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February 2006 Newsletter >>
80,000 flower pots and bamboo, rattan and ceramic items depicting waterfalls, stone dogs- Worm food. "What is it?" My dinner guest asks, face barely hiding an expression of slight distaste and yet curious interest.
- Belligerent Buffalos Give Punters a Fighting Chance: Do Son, near Hanoi, hosts the annual buffalo fighting festival.
Experimental play mixes media and cultures to explore the Myth of Life. A new cross-cultural production called Huyen Thoai Cuoc Song (Myth of Life) debuts this month in Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to stir audiences with its experimental form- November's recipe: Bun Ho (Beef with Fine Rice Noodles).
- Going, going, gong: Vietnam battles to save percussion tradition.
Hanoi hankerings: pavement seafoodery. Feel like some seafood? Come to the Old Quarter for some fresh flavors.- The return of "Salon Art" in Hanoi In the past, Hanoi's rich patrons collected paintings and antiques and opened their own art salons. After a period of inactivity, this mode of support is returning.
- Business is blooming: clay flowers blossom in Ho Chi Minh City Clay flowers bloomed in Ho Chi Minh City just a few years ago, but their ability to retain their luscious beauty has made them increasingly popular with local consumers.
Hanoi's art scene is hot, hot, Hot! Over the past decade, as Southeast Asia has rebounded from widespread recession, the city of Hanoi has turned into a mecca for art, culture and cuisine.- The Gallery Deli! This month we would like to extend a special invitation to all art (and food) lovers traveling to Ho Chi Minh city. Drop in to our new art gallery/café for the best in Vietnamese art and food. Mention this newsletter for an especially warm welcome!
- Pho Isn't Just Hot in Little Saigon Three or four times a week, Miguel Torres stops by the small Santa Ana, California, restaurant for his favorite meal. Before he can sit down, the waitress beckons: "The usual, Miguel?
A trip to the past helps a family discover present Vietnam.- Cyclo Dreaming. In a Vietnam gone by, they banned them; they even banned a film about them!
- Bich Ngoc. Bich Ngoc's minimal femalescapes are reminiscent of the older Matisse's reflective nudes
- Deep fried tiger prawns with lychee and a chilli mayonnaise sauce.
Painting by Numbers; Vietnam counterfeiters now pass off "original fakes".- Featured artist. We haven't featured Nghiem Quang in quite a while. And it's time. I hope you agree
- Co Do village paints life into cultural activities. "My father taught me to draw when I was only six years old"...
- Diverse activities to be held on Francophone days. Can you feel the love mon amis?
Hanoi: City of beauty, energy and Walt Disney views. From the book, Roofs Of Hanoi By Graham Simmons: "It's like a scene from a Walt Disney movie: A wedding-cake skyscape of turrets, cones, and pagoda-like roofs." This is Hanoi, in northern Viet Nam.- The gorgeous Hilton Hanoi Opera and our tour of Viet Nam. From a reader: In February I took an 18-day trip to Viet Nam. Of the 100-plus major trips my husband and I have made, this is one of the top five. It was a fabulous trip!
- The lone guardian of a fading Vietnamese art. "I cannot pass this craft along to my children and grandchildren, because they don't want to do it."
- Featured artist. Nguyen Duy Nhi. Nguyen's art is a favourite of gallery buyers. Abstract and approachable, Nguyen leads us through daydreams and scenes of whimsy that delight the eye.
Tribal dreams. While on a trekking holiday in the high country of Vietnam, Gary Tippet discovers the enduring spirit of the H'mong.- Karaoke with the locals. Dear Diary - 20 November 2004: Oh what a night! Hanging out in beautiful Da Lat, we decided to give karaoke a try last night. can often make an impression on a traveller that will remain with them for decades to come.
- Epic love poem inspires art, study. Nearly 200 years after its creation, the 3,254-verse poem, The Story of Kieu, remains a masterpiece. It tells the story of a beautiful, gifted, and virtuous girl who was driven to sell herself to save her family. Despite seven marriages and three suicide attempts, she is presented as being pure of heart and faithful to her first love. It's a story that still captivates the hearts and minds of Vietnamese people.
- Featured artist. A much loved artist amongst our customers, Hoang Minh's work is starting to get the attention it deserves from art collectors beyond Vietnam's shores.
Toasting Vietnamese rice wine. Reflecting Vietnam's ethnic diversity, ruou (rice wine) delivers an intoxicating array of tastes and traditions.- An Act of Random Kindness! An account of James Murtaugh's trip to Vietnam, or, how the people of a country can often make an impression on a traveller that will remain with them for decades to come.
- Vietnamese music hits a chord in America. As with most cultures, for Vietnamese people music is a powerful wellspring of emotions and cultural identity; and interestingly, music transported to another land often finds new and novel ways of evolving and thriving.
- Artist of the month. Nguyen Duy Nhi: A favourite of Vietnam Art Gallery patrons, Nguyen's bold use of vibrant colours sweep across the canvas, delighting the eye with their lyrical vitality. Nguyen's use of definitive lines adds a lithographic aspect to many of his works, while the figures depicted are often playful and magical.
Ethnic Nung people entice romance with songs of love. To visit the Nung is a technicolor experience - not only is the air sweet and the forests lush as they drape the stepped rice fields, but if you're lucky, the air is also filled with the sweet sounds of the Nung's traditional 'sli' songs- Tasty delights. Vietnamese food is light, quick, fresh and flavoursome - perfect for dining on as summer continues to heat the northern hemisphere skies. The recipe below can be tailored to your desires - add shredded green spring onions, strips of fresh capsicum, carrot, or greek cucumber as you roll the rice paper
- September's Feature Artist: Luong Dung. Luong's art, inspired by a childhood spent fishing on Vietnam's waterways, freshens the eye with his clean palette and simple motifs.
- Vietnam's MTV generation are changing the image of tattoos. Linh, a stunning 22-year-old with long painted finger nails, wavy brown hair and large sunglasses, says times are changing. "We think of tattoos as an art form now. They are beautiful, and that's why I got my tattoo." Her mother did not share Linh's taste in artistic expression and took a broom to her daughter after discovering the tattoo.
Elephant racing in Buon Don: In Vietnam, the elephant is associated with strength, intelligence and faithfulness. Once tamed and taught not to fear their human brothers and sisters, they have proven themselves to be loyal friends and lots of fun to race!
Vietnam's Chèo Opera: spot the buffoon. Vietnam's Cheo opera is a dramatic cultural genre with deeply popular roots and the buffoon is a familiar character with its blend of the tragic and the comic. The buffoon speaks the language of the people and shoots shafts of satire at evil-doers, such as ignorant witchdoctors, greedy landlords, or arrogant mandarins- August's Feature Artist: Ha. Ha's work in the colours of lava and light are an intimate world of abstract and yet embodied art. Ha imbues his works with an echo of Kandinsky, while forging his own Vietnamese interpretation of reality and art.
- Operation: Vietnamese dinner guest. While our article in the June newsletter talked of the history of chopsticks, or doi dua, this story tells you about manners and etiquette expected of visitors to a Vietnamese home. The Vietnamese are renowned as generous and chatty hosts, and the style of food - small amounts of a large range of tasty dishes - suits large gatherings.
This edition features a story a story about musical culture from the Vietnamese diaspora. Vietnamese members of an USA-based band fusing new music with Vietnamese lyrical themes.- Feature artist of the month: Phu Nhieu - Nhieu's paintings embody the essence of Vietnamese grace.
Also, we bring you a bird's eye view of songbird competitions in Vietnam - but the twist is these contestants are happy to work for chicken feed.- Lastly, in response to a reader's question, we tackle the history of "doi dua". would you know what to do if handed a pair of these?
- This edition features a story about a Vietnamese performance artist let loose in America on a cultural exchange program.
- Feature artist of the month: Hoang Giap - Hoang's primary colours and simplistic structures are a perfect accompaniment to his paintings' stories
A story of a Vietnamese Buddhist theme park with a photo you really have to see to believe!- A shrimp recipe that will win you many points with your dinner party guests.
- This month we feature the work of new art in the Vietnam Art Gallery - Xuan Khoat, Che Cong Loc, and Luong Dung
Foreign artists to hew at Hue sculpture camp - Fifty-two foreign artists and 10 Vietnamese artists are soon to converge at the Hue Festival 2004 sculpture camp, due to open on May 10- Tailoring technology - Hoi An's new cyber-cloth heritage.
- That's cricket - According to a least one Vietnamese produce supplier, nothing can beat a good home-cooked meal of crickets
- Chuc Mung Nam Moi - Happy New Year Good fortune to you and your family!
- February's Feature Artist - February's feature artist: Manh Phu. The girls in Manh Phu's paintings wear the ao dai - a national dress of Vietnam both beautiful and functional.
2004 is the Year of the Monkey - For people and primates alike, what will 2004 hold for you? If you were born in any of the following years... 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, (2004) read on!- New Year Paintings: a folk art celebration - Folk art is an important component of a people's national culture. In Vietnam the folk art of the Kinh (Viet) national majority from the delta region and the ethnic minorities in the highlands forms part of a multinational culture which has deep historical roots.
- Tet Roast Beef Salad with Spring Onion Oil. Lavish meals are not cooked on New Year's Day. Instead, food prepared the day before is simply reheated, and casual snacking is the order of the day. But on the day after New Year's, a celebration of feasting begins.
- Featured Spotlight - Minh Phu, May, Phu Nhieu
Noodle houses, cucumbers, and the power of the chili pepper... - Vietnamese people believe wholeheartedly that they have the best food on the planet.- January's Feature Artist - January's feature artist: Minh Phuong. Phuong's dreamscapes of pastel figures incognito under the minature roofs of their bamboo hats (non) are a Vietnamese fantasia.
- Citrus in Vietnamese folklore - by Huu Ngoc. The most popular citrus fruits in Viet
Nam are limes, grapefruits, oranges, clementines and kumquats. A lime tree (cay chanh) is planted in nearly every garden and yard of peasant houses. - Vietnamese Beef Pho - This soup is served with a plate full of fresh garnishes as well as various sauces
- Featured Spotlight — Duy Nhi, Ha, Hoang Minh
- White is Beautiful in Vietnam — White is beautiful. Or at least it is in Vietnam where skin-whitening creams sell like hot cakes and women wrap themselves up like mummies whenever they venture outside
- The girls in Manh Phu's paintings wear the ao dai - a national dress of Vietnam both beautiful and functional. The younger women and students wear the white ao dai, which symbolizes purity.
- In the Country of Water and White Lizards — This stunning poem has been translated from the original French by Catherine Wieder. It was first published in Hanoï by Nhà xuât bàn Thanh Niên.
- Featured Spotlight — Nguyen Duy Nhi and Minh Phuong continue to dazzle and amaze us.
- For this edition we'd like you to dress light and join us in leaving the big cities of Vietnam. Travel with us to two locations that offer insight into the beauty and diversity of Vietnam - a land known for its array of rural and metropolitan themes, many of which the artists within Vietnam Art Gallery depict so adeptly.
- The Love Markets of Sa Pa: a piece of indigo embroiders the heart:The mountainous region of Northwestern Vietnam is known for the beauty of its lush, verdant scenery and the variety of its inhabitants and their striking ethnic dress. For Vietnamese, water represents people's wish for a bumper crop, a successful agricultural cycle, a wealthy life, health and happiness
- The Colours of Hué - I was in my favourite café nourishing myself with a fresh bowl of phó when the American at the next table, eyeing my backpack, asked "Where are you heading?" "I'm off to see Hué," I replied. "Hugh? Hugh who?" "You know, Hué, the old imperial capital of Vietnam," I insisted.
- Water Worship Marks Ebb and Flow of Life - For Vietnamese, water represents people's wish for a bumper crop, a successful agricultural cycle, a wealthy life, health and happiness.
- October's Feature Artist - His use of color makes the viewer's eyes hum with delight at entering his playful world of stylized imagery.
- Vietnam's Water Puppets Make Waves - In Vietnam the art of water puppetry is centuries old and still much-loved.
- Featured Spotlight - Hoang Giap and Nguyen Nguyen continue to dazzle and amaze us.
- Vietnamese Art: a Passion For Painting - Historically speaking, Vietnamese painting is still very young. A mere 70 years have passed since Hanoi's first official art academy, the Ecole de Beaux Arts opened its doors to local students, who there received their initial lessons in setting the brush to the canvas.
- September's Feature Artist - Like Klimt mixed with Picasso's cubist women, Lai Long artist boldly uses color to seduce our eyes with smooth figures, warm faces, dreaming nudes, backgrounds of florals and gold, and sometimes talenous fingers
- Vietnam's Greatest Living Elephant Hunter - Buon Don, Vietnam. They call him the "elephant man", but it has nothing to do with his powerful, calloused hands, leathery skin and huge ears.
- Café Lam - The best coffee in Hanoi... and some of the best art, too.
- Bui Xuan Phai & the new painters of Hanoi - Today, Hanoi is the undisputed art capital of Vietnam, and has several thousand painters and sculptors who are increasingly being recognized in other parts of Asia and in the West. It wasn't always so easy though...
- August's Feature Artist - Minh Phu and his pieces are a reflection of daily life in Hanoi - home, family, animals, food, planting and most importantly, kite-flying!
- Tailor-made in Hanoi - A story about those travellers obsessed with the combat sport of negotiating with the fast, cheap but shrewd tailors of Hanoi.
- The Best of Hanoi - A selection of brilliant and evocative original art works by native Hanoi artists
- Enter the dragon: The dragon is the most widely used and associated symbol in the history of Vietnamese Art. It is indeed from the prehistoric time that identified the Vietnamese as descendant of dragons and fairies.
- Artist of the month: Nguyen Duy Nhi Nguyen Duy Nhi's imaginitive use of colour against thick dark outlines gives bold life to two dimensional, abstract, cartoon-like art.
- The paradox of Vietnam's "contemporary" art: For a nation with an history that goes back thousands of years, Vietnamese contemporary art is relatively young. It began a mere 75 years ago with a group of artists who were trained at the Indochina School of Fine Arts (Ecole des Baux Arts de l'Indochine) of Ha Noi.
- Simple Pleasures: Their influences are war, poverty and France, but Vietnam's artists are prospering in unexpected ways.
- Artist of the month: Hoang Minhs strengths are an eye for the abstract, and the ability to create beautiful backdrops with simple washes of colour.
- The Life of the Artist in Vietnam: Over a period of 30 years of peace from 1954 until 1984 - painting was a luxury. The concept, artists, was difficult to reconcile within the working-class professions. Still, graduates from Fine Art schools could find employment with some of the cultural bureaus in the provinces - if they were not at too high expectation.
- Our cover artist for this month, Nguyen Nguyen was born in Dalat, Vietnam. This region which lies in the highlands of central Vietnam boasts what could be described as year-round spring weather. Beloved by the Vietnamese, Dalat is famous for its tea, pine trees, flowers, and fresh air — as well as for its history, a part of which is represented in the vacation homes built by the French during Vietnam's colonial period. Nguyen's artistic world has been described as something akin to 'movement in stillness' and 'stillness in movement' - inspired by the Oriental philosophy of yin and yang.
- We speak to three rising Vietnamese artists about the art scene in Vietnam. Minh says: "To us, truth does not exist in the outside world, but in the unconsciousness...", Van Anh says: "In nature, light is great crown, which increases the nobility and the majesty of mountains, forests, flowers, and grass", and Ha says: "I am very glad to see Vietnamese Art in the world now. Between 1988 and 1990, seen by many as a landmark period in Vietnam and especially in Ho Chi Minh city, the first real art market came into being." Click to read the full transcripts.