Artist Le Thiet Cuong: 'Kindness is always the pillar that unites the community'

The son of Hanoi's Old Quarter has just returned to his beloved home, which is also a familiar address to many "literary people" in Hanoi: Gallery 39A Ly Quoc Su, not far from where the ancient banyan tree fell in front of the Cathedral after storm No. 3. The artist is actually not feeling well, in a "storm" that happened to him more than a year ago. And it was a long illness, which he is calmly "handling" with. The author of House and People (a massive collection of essays that Le Thiet Cuong has just released) talks about a "sick city", when at the same time many green trees fell, the glass windows could not stop the flood; about the majestic bridges suddenly becoming fragile in the flood; about the "humanity" between people in times of trouble; about the life of gain and loss going hand in hand...

Having spent half his life attached to the old street in the core of the capital, how did he feel when he witnessed another "witness" fall right next to his house and was deeply imprinted in the memory of Hanoians: the ancient banyan tree in front of the Cathedral? People say: "Only when you love will you hurt, if you don't love, you won't hurt". Anyone who loves the green life or is nostalgic for quiet, ancient things... will also feel pain when faced with that incident. What's more, for the residents who often pass by that "sacred tree" every day, some even pass by it their entire lives. It is the personal pain of a person who was born there, in that special space, with memories that can only take place there... For example, I have several coffees a day, sometimes the shop is right next to it, or across the street; when walking, when cycling slowly past it, I never fail to look at it. Imagine passing by the Cathedral one morning, but because it was foggy and the church was not visible, just that moment of "losing each other" was enough to make you feel something was missing. Moreover, this is something that has been deeply engraved in the bottom of your eyes for a long time, and now it is completely gone. The Cathedral is beautiful, not only because of its beautiful architecture, but also because of the things around it, including the banyan tree like a curtain hanging in front of it.

Newly released essay collection by artist Le Thiet Cuong

That tree, as well as many other "sacred trees" in the city, if for some technical reason it cannot be saved, it would be a pity, a truly regrettable loss... 39A Ly Quoc Su is a special house in Hanoi, not only because it is also a gallery but also because its owner has diligently organized dozens of non-profit exhibitions for Hanoi's artists for the past 20 years. It is also special because of the "playfulness" of a person who knows exactly what he needs: a yard/skylight that is almost as wide as a house where "every inch of land is worth its weight in gold" is reserved for... "a few worthless plants": vines of evergreens, and a banana tree that has never... borne fruit - a "character" that the artist mentioned in the book House and People , as gratitude: "I maintain regularly, once a day, in the afternoon I sit down by the window, looking out into the garden. My garden only grows one banana tree, the green banana leaves swaying when the sun goes down make me feel peaceful, "my heart suddenly at peace"... "I only need to see the color green", the artist said.

Artist Le Thiet Cuong at Gallery 39A Ly Quoc Su (Hanoi)

What would the author of House and People say about the trees that have just been uprooted, exposing the things that have long been threatening to invade its "home": underground cables, asphalt blocks, concrete, bricks and stones...? You are right, land is exactly the "home of trees", the place for cicadas to lay eggs, grass keeps the trees moist... Losing land means losing a house, because the sidewalks are occasionally turned over to build something underground, because of the lack of uniformity and overlap in planning..., not to mention the problem of planting carelessly on new streets... Look at the rows of trees planted by the French before 1954 on Western streets in Hanoi, why are many of them still standing? Meanwhile, many new urban areas have fallen trees because those mature trees were dug up from other places, with their roots cut off during transportation... In short, it is unnatural, if you want to be green, you still need time, you cannot cheat. Surely in the future, there will be many "quick-fix" green urban areas that will learn from experience... At the time of the Phong Chau bridge collapse, once again, people mentioned the longevity of the Long Bien bridge that has stood firm on the Red River for more than a hundred years; Some people also say: In times of mourning, is it too cruel to praise a "colonial heritage"? There is nothing cruel, what is right must be said, what is good must be learned. Only then can we reduce the heartache! Could that bridge collapse if there were sand dredgers not far away? Whether that matter is right or wrong, how much impact it has, I think it all needs to be dissected to the end. If we do not do it to the end, then that is cruel, to both the people who leave and the people who stay. The French, with the heritage of their civilization, including construction and architecture, have really "calculated" things for us, for this tropical monsoon country. Just look at the window frames of French houses, after so many years, what can storms do to them? When it is not by chance that they divide each window into small panels, then there are shutters, glass doors (also divided into many small panels), and even clemon door latches running along the door body, elegant but also extremely sturdy... Or why instead of welding (which changes the material structure), they choose to screw, bolt... Those delicate calculations, it is not only "artistic taste", it is also "human taste"!

I mentioned these sad words in the article "House of Peace" in the book " House and People" : "I always regret why it has come to this? In times of war, hardship and poverty, people's hearts were at peace, in times of chaos, people's hearts were at peace. Now, on the contrary, almost everyone is "active", smart, scheming, cunning, calculating... Just pay attention to the road from home to work every morning. There is jostling and pushing, no one gives way, honking horns, exhaust fumes, dust, garbage, overflowing sewage, polluted canals, degraded roads, disorganized digging of underground works, tangled electric and telephone wires, messy advertising signs, traffic jams, cursing, fighting..., then fake diplomas, fake medicine and many other things that are thought to be impossible to fake are also fake, fake virginity, fake doctors - professors, fake temples, fake weddings, fake (martyrs) graves...". Or like recently, while the whole country was joining hands to support the North in the devastating storm and flood, there was still room for fake things to sneak in: fake charity (with all kinds of "backdrops"), fake calls for help (by the "tricks" of "gardeners" TikTokers, YouTubers...), and even noisy "battles" online by "saints of scrutiny" who are used to "playing judges at the keyboard"...

But above all and more than ever, once again we see the so-called "Vietnamese spirit", "Vietnamese blood" in the way people interact with each other, the army and the people embrace each other: relief trucks from the South and Central regions come to rescue the North; volunteer cars slow down on the bridge to block the wind for motorbikes, savings are used for charity, soldiers do not mind the wind and rain on the rescue journey... Vietnamese people are strange like that, in normal times, they can jostle and push each other, torment each other in all kinds of ways, in real life or online...; but when "family problems" arise, without anyone telling them, most of them will try to do something good to help others, save others. It is a kind of "humanity" that is always in the blood of the Vietnamese people, not often revealed, but will be revealed and shine brighter than ever, in difficult circumstances, when it is needed the most. Humanity, it is like a pillar that unites the community, bringing us closer together and wider, is the anchor that keeps this human world, this universe, existing, as well as constantly rotating without deviating from its core, its human heart...

Hundreds of Yen Bai province union members participated in cleaning up many streets in Yen Bai city. Photo: Nguyen Anh

In front of my house is Ly Quoc Su Pagoda, at the beginning of the street is the Great Church, the street is very peaceful: there is both a pagoda and a church at the same time. Every day, walking through the old street with its narrow alleys, which are often full of arguments, is often seen in crowded places, but just stepping through the church door, or walking into the temple yard, I immediately belong to a completely different space, fresh and quiet. As if all the noise out there belongs to a far away place, unrelated, not dependent. I guess that in each of us, among the noise - stillness, turbidity - clarity, there must always be such a "pagoda". Even though we usually rarely step foot in it, but at certain "sacred moments" in life, it is always the place where our souls are washed in the purest, most benevolent and most "human" way.

Looking at his house, looking at his paintings and reading his writings, one can clearly feel the state of mind of a nostalgic person, attached to the past, as if "stuck" somewhere on the hinge between the past and the present, an interesting "stuck"! And the past few days, for many of us, have been a state of "stuck" between sad news, fallen trees, collapsed bridges, flash floods, landslides... Well, it is also another time that we receive a reminder from heaven and earth, when a good life requires the harmony of three elements: Heaven - Earth - Human. The ultimate pain of this is that we have lost Green, have left too many "Carbon footprints" on this land, have not solved the problem of conservation and development well... At this time, we must love nature even more, must be in harmony with it, do not expect to reform and control it. The more the "city is sick", the more we need to treat it like a living being, must take care of it, must love it like loving our own body, every day... Facing a serious illness in old age, what is the way you go through the "storm" of your life? The Book of Changes teaches that: In gain there is loss. Nothing is completely lost or completely gained. After all, the two words "balance" are still the most important thing, in the mindset of each person, a land or more broadly, this entire human world...

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoa-si-le-thiet-cuonglong-nhan-luon-la-ruong-cot-co-ket-cong-dong-185240914201014397.htm