‘Bat Kha Phuc Hoi’ (Unrecoverable) by Mong Mi has opened at HCMC Museum of Fine Arts at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1.

The exhibition features 20 paintings made of silk which are the result of two years of hard graft and marks an important turning point in the artist’s life.

Graduating from HCMC University of Fine Art in 2003, Mi worked as a copywriter for six years before she quit to focus on her painting. “I realized that painting is my passion and I cannot wait for it any more,” said the artist.

Mi’s works make visitors feel relaxed as her soft and elegant lines together with white spaces give visitors time to think and ponder.

“When you see my works, you are seeing a part of my life experiences, feelings and private affairs,” said Mi.

The exhibition will run until February 29.

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The 39-year-old Mong My is holding her first-ever solo exhibition, Bat Kha Phuc Hoi (Unrestorable), displaying 20 silk paintings that she has created over the last two years.

“I want audiences to feel relaxed when they see the white spaces of silk on my paintings,” she said.

All of the works reflect her experiences, feelings and private stories.

The painter, whose real name is Chu Thi My, graduated from the HCM City Fine Arts University in 2003. After working as a copywriter for six years, she quit several jobs and began painting.

Kyem and Nguyen Than are also showcasing a collection of 20 oil paintings at the joint exhibition, Ma Vach Dan Ba (Bar-Code Women), at the museum.

Than brings a series of 12 oil paintings called Nguoi Dan Ba Dung Sau Cua So (The Woman behind the Windows) that reflect the artist’s feelings about women. His paintings depict several windows on a dark background.

The 64-year-old artist said: “Behind those windows is an image of a woman.”

Born in 1928 in northern province of Ninh Binh, Than won a bronze medal in the National Fine Arts and Literature Prize for painting in 1970 and a gold medal for sculpture in 1973.

He has had many solo and group exhibitions in Viet Nam and other countries including Australia and Switzerland.

Than’s colleague, Kyem, is displaying eight oil-on-canvas paintings of still life, her favourite subject. All works depict images of vases on a bright background.

Born in Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha Trang City, the 56-year-old artist studied and taught arts in France. Her paintings have been exhibited in Europe, Hong Kong and Viet Nam.

The Bat Kha Phuc Hoi (Unrestorable) will remain open until February 29 at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1, while the other exhibit will close on March 3.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

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October 9, 2011

Artist says she was destined to depict the story of Kieu

The silk paintings by Ngoc Mai have Kieu wearing Vietnamese traditional dresses like ao dai and ao tu than. Each painting took Mai several months to complete.

Vietnam’s most famous literary work of all time, “The Tale of Kieu,” has been rewritten in 28 silk paintings over 12 years by a self-taught painter keeping a childhood promise.

The paintings were unveiled at a ten day exhibition that closed Monday in Ho Chi Minh City and 60-year-old Ngoc Mai was complimented for telling the epic poem in “a Vietnamese way.”

Its original title was Doan Truong Tan Thanh (A New Cry From a Broken Heart), but the poem, a remake by Nguyen Du from a Chinese story to convey the Ming Dynasty’s situation at the end of the 18th century, is better known as Truyen Kieu.

The 3,254 verses, written in “luc bat” (6/8) meter, recounts 15 years of hardship in the life of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family.

To save her father and younger brother from going to prison because of unpaid debts, she sold herself into marriage to a middle-aged man, not knowing that he was a pimp, and was forced into prostitution.

Ngoc Mai, who became a widow in her 20s and has raised her son as a single mother until now, said she was moved by Kieu’s sacrifice and wanted to express her emotions in paintings.

Her collection portrays significant turns in the life of Kieu.

Major characters in the poem are also illustrated, including Kieu’s first love Kim Trong, her sister Thuy Van, her husband Tu Hai who saves her from a brothel the second time, and Hoan Thu, a symbol of jealous woman.

Making it Vietnamese

Before Mai’s unique works, Truyen Kieu has been pictured by famous artists like Bui Xuan Phai, To Ngoc Van, and Le Pho and they mostly stuck with the poem’s description.

In an oil-painting collection by artist Pham Cung, Kieu is dressed in Ming Dynasty costumes, exactly as described at the beginning of the poem, which tells Truyen Kieu as the story of a Beijing woman.

But the paintings by Ngoc Mai have Kieu wearing Vietnamese traditional dresses like ao dai and ao tu than.

Ngoc Mai said in a way, she did not illustrate Truyen Kieu.

“I just painted what I feel about Kieu,” she told the The Thao & Van Hoa.

The painter, who has held exhibitions in HCMC, Texas and Rennes in France between 1997 and 2004, said she loved Truyen Kieu since fifth grade, nearly 50 years ago, and knows all 3,254 verses by heart.

“When my teacher spoke about the poem, I suddenly told my friends that I would paint Kieu in the future, and this prediction has been following me for years,” Mai said.

Her project started in 1999 after Mai read different translations of Kieu and critics’ opinions from time to time.

She knew about previous Kieu paintings by great artists, and she said she did not want to follow in their tracks. “I just wanted to paint Kieu in my own way.”

Mai has received an offer to buy the collection but said she would not sell any of the paintings, “no matter what.

“I will keep it for my own and if Vietnam has a Kieu museum in the future, I will give the collection to the museum,” Mai said.

The paintings have been published in a book called “Tranh lua Kieu” by the Literature Publishing House, with a brief narration of the poem in Vietnamese, English and French.

The choice of silk

Many artists have praised Mai for using silk as her painting material.

Nguyen Thi Tam, a university art professor and expert on silk paintings, said silk is a soft material that can make the colors on it sparkle.

The painter said silk was the best material to paint the poem as its softness goes in tune with the 6/8 meter of the poem and it has a vulnerable look just like the female protagonist.

Writer Tran Nha Thuy said in a Tuoi Tre report that Mai’s collection is “beautiful like a poem.”

At a time life has moved to the fast lane, someone taking 12 years to paint Truyen Kieu on silk, a difficult material to handle, is refreshing in itself, said Tam.

The choice is even more remarkable at a time when silk paintings are no longer in vogue.

According to many artists, the number of silk paintings done has dropped even as many arts are enjoying a resurgence based on increasing prosperity and greater market demand.

They said artists need an undisturbed mind, a real peace within to make silk paintings.

Luong Xuan Doan, one of the winners at the National Silk Painting Exhibition in 1980, said silk paintings do not allow the artists to hide their mistakes or carelessness as other art forms.

It is also a painstaking and time consuming task to paint on silk.

Each painting took Mai several months to complete, with some taking up to six months, the painter said.

After spending months on a painting, she would sometimes feel dissatisfied with the end and start all over again. But she does not regret her choice of silk at the very beginning of her career, Mai said.

Sixty-year-old Ngoc Mai was complimented for telling the epic poem in a “Vietnamese way”

Thanh Nien News

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Exhibition: 21 – 25 Feb 2012
Exhibition House
29 Hang Bai, Hanoi

From the organizer: 
You are invited to the exhibition titled “Five Years”. This exhibition of 5 artists with 3 video arts and 2 installation is the reflection of each artist’s views on the society, their experience, the lesson learnt and the feelings towards Vietnamese society. It marks the 6th year anniversary of HanoiLink working in contemporary arts. An exhibition that you can not miss!

Artists and artworks include:
Nguyen Thanh Hoa: “ONLY A THREAD ” – installation of embroidery works.
Virginie Faivre D’arcier: “THE COCOONS ” – installation
Nguyen Hoa Van: “HAVEN’T THOUGHT ABOUT ” – video art .
Nguyen Ban Ga: “THE PARTY” – video art installation.
Nguyen Tran Nam : “BU” – live video art installation.

Note: There will be no opening ceremony. If you are interested to find out more about the exhibition, contact with each of the artist directly at the exhibition.

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• Polish landscape paintings on display in Hanoi

Franciszek Ryszard Mazurek painted these works during his stay in Vietnam last October when he was invited by the Polish embassy in Hanoi to exhibit some of his paintings of the beautiful landscapes in his homeland, particularly the Lublin region.

The 33 paintings on show depict popular places such as Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake, Tran Quoc Pagoda, and Ha Long Bay, as well as the rice fields and ancient village gates of rural Vietnam.

Mazurek graduated from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. Since 1979, he has had 30 solo exhibitions in Poland, Ukraine, Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Romania, Belgium and Vietnam. He also participated in 11 group exhibitions across Europe.

Amidst the many different viewpoints on modern art, the Polish painter’s creativity validates the role of traditional, realistic art in the modern world.

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Unit Price: US $70.00

Description: “To keep the soul pure and youthful, that is the best way to get close to art” writes Phai in the opening pages of the book.

This volume is dedicated to Phai’s Cheo paintings. Cheo is a popular opera form in the villages of the Red River Delta in North Vietnam.

“I think that the unsophisticated and witty aesthetics of the Vietnamese village, the prosaic and conventional language in Cheo performance, its festive coloring cheered Phai up and kept him well-balanced. To him, Cheo was another revelation alongside Hanoi old streets, his sempiternal source of inspiration. And in this sense, it could be said that he is the first and most successful painter in the Cheo world, “ writes Thai Ba Van in the introduction of the book.

Published in 1995 by the Tran Hau Tuan, HaNoi, VN. 128 pages, hard cover, 23 cm x 30 cm. Trilingual – Vietnamese, English, French.

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The event was jointly held by the Mayor of the Choisy-le Roi, the France-Vietnam Friendship Association and the Aragon Information Centre.

Miscault said she is delighted to have successfully illustrated Khoa’s poems with the vestiges of Vietnamese villages.

Her paintings were inspired by Khoa’s poems written in the 60s and 70s of the 20 ^th century when he was a little boy.

Nicole Trampoglieri, Chairman of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association, said the exhibition shows close cooperation between the poet, the painter and the translator in promoting friendship, solidarity and mutual love of culture and arts among Vietnamese and French people.

Daniel Davisse, Choisy-le Roi’s Mayor, said the exhibition is a prelude to a series of activities which will be hosted by the city to mark the Vietnam-France exchange year 2012.

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‘Code women’ by Nguyen Than and Ki-Em opened on Saturday at HCMC Museum of Fine Arts, 97A Pho Duc Chinh in District 1.

The show features 10 paintings of lacquer and oil on wood by Than and eight paintings of oil on canvas by Ki-em.

Than depicts images of women with lines of spaces and geometric graphic depict. He said: “To me, women are the most attractive things and inspire me during this life. I can see images of women in everything I see.”

Vietnamese-French artist Ki-em brings to the show rustic images of daily life, including ceramic vases, flowers and the moon. “Although I live and work in France, my motherland is always the most sacred place in life and to me the Vietnamese countryside is peaceful, beautiful and engraved in my heart,” said Ki-em.

The show runs until March 4.

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The cover of "Sai Gon" Newspaper, 1939 Ky Mao Spring edition

An exhibition which opens Thursday in a bookstore in Ho Chi Minh features more than 100 original copies of special edition print newspaper published in the early 20th century in Vietnam.

Called “Bao Xuan,” or Spring Newspaper in Vietnamese, these are the special editions that were put out for the celebration of the coming Lunar New Year back in the 1930s–1940s, a practice still common in the present-day press industry.

These print works belong to various private collectors from across Vietnam, including Nguyen Dinh Dau, Nguyen Huu Triet, Hoang Minh, Vu Ha Tue, and are curated by the bookstore’s owner, Duong Thanh Hoai.

The exhibition is expected to shed light on the early development of the print press in Vietnam and provide valuable reference materials important to the history of the publishing industry.

As “Tet” or Lunar New Year is a symbolic occasion in the country’s rich culture, these editions dedicated a large part to articles, pictures and design layouts embodying traditional practices and values.

These items also contained rich contents, from literary to journalistic materials distinctive of the early 19th century in Vietnam, which can suggest topics for many interesting research or academic studies.

“Even its advertisement section is worth a research or study in its own right, from the language to marketing tools for the products then. It is also a very good way to study the nascent domestic market at the time,” a journalism scholar said.

The exhibition remains open until mid-March at Nha Nam Thu Quan at 015 Apartment, 43 Ho Van Hue, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh.

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This painting by artist Hoang Tich Chu earned the Ho Chi Minh Award for Art and Literature in 2000

A ceremony to celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the founders of Vietnamese traditional lacquer painting Hoang Tich Chu (18-2-1912 – 2012) was held in Hanoi on February 17 by the Vietnam Fine Art Association on February 17.

At the ceremony, fine art critics and researchers affirmed the great contributions Hoang Tich Chu made to Vietnamese art.

Painter Chu was born in the northern province of Bac Ninh. He studied at the Indochina Art School in Hanoi from 1936 to 1941, then joined in the revolution and was assigned to establish the first art school in Vietnam.

He laid the foundation for Vietnamese lacquer painting and created colours and layouts to develop the art form. His works depict Uncle Ho, the nation’s wars and the beauty of the country’s landscape.

Chu was presented various national and international awards during his lifetime, most notably the Ho Chi Minh Award for Art and Literature in 2000.

He passed away on October 22, 2003 at the age of 93.

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