Ha Nam fine arts lack breakthroughs

Fine Arts is one of the literary and artistic subjects that has stable creation and is superior to many other subjects in Ha Nam today. However, in recent years, due to many factors, Ha Nam Fine Arts has not had a breakthrough, especially at exhibitions in the Red River Delta region.

Each one has his own way.

At the age of over 70, every year, artist Do Kich still regularly creates and participates in regional exhibitions with his son, artist Do Thang. His strength is large-scale oil paintings. If in the past, he was passionate about and attached to revolutionary war themes, now he has shifted more to the theme of rural life. In fact, no one in the Ha Nam Literature and Arts Association has surpassed him in creating revolutionary war themes, both in the number of works and awards. But now, at the age of "thất thập cổ lai hy", his health is no longer supple and agile, he has returned to themes close to life. However, the accumulation of his career, courage and life experience help him to sit in one place, paint according to his wishes while still maintaining his style, still skillfully mastering color mixing techniques in an inspiring way.

Ha Nam fine arts lack breakthroughs — **Artist Le Huy Tiep (left) and artist Nguyen Ngan visit the 2022 Red River Delta Fine Arts Exhibition in Ha Nam.** Photo: Chu Uyen

As for artist Nguyen Ngan, this is the time when he shines in his career. Busy with management work in the field of culture and art, Nguyen Ngan still does not waste time, he takes advantage of every minute to work and complete his own paintings. While being satisfied with his experience with oil and acrylic paintings, he is also passionate and diligent with wood carving. The ideas that blend tradition and modernity in Nguyen Ngan's works make his life and work more radiant. Nguyen Ngan said: "I have my own path, that is the necessity that every artist tries to explore and create breakthroughs. However, within the limits of life, work and myself, sometimes the creations are still constrained, pale in content and quality. It is also a lucky thing that the artist himself is not satisfied with that!"

Standing out among young artists, Tran Phong gradually integrated into the atmosphere of life, creating at the Ha Nam Literature and Arts Association, he is currently a lecturer at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. Tran Phong chose the material of lacquer engraving to express his ideas. It is a view of nature, of the movement of the universe through very ordinary changes. He shows viewers the sophistication in his perception and expression from the composition, lines, light, and boldness in each engraving stroke of the painting. Engraving is inherently picky about players and buyers, creating no small challenges for young artists. But Tran Phong does not hesitate about that, he paints with his heart, with sincere feelings for life and love of nature, with dedication!

Le Thi Luong is different, she is always faithful to her choice when using silk to paint. Silk makes her immersed in time, forgetting the hustle and bustle outside to freely create about the life, activities and play spaces of children and students. She seems to only choose this topic to compose, participating in annual regional exhibitions.

Le Thi Luong, Pham Van Hoa, Nguyen Thi Sao… are like other artists who always choose a path, determined to follow a path for many years without getting tired. In regional exhibitions, their works compared to those of their friends around them have not really made a breakthrough. Some people suddenly realized that they were walking on a rut! Because, the highest award for fine arts works of Ha Nam participating in the Exhibition is only the C prize (in the past 5 years). Last year, with a great advantage, the Exhibition was held in Ha Nam, but the artists only had 3 works that won the Encouragement prize. This year, the exhibition was held in Hung Yen , Ha Nam, with 1 woodcut work "Making a living" by artist Nguyen Ngan being awarded the C prize (no A prize).

Lack of breakthrough

If we analyze the factors that have affected the creative activities of Ha Nam artists in recent years, which have not made them have a breakthrough or outstanding creativity, people will talk about talent and conditions for artists to dedicate themselves and stick with their profession. Those are objective reasons. The subjective reason is the artists themselves, everyone seems to choose a path for themselves, go on forever, become a rut, no longer creative.

At the 2018 Red River Delta Fine Arts Exhibition held in Hai Phong , the late artist Tran Khanh Chuong, then Chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, in his speech commenting on the exhibition, pointed out: “Safety and standards are essential in creating works. However, life is colorful and varied, so sometimes excessive safety and standards limit the creativity of painters and sculptors. Sometimes the imbalance, the absence, the tilt here, the collapse there create impressive works of art, expressing the artist's intention and bold perspective on the reality of life. Therefore, the visual arts community in the region needs to research, find its own path, and have a more spectacular breakthrough in the way of seeing and expressing."

In fact, the paintings and graphics presented at the Red River Delta Exhibition in recent years have lacked breakthroughs in art, both in language and visual style. Perhaps that is why there have been very few A awards in the exhibition. However, to get a C award like Nguyen Ngan at the Red River Delta Exhibition is not a simple matter. Ha Nam brings an average of nearly 20 works by more than 10 authors to this exhibition each year. The number of works selected for display at the exhibition is only about 10 works, of which more than half are from members of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.

From this objective view of reality, artist Do Kich shared: We have never encountered such difficulties as now. The association has not had a new president for several months now. Many activities of the association have been and are being temporarily suspended. To innovate, to create breakthroughs, artists need to go on field trips, participate in creative camps, support creativity, exchange expertise, learn from experience... Internally, we must maintain solidarity, artists must truly bond and share with each other, not go their separate ways, each live their own life. Each artist needs to know how to overcome themselves, cultivate their mettle, consider the desire to create art as a noble goal to continue to contribute and promote their talents. And, not limiting yourself is the requirement for artists in the innovation of Ha Nam fine arts today.

Jiangnan

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