Impressed with "Contemporary Screenplay"

The exhibition “Contemporary Scripts” is divided into two parts. The first part is a series of 10 colored woodcuts using the technique of breaking the block, expressing the author’s reflections on many social issues in today’s rural life.

The author has brought Uncle Teu - the narrator in the folk water puppet plays - to contemporary life, as the main character in the stories of current events. Sometimes, Teu is a merchant, a famous and fulfilled businessman in the market of people - the market of life. Sometimes, Teu is still a humorous and meaningful farmer in the relationship of the village community, working together in the harvest season, having fun together. But it is also that farmer with a carefree smile who is selling a corner of the spiritual assets of his village, of himself - the image of 'the banyan tree, the water ferry and the communal house yard' - right at the rural market. Besides using the technique of multiple personification of the main character - Uncle Teu in a smart way, the artist is also careful and meticulous in the wood carving technique. The tight composition helps to clearly express the author's social message.

The next part is an installation titled “Breathe”. On an area of 30m2 with some delicately processed materials, giving the feeling of a rural field, the author placed 1,000 engraved portraits of farmers of various ages, in which portraits of women randomly make up the majority. The portraits are engraved on the widest surface (7cm x 9cm) of a wooden shovel - a familiar item in the family kitchen; the meticulous, emotional carvings have helped to vividly depict the portrait of today's farmers. Although limited in area, perhaps this is a work that has the ability to suggest a larger story about the fate of the field - also the fate of farmers in a social context that is changing every day.

The two exhibitions are not completely separate because they cover the artist's profound reflections on the many changes in the lives of farmers in his hometown, a purely agricultural area of Hai Duong with a traditional water puppetry craft. The exhibition also shows the artist's dedication to using traditional wood carving to tell current stories to today's audience - an interesting way to connect traditional and contemporary elements in art.

The exhibition takes place from November 27 to December 4 at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/an-tuong-voi-kich-ban-duong-dai-post563641.html