The annual Spring Calligraphy Festival will be held at the Literature Lake, a part of the Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) on February 9-25. Artists display calligraphic skill (Photo: vov.vn) For years, Hanoians have visited the Temple of Literature to have meaningful words written in calligraphy, aiming to attract good fortune in the New Year. The calligraphic works are then used to decorate their house during the New Year celebration. Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Centre, said the festival aims to promote traditional culture and preserve the calligraphic art. On red or yellow do (poonah) paper, they write words in traditional and Vietnamese scripts intended to bring good health, luck and prosperity for those in attendance. This year, 55 calligraphers who are members of calligraphic clubs and selected from a writing competition will perform the writing. The artists, wearing ao dai (long robes), will sit in bamboo tents following the traditions of the past. One highlight of the festival is an exhibition of 35 calligraphic works written in Vietnamese and Han-Nom scripts. The writings follow the theme of talent and righteousness to honour the tradition of learning. In the framework of the festival, an exhibition of traditional crafts such as pottery, paper making, embroidery, wood carving and bronze casting will be held. Visitors can also learn about poonah paper and how it’s made. Beside calligraphy, poonah paper is also used to print folk paintings and colourful Dong Ho, Kim… [Read full story]
by An Vũ Folk art not only provides a modest income for many Vietnamese, it has often been considered a national treasure. However, as modern art styles become popular, the old paintings are starting to fade into the distance. In the so-called golden age, folk paintings were created to meet citizen’s spiritual demands, with acclaimed products and styles based in craft villages such as Đông Hồ and Sình. The variety of models, genres, themes and patterns detailed the lives of Vietnamese people. They provided illustrations of the simple things that happen in everyday life, such as farming, herding, handicraft work and…... [read more]
Participating in the "Vietnamese Tet 2016" programme that opened from January 29 at the Hanoi Museum, visitors were immersed in the space of the traditional ancient Tet with familiar images such as bamboo, peach trees, blueberries, old houses, village markets. With the scale of morer than 200 stores, the "Vietnamese Tet 2016" programme was arranged into several key areas for Hanoi's traditional craft villages, traditional craft businesses, Hanoi tourism, trees for Tet and folk games. The programme is divided into 3 stages including the main stage, traditional folk and modern stage. Besides, some other activities on the sidelines organised during…... [read more]
Hanoi Times - The northern province of Bac Giang are cheering the onset of Tet (Lunar New Year) with a look back at the past at a new exhibition of Vietnamese folk art opened last recently. The show, held at the province's Museum of Fine Arts, includes over 60 woodblock prints from ethnic groups across the country. The pieces can be divided into two categories; tranh Tet (pictures used to celebrate Tet) and tranh tho (pictures used for worship). Each has something different to say, usually about religion, beauty or human nature. The name of the village that makes the…... [read more]
Outstanding pieces of research on folk arts were presented prizes at an awards ceremony by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association in Hanoi on December 22. Top awards went to two pieces ‘Du Dia Chi Huyen Quang Xuong’ (Geographic Anthology of Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa province) by Hoang Tuan Pho and ‘Sen Phan Be’, featuring marriage customs and the spiritual life of the Thai people in Dien Bien province by two authors Luong Thi Dai and Lo Xuan Hinh. Sixty prizes were also awarded to other research works, which were selected from 89 entries in various categories of philology, theory…... [read more]
VietNamNet Bridge – Contemplating paintings on a wall goes back to neolithic times, but wearing art on items of clothing is a new experience for wearer and watcher in Vietnam. Today, many young artists share a passion for folk paintings transferred by the printing craft from design to jackets, ao dai (traditional long dress) and even shoes.They are excited by the vitality of folk paintings, whose popularity has been waning in recent years so they are finding ways to revive the art and make it popular in contemporary life.Designer Dang Ngoc Han proudly introduced a collection of traditional long dress…... [read more]
