Vietnam Art Gallery newsletter - August 2004
Elephant racing in Buon Don | Vietnam's Chèo Opera: spot the buffoon
Operation: Vietnamese dinner guest
Happy Financial Year greetings to all our readers!
We have some fabulous art to introduce and some typically wonderful stories on Vietnamese culture to help frame the scene for your next art purchase from our gallery.
Remember, you can click here to view a special sampling of our paintings!
=============== CONTENTS ===============
- 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! Go >>
- 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. Go >>
- 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. Go >>
- 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. Go >>
=== 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. Vietnamese trainers know too well that a mistreated elephant has a memory for justice and retribution - and so, it's easier to make friends with these beautiful behemoths.
In tribal villages, tamed elephants help in many aspects of daily life. The Central Highlands is the home to the majority of Vietnam's elephant herds, with Ea Sup District in Dak Lak Province having the largest elephant herd in the highlands. Within the Ea Sup District, the Don Tribal Village is famous for its large number of tamed elephants and the villagers' abilities in working with the elephants is well renowned.
In the Central Highlands, elephant racing is organized during early April as the budding Spring days offer beautiful weather. The sun shines brilliantly, the ground is dry and forests are decorated with blooming flowers. A few months before race day, tamers start to take special care of their elephants. Besides riding elephants to where there is abundant natural food, tamers also feed their racers with bananas, sugarcane and other fruit. The elephants are also spared from heavy duties such as moving logs. On the day of the race, tamers ride their elephants in a slow and scenic walk to Buon Don.
Imagine this: the racing field is a flat plot of land, wide enough for a lineup of 10 elephants and two kilometers in length. A horn is blown to warn that the race is about to start. Each elephant carry two tamers, with the front rider being responsible for the speed of the elephant, while the back rider directs the elephant to run straight. Under the direction of tamers, the racing elephants advance to their position at the starting line amid cheering, whistling and applause. At this time, the beat of drums and gongs hastens, and the crowd's excitement is palpable.
A thunderous horn sounds the start of the race, and the elephants race ahead with their column-like legs striding impressively. The noise made by spectators and the heavy steps of huge elephants create a spectacular and unforgettable moment. The elephants have to make a U-turn to race to the finishing line. From afar, out of a thick cloud of dust, the leading elephants and their tamers are recognized - the spectators' cheers now sound like thunder. And yes! The first elephant makes it to the finish line, trunk flailing and trumpeting in exhilaration.
While winning tamers are awarded, the winning elephants are treated with sugarcane. The elephants of Buon Don are often winners in these races. After the races, the racing elephants return home and are warmly welcomed by tribal villagers at the gate of the village, while small children walk fearlessly around their massive feet, offering gifts of fruit, well received.
=== Vietnam's Chèo Opera: spot the buffoon ===
Vietnam's Cheo opera is a dramatic cultural genre with deeply popular roots. Traditionally, cheo was composed orally by anonymous authors. Today's playwrights compose cheo operas along traditional lines. The characters in the plays sing time-tested popular melodies with words suited to modern circumstances. Cheo opera is an integral part of Vietnamese theatre and is well liked by all types of people - city folk, country folk and tourists, too.
The buffoon is a familiar character in cheo opera, 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.
He may wear a short coat, the garment of the commoner; or a long robe, favoured by members of the upper classes in the old society. A couple of buffoons may appear on stage - the master in a flowing gown and his servant in a short coat, carrying a stick - each speaking the language and behaving the ways of his class. The buffoon may make his entry right at the beginning of a play, carrying a torch or a megaphone and provoking wild laughter from the audience.
One great actor who breathes life in the role of buffoon is Xuan Hinh, a native of a locality in Bac Ninh famous for its quan ho singers. Xuan Hinh graduated with honours from the Drama and Cinema School in 1989, and the scenes in which he appears regularly draw applause from cheo enthusiasts. His acting is both impromptu in the ways of the traditional school, and highly sophisticated along the lines of modern drama. He is particularly successful in the role of Harelip, a country bumpkin, and the Soothsayer, a fraud entangled within his own contradictory statements.
Cheo opera is now undergoing a strong revival. Make sure you catch a few hours of cheo when you're next visiting Vietnam's shores.
== 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.
Ha - Portrait 11 - $160 - more >>
Ha - Portrait 1 - $160 - more >>
Also featured this month: Hoang Giap. Hoang Giap works with larger than life figures and colours. The abstraction does not detract from the subjects' emotions.
Hoang Giap - Love 5 - $250 - more >>
Le Thua has a talent for capturing in water colour the beauty of both rural and urbal Vietnam.
Le Thua - Going to Work - $300 - more >>
==== 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.
Should you have the privilege of dining as a guest in a Vietnamese home, you will enter into an environment where manners and etiquette are far more detailed than in most western countries.
A couple of tips to begin with:
- Generally, rice will be served at a meal and then the host will give a signal to begin eating. Wait until that happens before tasting anything.
- Visitors are considered to be the guest of honor. As such, the first and the best will go to you. Sample it. Then share.
Using chopsticks/doi dua
When holding your doi dua, the further your hand is from the food end, the more accomplished you are considered to be. Young children move their hands far down toward the food end of the doi dua. Adults usually don't.
- Try not to let your doi dua touch your mouth. Only the food should touch your mouth.
- Only pick up one piece of food at a time. Doi dua are not shovels.
- Always place the food on your plate or in your rice bowl first; then pick it back up and eat it. Never eat directly from the serving plate.
- Do not use your doi dua as spears.
- If you find yourself in danger of death by either starvation or embarrassment, it is perfectly acceptable to confess your inadequacy and ask for a fork. But confess your inadequacy; don't just ask for a fork...
- Vietnamese dining is a social occasion. Be prepared for constant interaction. If the meal is particularly formal, you are unlikely to be allowed to serve yourself. Your host will make sure you have ample food.
- Don't take a second helping of anything until you have tried a helping of each dish. In the southern areas of the country, a "helping" is about one tablespoon.
- Compliment the cook on each dish after you have tasted it.
- The meat is the most important (and the most costly) ingredient in any meal. Leave some of it for others.
- It is polite to use both hands when offering something or passing something. The same is true for accepting something. The Vietnamese will nod at each other as the pass a dish.
- Don't hunt and peck to find the "good stuff" on a serving plate. Doing so will leave your guests with a low opinion of you.
- Never return a piece of food from your plate to the serving dish.
- Unlike most Western countries, it is NOT okay to turn down a second or third helping. To do so might be considered an insult. Begin early to talk about how FULL you are and then reluctantly agree to the seconds (and thirds) your host offers you.
- If you don't know what to do, say so.
- Finally, if you have been invited in advance to a meal in a Vietnamese home, bring a present. Sweets are common. So is tea or coffee. Flowers will also do; but be aware that white is the color of death in Vietnam.
And most importantly: Enjoy!
Thank you for reading! We wish you peace and good fortune for the coming month!
============== Artist Roster ==============
Our database of up-and-coming artists has doubled in the last few months and we now have over 850 original art pieces in our database -- one of the largest virtual galleries on the Internet! Here's a rundown on the artists you'll find in our pages. Think you can pick the next Bui Xuan Phai?
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