5 art exhibitions to check out before they close

November and December this year are extremely busy with a lot of interesting art exhibitions. Below are some exhibitions that will close very soon, thus, please try to spare some time to take a look.

1. Closes on 11 Dec – Exhibition “Trần” by Dao Anh Khanh

Exhibition: 05 – 11 Dec 2014

Closing: Thu 11 Dec 2014, 3 – 5 pm

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

Dao Anh Khanh is well known for being one of the leading artists of Vietnamese contemporary art. Additionally, to his achievements in the contemporary arts, he has held many international exhibitions. There will be live experimental music performance by Vietnamese and international artists at the closing ceremony.

2. Closes on 12 Dec – Upsidedown Painting Exhibition by Artist Nguyen Dai Giang

Exhibition: 05 – 12 Dec 2014

Korean Cultural Center

Artist Nguyen Dai Giang (born in 1944 in Hanoi) is an American Vietnamese artist, who is the creator of a new school of art known as the “Upside-Down-Art”, or Upsidedownism.

Nguyen-Dai-Giang-buoi-chieu-vang-Acrylic-33x27inc-84x68cm-2009 5 Art Exhibitions to Check out before They Close

3. Closes on 13 Dec – Exhibition “Yin” by Nguyen Khanh Toan

Exhibition: 13 Nov – 13 Dec 2014

Cuci Fine Art

Solo exhibition ‘YIN’ by artist Nguyen Khanh Toan covers the gallery’s walls with images of “the female netherworld phantoms”.

4. Closes on 14 Dec – Exhibition “LATCARF | FRACTAL” by Trieu Minh Hai

Exhibition: 21 Nov – 14 Dec 2014, 10 am – 6 pm

Nha San Collective

Visual artist Trieu Minh Hai brings to the audience of Hanoi an interesting yet challenging practice, fusing art and science with a series of pencil drawings which were inspired by a mathematical concept – fractal.

5. Closes on 15 Dec – Exhibition “Colourful Beliefs”

Exhibition: 15 Nov – 15 Dec 2014, 9 am – 6.30 pm

Dong Phong Art Gallery

The exhibition features an interesting co-ordination between the talented Ly Hung Anh’s paintings and well-established Vuong Thao’s living fossils with a new nuance.

HCM City hosts 10th CD/DVD fair

The 10th fair for audio and video CDs and DVDs will be held at the Labor Cultural Center at District 1’s 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in Ho Chi Minh City on December 10.

The event aims to promote consumption of original, copyrighted products at an affordable price.

The fair features more than 3,000 disks in various genres of music, movies, and education software, offering 10-50 percent discount for all products.

The fair is organized by Phuong Nam Cultural Corporation with participation of the country’s major recording companies including Saigon Vafaco, Ben Thanh Audio-Video, Viet Tan, Youth Studio, Ho Chi Minh City Television, Bach Viet, Tuan Trinh, Dem Sai Gon, Lang Van, Samcom ect....

Institute for Applied Arts opens in HCM City

The Viet Nam Institute for Applied Arts opened in HCM City, offering courses in graphic design, interior decoration, fashion design and more subjects.

Director Tran Ngoc Danh said the institute will take in about 100 and 1,000 students for long-term courses of two to four years, and short-term ones of three to six months, respectively.

Experts say that applied arts, which deals with the application of design and decoration to everyday objects to make them aesthetically pleasing, has played an increasingly important role in Viet Nam over the last 50 years.

There are 37 schools in Viet Nam teaching applied arts at present.

The Viet Nam Institute for Applied Arts is located at 143 Ly Chinh Thang, District 3, HCM City.

Photographer shares hope on diversified industry

Photographers in Vietnam are learning to explore their craft as both a commercial enterprise and artistic form, with digital technology creating more opportunities to express themselves beyond what were relatively static ideas, a leading photographer suggests.

Nguyen Hai Dong says he thinks of himself as a photographer, rather than an artist.

"In Vietnam, they often think that art photography is found at photo contests. I only care whether the photo is good or not. If they're good, then they're all art," he said.

As technology develops, more and more photographers are learning new ways to capture and manipulate images. Dong said there has been a growth in the number of images of Vietnam's beautiful landscape. But that does not make them outstanding, he added.

Dong suggested that photographers were being constrained in how they see Vietnam due to the limited themes afforded by photographic competitions, which are constraining the view of the country.

For decades, organisers of competitions have focussed on landscape, daily life, traditional craft, festival and ethnic minorities, and offer little guidance to photographers beyond what has previously won prizes.

"Contestants will mostly copy the style of the previous winner ... or try to learn about the judge's preferences to help them win." He said many young photographers were afraid to experiment, though some had broken out over the past decades and were creating their own, original work.

Dong said momentum and emotion remain the two crucial factors of any photograph, and he does not mind some set-up to get a perfect picture. He said, "It may be difficult to wait for all three parts to come together: a yellow wheat field, an amazing sunset and a group of playing children all happening at once. I see nothing wrong with asking some children to come out to play to complete the scene in my head."

"I think there are still two main trends in photography in Vietnam, and photography in general. The first is scenery and people. The second lies taking the form to film and painting," he said.

There has been a growing interest in the presentation of the Asian form in nude photography, in a way that is distinctly Asian and celebrates simple beauty without the need to copy western forms or preconceptions.

But Dong said models often had to work in secret.

"It's great that the nude photo collection of Thai Phien has just been published and received acclaim," he said, but acknowledged nude photography is an art in itself and may "only be for some people who can really appreciate" the form.