months ago.

Developing a water route to NongFa is considered to be the most comfortable way for visitors to access the site and also see natural forests and mountains along the river.

An anonymous official from the province told Vientiane Times on Wednesday that so far no work has been carried out to develop this water route.

However, we’ve heard that the local company that proposed the project is trying to find another company as a partner to help with the survey and development of the route to the lake, he said.

According to the provincial Information, Culture and Tourism Department, foreigners always ask to go Sky Lake when visiting the province.

The proposed route is about 50 kilometres long and it would take a boat about one hour to travel from Sammakhixay district to the lake.

Alternatively, the road route to the lake is about 170km long, but one section of about 70km is difficult to negotiate in the wet season.

The lake is located high on a hilltop and has very clear water that reflects the blue sky and resembles the sea in colour. It is believed the lake formed after a meteor crashed at the site hundreds of years ago.

The region is home to the Brao ethnic group, one of 11 distinct groups in Attapeu province. They typically build their houses on hilltops and wear elaborate bracelets on their arms and legs. They also cut their teeth, pierce their ears, and use animal tusks as earrings.

Attapeu province was chosen as Laos’ representative in The Cities of Charm’ pavilion at the China-Asean Exposition held in China in September.

The popular southern tourist attraction was featured during the event in a bid to promote tourism and city-to-city exchanges.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Northern Laos Tops New Year Destinations

LuangPrabang and Vangvieng district, Vientiane province and are the two main hotspots favoured by local and foreign holiday-makers looking for somewhere special to celebrate the New Year.

Meanwhile, Malaysia, Singapore and the Republic of Korea are the top overseas destinations where Lao people like to bring in the New Year, according to some local travel agents.

Vientiane Times asked several of the nation’s leading travel companies to gauge demand in the lead up to 2017.

A Northern Travel Laos official said local and foreign visitors both liked to tour the northern provinces over New Year, with the top destinations including LuangPrabang, Vangvieng, XiengKhuang province, and Vientiane.

Most foreign visitors that we deal with and arrange tours for in Laos are European. We also have customers from the USA, Australia and Switzerland, and some Asian visitors from Malaysia, the official said.

Normally, foreign visitors book their tour tickets in groups a few months in advance. Typically a group would stay up to three days in a destination or for one week in LuangPrabang, the official added.

NiyomChanmaly Travel Company told Vientiane Times that from the beginning of December the number of visitors from Thailand was up on previous years.

Vangvieng, LuangPrabang and Vientiane are especially favoured by Thai tourists as the top places for a holiday, according to the travel company.

Favoured activities by tour groups include homestays, visiting caves, and kayaking along the Xong River, with three day stays popular in Vangvieng and four days the norm in LuangPrabang.

According to Next Travel, Lao outbound travellers are increasingly looking to book an overseas destination to see in the New Year with Malaysia, Singapore and Korea the top destinations. Small tour groups of up to 10 people on a 5-6 day trip are the most popular.

Vientiane’s Northern Bus Station noted that passenger bookings so far seem not to have increased greatly compared to the previous New Year periods.

However, many bus companies have readied extra vehicles just in case there is a last minute rush.

Vangvieng is a popular destination for foreigners and local bus travellers on weekend breaks because of its many attractions and relative proximity to the capital.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Top Ten Drug Trafficking Arrests in 2016

Police nationwide are reporting an increasing number of arrests of drug traffickers as they intensify their efforts to curb the drug trade.

Heading the list of top ten busts this year was the seizure this month of over 100,000 amphetamine tablets, 2kg of opium, one brick of heroin and one small bag of crystal methamphetamine in Nhot-ou district, Phongsaly province. Police arrested Mr Khaechiem, 52, from Oudomsine village in Sing district, LuangNamtha province, who was transporting the drugs.

Second on the list, in November Bokeo police arrested Mr Maisengyord, 51, and his wife Ms Fong, 48, of Huaypheung village, Tonpheung district, after they found 12 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 42,000 amphetamine pills in their possession.

Third on the list, in October Khammuan police seized 30kg of cannabis and arrested Mr Kham-Aiew, 44, of Viengkham village, Pakkading district, Borikhamxay province.

In fourth place, 12 bricks of heroin were seized in August in LuangPrabang province. Police arrested MrYearthor, 28, of Chomchouk village and MrKuaha, 29, of Nalae village, both in Huayxai district, Bokeo province.

Fifth on the list, Oudomxay police in August discovered 60,000 amphetamine pills inside an unoccupied pickup truck and arrested MrChaiyang, 30, and MrXayngeunvang, 27, both of Nongbuadaeng village, Houn district.

Sixth, in August police seized over 2,000 amphetamine pills in Thakhaek district, Khammuan province and arrested MrSaengsavanh, 39, of Naheuang village, Khamkeuth district, Borikhamxay province and MrLertchai, 30, of Dongdamduan village, KaysonePhomvihane district, Savannakhet province.

Seventh on the list, in May, LuangNamtha police arrested two people from a neighbouring country and MrArtee, 28, from Chalernxay village in Long district, after finding 10kg of crystal methamphetamine.

In eighth place, in May Khammuan police seized 59,000 amphetamine pills and arrested MrTongkousong, 32, of Phonkham village, Phonhong district, Vientiane province.

Ninth, in April, following a crackdown LuangNamtha province, police seized 40 bags of precursor chemicals weighing 1,000kg and arrested three alleged drug traffickers from a neighbouring country.

Rounding out the top ten, in A pril Vientiane police seized 12,000 amphetamine pills and arrested Mr Souksavath, 38, of Naxamphan village, LuangPrabang district, LuangPrabang province; Mr Ounsaeng, 42, of Donxay village, Xay district, Oudomxay province; Mr Namnor, 42, of Naphork, village, Xaythany district, Vientiane; and Mr Khampheng, 48, of Nongmaengda village, Xay district, Oudomxay province.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Pakxong to Become Champassak’s Second Largest Town

The district of Pakxong will be developed into the second largest urban centre in Champassak province after Pakxe, according to a provincial official.

Champassak province has been undertaking groundwork to develop the town with Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam creating a new urban plan for Pakxong to deal with its rapid economic growth and development.

Deputy Director of the provincial Public Works and Transport Department, Mr Bounnao Fongkhamdeng, told Vientiane Times on Wednesday that provincial authorities are preparing urban planning development proposals for the government.

Ho Chi Minh City devised a new urban plan for Pakxong as the existing one has not been updated for 30 years and it’s not appropriate for its present and future development, he said.

Vietnam funded the new design, aiming to develop trade, investment and tourism, but the money to realise the project will have to come from the Lao government, he added.

Champassak province is made up of the 10 districts of Pakxe, Xanasomboun, Bachiengchaleunsouk, Pakxong, Pathoumphon, Phonthong, Champassak, Soukhouma, Mounlapamok and Khong.

Ho Chi Minh City presented the new urban planning design to Champassak province on Monday at a handover ceremony attended by provincial Governor Dr Bounthong Divixay and former member of the Politburo and former Ho Chi Minh Party Secretary Le ThanhHai.

Surveys were carried out in March 2013 with the final plan completed in August this year.

At the handover, provincial governor Dr Bounthong noted that the plan for Pakxong allocated specific zones for commercial production, housing and public spaces along with roads, electricity and water supply infrastructure.

He urged provincial and district authorities to expedite their project proposals in order to request funding from the government.

Prime Minister ThonglounSisoulith highlighted the province’s strong economy on a visit two months ago but also emphasised five issues in particular.

He said Champassak needed to seek more investment from domestic and overseas sources for coffee and other farms on the Bolaven Plateau, which is part of Pakxong district.

Pakxong not only has a growing reputation for its crops and coffee farms, but also its waterfalls and other tourist attractions, which are drawing more visitors.

 

Source: Vientiane Times