Vietnamese Oil Painting

After the restoration of peace, Tran Van Can produced a canvas retying the rope of the irrigation scoop, which was a creation of high professional level he had long mastered. Duong Bich Lien looked at things in a global way; he brought landscapes and scenes to the level of symbols. In his canvas Harvest, the author has simplified to the utmost the scene of harvest: only golden waves succeeding one another to the horizon.

Nguyen Do Cung who was a veteran graduate of the FACI has made an oil painting, the machine building workers in 1962. He spent a rather long time at the engineering factory of the Cam Pha mines, living and working with the workers. Piles of documents, drawings, and sketches were prepared for this painting depicting a nascent large-scale industry of the country if one pleads for a “painting reflecting the individual” likes Vlaminck – a French painter in the early 20th century – Bui Xuan Phai has been able to materialize this conception.

It suffices to admire his paintings to realize that Bui Xuan Phai was in a state of mind heavy with past memories, that he took the past as a source of inspiration. Bui Xuan Phai was a veteran painter but he began to win public attention from the 1970s with his works on the old streets of Hanoi. He had recourse to bright colors and stylized forms in black outlines, like a glass panes of a window.

He has contacted with the works of Rouault. Toulouse-Lautrec and painters of force and rapidity has given influence which he applied to his paintings, adding the flavor of the old streets of Hanoi to that of modern time.

Many young painters have received his influence and he is considered as one of the four most talented artists of our time. Over two decades 1970s and 1980s, it seemed that oil painting did not surpass that of the first year after the restoration of peace to respond to the demand of socialist realism.

It is easy to understand when many good oil painters had chosen pumice lacquer or silk painting. Since 1925, oil painting in the poetical realist painting has acquired solid traditions and made continuous development, contributing many art works of value to the revolutionary painting.

The art of Bat Trang ceramics

Bat Trang ceramic products of pearl; cracked and ash-colored enamel are the most sophisticated in the world and are now displayed in famous museums throughout the world, including Guimet (France), Brussels (Belgium), the Rijec museum (Holland), the national Museum of Australia, San Francisco (America) and Tokyo (Japan).

Bat Trang is an ancient village to travel to Vietnam situated on the northern bank of the Red-river, about 8 kilometers from the center of Hanoi with 72 white ground hillocks and Chu Dau china of Hai Duong province.

As far back as 600 years the village has provided ceramic bowls, cups, bottles, jars and tiles to the whole of Northern Vietnam. With precious soil, unique secret methods of making ceramic enamel and wonderful artistic depictions on the products, Bat Trang ceramics have become valuable goods that are highly appreciated by domestic and international communities and have been exported to places as far away as Indonesia, India, Japan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Bat Trang bricks were also used to build the Forbidden City in Beijing and famous mosques in Egypt and the Middle East thanks to their creative carved images.

After rebuilding and developing the handicraft village, Bat Trang has become a big center for tourism and trade in Hanoi. Hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists with Vietnam Culture Travel visit Bat Trang daily to buy unique products made by the skillful craftsmen. When you come here, you are not only able to choose from a wide range of goods but you can also go for a sightseeing tour or try to make china products yourself under the supervision of one of the craftsmen. Furthermore, the area is renowned as a place of literature in Hanoi, with 346 people passing national examinations here and going on to become the highest-ranking officials of Vietnam in the feudal time. The village festival is held from the 15 to 22 February of lunar calendar (about March of the solar calendar), at the same time as the Gom market festival, one of the biggest market festivals of Vietnam.

Youths preserve Ca Tru folk singing

Ca Tru folk singing is a unique musical genre of Vietnam. In 2009, UNESCO recognized Ca Tru as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in need of urgent protection. This is a great honor for Vietnam but also a task for the country to preserve and promote it in the modern world.

VOV reporter To Tuan has a story about how the younger generation is preserving Ca Tru folk singing. Ca Tru is a unique type of folk music in Vietnam that dates back to the 15 th century. Ca Tru folk singing has a strong influence on people’s cultural and social life in the Red River Delta.

Throughout history, Ca Tru has retained its vitality because of its uniqueness in Vietnamese culture. On October 1, 2009, Vietnamese Ca Tru folk singing was officially recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in need of urgent protection. The recognition means that Vietnam needs to make a greater effort to preserve and promote this heritage.

Folklore Researcher To Ngoc Thanh says: “In the early years of this century, Ca Tru is on the verge of falling into oblivion. Compared with other art genres, Ca Tru is in a fragile situation losing its importance in people’s life. So, it is not easy to bring it back to the contemporary life, especially with the popularity of Karaoke and MTV. We will begin by restoring the popularity of Ca Tru among middle-age and elderly people. We need an audience first and then we will introduce its attraction to the younger generation”.

The vitality of Ca Tru folk singing in modern life is due to the efforts of many generations. There are 63 Ca Tru art troupes and clubs with more than 700 members in 15 cities and provinces around the country. In addition to establishing Ca Tru clubs, much attention has been paid to training younger artists to perform Ca Tru. Hanoi is one of the localities with the largest number of Ca Tru clubs.

 Many young artists have been performing Ca Tru. 17- year-old Nguyen Kieu Anh belongs to the 7 th generation of a Thai Ha art troupe associated with Ca Tru. She says: ” I’m a young person and I have a passion for different types of art. 7 generations in my family havebeen associated with Ca Tru, so I have been influenced by Ca Tru songs and sounds since I was born.

As a result, I have a great passion for Ca Tru folk singing”. With its regular performances, the Hanoi Ca Tru club has helped increase the public’s knowledge of Ca Tru and draw them, especially the younger generation, to this folk art. By watching a Ca Tru performance in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Pham Hong Phuong, a student at the Financial Academy learned more about this heritage.

She and her friends set up a team of volunteers to preserve and promote this art genre. ” Our major aim is to preserve Ca Tru because this art genre has been recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in need of urgent protection. Ca Tru is in need of protection efforts by everyone, especially young Vietnamese people”, said Phuong .

The Hanoi Ca Tru Volunteers Club has 50 members. Most of them are students in Hanoi. They volunteer to sell tickets, guide foreign audiences to Ca Tru performances and even MC the show. The volunteers, fans and singers of Ca Tru play important roles in preserving Vietnamese Ca Tru folk singing.