Memories of the Perfume River
After 22 regional exhibitions, this is the first time that Vietnam Fine Arts Association organizes art exhibitions in the Southern Central - Central Highlands (including Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak) with the extension to some northern provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue. The exhibition is so distinctly different from every other year and is rigorously chosen, with fewer artworks than those in previous years. The organizers selected 203 artworks of 196 authors, including 28 authors from Thua Thien Hue.
At the opening ceremony in Quy Nhon city, August 13th morning, the organizers announced results of awarding the prizes to the artworks of the members of Vietnam Fine Arts Association participating in the exhibition with 3 B (without A), 2 C and 7 consolation prizes. Thua Thien Hue has a C prize thanks to painter Phan Thanh Binh with the Memories of the Perfume River (Acrylic, 140 x 200cm); 1 consolation prize of painter Phan Hai Bang with Ngau lien (Trucchigraphy, 120 x 180cm) and 4 works nominated by the organizers for the Award of the National Committee for Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations: Love (Trucchigraphy, 45 x 145cm) by Tran Anh Phi, Memory of a time (Lacquer, 100 x 60cm) by Nguyen Thi My Tam, A dream (Synthesis, 110 x 180) Le Hoa and Logo sets of Companies (Graphic Design) by Vo Quang Phat.
Love - Trucchigraphy
Among the 6 authors who were awarded the prizes, there were 4 authors working as lecturers at Hue College of Arts. Among them were 2 Trucchigraphic works that won. That again shows that the material and visual style of the Trucchigraphy have a lot of public attention and have been highly appreciated with plenty of awards from regional exhibitions, Graphic design exhibition, exhibition of Youth, and exhibitions of artworks at Hue Festival.
Contributing to the affirmation and identification of a new personality in the creativity is the group of Hue Trucchigraphic painters founded by artist Phan Hai Bang. However, it should be noticed that this year, among the artists and artworks selected by the organizers of the exhibition, there was no sculptor from Hue selected for display in this annual exhibition. Many famous painters from Hue did not participate or have their artworks selected.
During the opening ceremony, the Arts Council of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association highly appreciated the creative achievements of the artists in the South of Central Vietnam, the Central Highlands and 3 provinces in the North of Central Vietnam. The arts council claimed that the artists had observed and reflected many aspects of life, expressing the sheer vitality of people and land, showing the sincerity and emotions of the regional artists while creating their artworks.
The Arts Council and the organizers also discussed the limitations of creative skills, international integration, hot issues in life which were left untouched, the themes of revolutionary warfare which remained very few and the modest number of artists paying attention to these topics. In particular, the exhibition did not reflect much about the people and working life of coastal culture, even though the exhibition was the convergence of artists in the coastal region throughout Central Vietnam. These are things that central artists in general and Thua Thien Hue in particular need to consider as the new orientation in their future works.
Ngẫu liên - Trucchigraphy
Participating in this exhibition is a great opportunity for artists in all three regions to exchange and have a broader view of the art of the region and their colleagues as well as improving their strengths or overcoming their weaknesses. Although there were not many weaknesses, one serious problem remained. There were works that were not labelled as a complete “copy” , but the act of imitating and reproducing the ideas from foreign products was quite obvious. However, the organizers did not "dare" to point out.
The organizers and the Arts Council tried to friendly remind the artists of this disturbing problem, as it has appeared more and more in the artistic activities throughout the country. In addition, the fact that artists from the northern provinces of Central Vietnam such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh did not participate in the exhibition also posed some small questions in the arts community and the public. If there had been the participation of more provinces from the North of Central Vietnam, the exhibition would be more complete, and its name would definitely be different.
Story and photos: Phan Thanh Binh