( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Mr. Vo Duy Chuc, from Dai An village, now Dai An Dong 1 hamlet, Hanh Thuan commune (Nghia Hanh). He was born in 1936, and is now nearly 90 years old, but his mind is still sharp and he is passionate about creating art.
I was lucky to know Vo Duy Chuc when I saw the statue of Gia Dinh citadel's Governor Vo Duy Ninh erected in the church yard, which is also the Vo Duy Ninh relic in his hometown. He is a descendant of the famous intelligent Vo family of Dai An village. Out of admiration for the spirit of his ancestors who died for the country, he spared no effort in creating a statue to erect in the church. But not only the statue of Vo Duy Ninh.
Not far from his simple and ancient-looking house, there is a small garden of statues. The statues are like people living with the trees. Here is a girl with her ao dai taken off sitting in front of a lotus pond (real). There under the real tree is the painting “Object and Partner” with the philosophical image of a hunter and a lion together. And some other statues. It seems that Vo Duy Chuc is very spontaneous in his creations, and does not want to be constrained by any theme.
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| The statue of Gia Dinh Citadel Governor Vo Duy Ninh was made by Mr. Vo Duy Chuc. |
As a long-time teacher, Vo Duy Chuc read a lot of classical literature and knew many good allusions and stories. He also mastered many genres of classical literature. Perhaps thanks to that, he wrote many poems under the pen name Vu Nguyen, especially writing funeral orations such as: Spring rite of autumn le ancestral temple of Vo clan Dai An, Memorial of Governor Vo Duy Ninh, Memorial of Hung King's death anniversary, Memorial of great poet Nguyen Du. He had the poem "Happy with poetry", even though he knew that: Poetry is a sin of heaven/ Intoxicated with words and struggling for money". But that did not diminish his passion for literature: "Even though my heart aches and my pocket is empty/ Rhymes, antitheses... I am happy with my poor life!".
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| Mr. Vo Duy Chuc in his garden. |
I was particularly impressed by Vo Duy Chuc's authentic notes about his hometown. As an old man, he witnessed and heard many people and events. He recorded very carefully the lives of the people of Dai An village in the past. In particular, Dai An communal house was deeply engraved in his mind, with quite vivid notes, from the landscape of the communal house to the festival activities there, as well as the event of young people camping in the communal house garden during the resistance war against the French and how the communal house was destroyed by French planes.
Besides writing and sculpting, Vo Duy Chuc also painted many pictures. Among those pictures, I also noticed the view of Dai An communal house which he called “retrospective painting” (recovery painting from memory). He remembered every detail of the communal house, with the communal house gate, main hall, meeting house, and pagoda on both sides. His drawings and written notes like these are very valuable, because they help us to thoroughly understand the life and cultural activities of a village in the past.
Returning to the statue of Vo Duy Ninh, according to the comments of the artists, he created the statues quite accurately and skillfully. When asked where he learned to draw and sculpt, he said he was self-taught. To be able to do so much through self-study is admirable. He had an innate artistic talent since childhood and at the age of "U90" still maintained the same passion as when he was young.
Article and photos: CAO CHU
Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc/202407/tac-gia-tac-pham-voduy-chuc-giu-tron-dam-me-nghe-thuat-7e51165/
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