VietNamNet Bridge – Dominic Scriven came to Vietnam more than 20 years ago and immediately fell in love with the propaganda paintings he saw around the country. His love grew into a great passion and this urged him to travel to corners of the country to collect such paintings and looked into what he describes as a one-time cultural symbol of the country.

Dragon Capital CEO Dominic Scriven (R) and visitors take a look at a propaganda painting at an exhibition

2,000 propaganda works

Scriven recalls that Hanoi lacked colorful advertising billboards two and a half decades ago but propaganda paintings were everywhere in the capital city. Such paintings left a strong impression on him for their simplicity and significance.

The paintings were created in wartime to encourage the nation’s fighting spirit. Draft paintings were sent to leaders for consideration, and if chosen, certain drafts would be printed in big size and hung everywhere, especially in war zones.

Scriven started to think of collecting propaganda paintings not long after he arrived in Vietnam. When he became the chief executive officer of Dragon Capital, he had more time and money to pursue his passion. The more he dug deep into local propaganda posters, the more he learned about the secrets behind.

Scriven has collected more than 2,000 propaganda paintings, with many of them dating back to the 1950-1980 period when painters did not have many good conditions to create their works. As a result, many artists had to draw on the other side of other paintings, and he has around 150 works of this type.

As many paintings Scriven collected were damaged or faded, he went to an Italy-based institute for restoration and had a group of paper experts to recover the damaged works.

Documentary on propaganda painters

In addition to painting collection, Scriven also made a documentary featuring interviews with 20 painters of such works.

Truong Be, one of the painters in the documentary, says propaganda paintings are of great historical, political and artistic significance that helps young people learn about the nation’s victory and independence.

Scriven intends to stage a number of exhibitions in different cities and provinces in Vietnam and other country for more people to have an insight into Vietnam’s propaganda works.

Of course, he will continue collecting more propaganda paintings in the future.

SGT