What should Hue do about the Le Ba Dang Art Center?

That is the question posed 10 years after the establishment of the Le Ba Dang Art Center in Hue City (Thua Thien-Hue province) and one year after the death of painter Le Ba Dang.

Báo Thanh niên•21/04/2016

A visitor views paintings by artist Le Ba Dang at the Le Ba Dang Art Center ( Hue ).

On April 20th, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Le Ba Dang Art Center, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thua Thien Hue province organized an exhibition themed "Le Ba Dang, a Purely Vietnamese Soul" and a seminar on promoting the artistic values of Le Ba Dang in Hue.

Artist Lê Bá Đảng was born on July 26, 1921, in Bích La Đông village (Triệu Đông commune, Triệu Phong district, Quảng Trị province). He was a renowned Vietnamese artist in France and was known as "A master of two worlds , East and West." From the Huế Festival in 2004 to 2015, artist Lê Bá Đảng held numerous exhibitions and artistic activities in Huế. In 2006, at the invitation of the Thừa Thiên-Huế Provincial People's Committee, artist Lê Bá Đảng returned to Huế and participated in many artistic activities at the Huế Festival. That same year, the Thừa Thiên-Huế Provincial People's Committee decided to allocate the beautiful villa, formerly the headquarters of the Thừa Thiên-Huế Department of Finance, located at 15 Lê Lợi Street, Huế City, on the Hương River, to establish the Lê Bá Đảng Art Center. After the center was established, artist Lê Bá Đảng returned to Huế many times, organizing numerous exhibitions, creative works, and artistic activities. On March 7, 2015, artist Le Ba Dang passed away in Paris, France, at the age of 94.

Domestic and international artists participated in the exhibition "Le Ba Dang, a Purely Vietnamese Soul".

After establishing the center, artist Le Ba Dang donated 394 works to Thua Thien-Hue province, including 349 works created by Le Ba Dang himself and 45 paintings and documents by some famous artists around the world such as Picasso, Matta, Pignon… which Le Ba Dang and his wife had collected.

Writer Tô Nhuận Vỹ, who contributed greatly to the establishment of the Lê Bá Đảng Art Center in Huế and is currently collaborating with the family to found the Lê Bá Đảng Creative Fund and many other projects in Huế, said: “While he was alive, painter Lê Bá Đảng had many plans and aspirations that he couldn't realize. He was always deeply concerned about how to build a Vietnamese art scene that ‘the West doesn't have, the Chinese don't have, it only exists in Vietnam’.”

“After the artist passed away, I was haunted by the photographs, the projects about Vong Canh Hill, the Perfume River, the Thien An hills…, the pile of handwritten letters he sent me from Paris, the sleepless nights spent on the projects, the paintings he sent back as gifts to the people of Thua Thien-Hue…,” writer To Nhuan Vy shared.

The Le Ba Dang Art Center in Hue is a beautiful building on the Perfume River.

What can be done to promote the values of Le Ba Dang?

According to Mr. To Nhuan Vy, there are currently many projects being implemented by families, organizations, and individuals related to Le Ba Dang. These projects are currently clashing, but it's simply a conflict between what is good and what is even better. Therefore, the state management agency for culture needs to take a comprehensive view to handle the situation. The main goal is to promote the value and reputation of Le Ba Dang.

According to Mr. Vy, the documents issued by the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee still lack information on the successor role of Mrs. Michelangelo Mourriette Louise (the late artist's wife) at the Le Ba Dang Art Center in Hue. "This is a shortcoming that needs to be addressed, because Mrs. Louise is a very dedicated person with a pure heart and a strong desire to contribute even more to Hue," Mr. Vy said. He proposed that the Thua Thien-Hue provincial government should appoint Mrs. Louise as a special advisor to the Le Ba Dang Art Center in Hue in the near future, so that she and her family can contribute more to Hue.

Mrs. Michelangelo Mourriette Louise (wife of the late artist) attended the panel discussion.

Mr. Tran Khanh Chuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, believes that Le Ba Dang's name has international recognition. Le Ba Dang's works, from paintings and sculptures to other pieces, all possess a unique style, unlike anyone else's, and embody a purely Vietnamese spirit. The fact that Thua Thien-Hue province has dedicated a beautiful building by the Perfume River to house the Le Ba Dang Art Center is something no other place in the country has done, not even Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. The contribution of fine arts is not about tangible material value, but about contributing to the overall development of the country. Hue is a major center of fine arts in the country, so in the future, it is necessary to further promote art centers like those of Le Ba Dang and Diem Phung Thi. Hue also needs a worthy fine arts museum to display, introduce, promote, and honor Vietnamese fine arts.

Historian Duong Trung Quoc believes that Le Ba Dang was one of the 20,000 Vietnamese who served in the anti-fascist army of the French. Following President Ho Chi Minh's call to "contribute to the country by learning a trade so that you can return to build your homeland," the young Le Ba Dang endured hardship and became a great artist in that historical context. He and his works embody a profound love for his homeland and country. Therefore, to promote the artistic value of Le Ba Dang, it is necessary to include a section introducing his life and ideology.

Mr. Tran Khanh Chuong, President of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, presented the Vietnam Fine Arts Association badge to Ms. Michelangelo Mourriette Louise.

Artist Nguyen Thien Duc, Head of the Applied Fine Arts Department at Hue University of Arts and President of the Thua Thien-Hue Fine Arts Association, believes that the tangible and intangible heritage values of Le Ba Dang are immense. The question is, after 20 years and beyond, what will we do with the artistic value of Le Ba Dang? The legacy that Le Ba Dang left behind is vast; besides the works he donated to Hue and those held by individuals, there is also the intangible value of his plans and aspirations for building a Vietnamese art scene, his desire to transform Hue into the "capital" of Vietnamese art.

To effectively promote the artistic value of Le Ba Dang, serious seminars are needed to listen to witnesses, critics, and academics fully assess his artistic thought and career. “We still lack a thorough understanding of Le Ba Dang. Calling him a painter is already inaccurate given his stature, as he possessed profound artistic ideas encompassing painting, sculpture, and more. Until we fully understand Le Ba Dang, we cannot effectively promote his artistic values,” said painter Nguyen Thien Duc.

Mr. Phan Tien Dung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thua Thien-Hue province, said that after 10 years of operation, the Le Ba Dang Art Center in Hue has become an attractive cultural destination for tourists and art lovers in general and Le Ba Dang's art in particular. The purpose of the seminar was to listen to the contributions of leaders, specialized departments, and the artist's family... to further develop the center, making it an attractive destination for domestic and international tourists, and contributing to building Thua Thien-Hue into a unique cultural and tourism center of the country.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hue-phai-lam-gi-voi-trung-tam-nghe-thuat-le-ba-dang-185555294.htm