VietNamNet Bridge – Dutch artist Rienke Enghardt cannot remember exactly how many times she has returned to Viet Nam since her first visit in 1993, but she believes that this is the third time interactive art project Hope Box has been carried out in the Southeast Asian country.

Established in 1991, the project has drawn the participation of artists from 36 countries. It is defined as an artistic quest through the field of possibility where roads meet and divide again in friendship to create a wonderful and universal story of life.

"I felt a deeply rooted sense of my limitations working by myself. As an artist, I would like to paint pictures of reality at least and I really want to develop a concept where it is not just me but other people I appreciate. That's why the theme of Hope Box projects are about friendship and appreciation from our points of view in art and life," she said.

According to Enghardt, the name of the project comes from the myth of Pandora's box. When the woman opens the box, everything including poverty and famine, was released. Then she quickly closed it, just in time to keep hope.

"Whatever happens to you, as long as you have hope, there is a future," Enghardt said.

Since the time she initiated the project, the painter has received a lot of support from various Vietnamese artists and art organisations, including the "Gang of Five" (painter Dang Xuan Hoa, Tran Luong, Hong Viet Dung, Ha Tri Hieu and Pham Quang Vinh) and art organisations. Works on the project were on exhibition at the HCM City Exhibition Hall and the Ha Noi Fine Arts Association in 1995.

In 2006 and 2007, she began spectacular art actions with artist from the high and street-art scene.

"When I was here, I found my communication and relations with the artists and organisations were so good that I wanted to come back more and more. I have been an active artist for 18 years because of that reason," she recalled.

Enghardt admitted that she has had the pleasure and luck to work with talented Vietnamese artists. One of them, painter Tran Trung Tin (1933-2008), had a strong influence on her with "his pure and clear works."

Starting with two quotes from Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, they brought abstract works from the seventies to the city and new portraits to Connection exhibition at the Viet Nam Art Gallery in 2006.

On this occasion, she has spent a great deal of time working on two projects in Ha Noi and one in the port city of Hai Phong during her one-week visit. There are more than 10 local artists and seven Hope Box Angels (young supporters) along with guest appearances and children involved in the projects.

They have designed the walls at the Singapore International School and Phuong Lien Elementary School and hold workshops to let students understand how works are developed. Last week, they painted a wall with the theme of music at the Hon Dau resort in Hai Phong City.

Enghardt and her companions will ask for permission to transform the Thong Nhat Express into a colourful train by drawing beautiful things on its two sides. "My biggest advantage is working with talented and active artists. There is a saying about work: we have a lot of patience in terms of bringing art further than museums and galleries," she said, adding that they would be bringing something lovely and sparkling to the community.

Graffiti artist Tran Tien Dung has participated in the project since October 25. He has learned a lot from the Dutch painter and others, from setting up a project to designing pictures directed at the community. "In my sketch for the express, I take the story in Dong Ho's traditional painting Dam Cuoi Chuot (The Mice's Wedding) but describe it in a different way with bright colours," he said.

His painting is selected to be displayed in Hope Box Grand Finale exhibition at Art Talk Cafe, 12 Quan Su Street which will run until November 11. The exhibition will also showcase works from the past 18 years.

Young painter Nguyen Hoai Tho, a member of the Chaap Collective contemporary art group, has two works on display. One depicts strings intermingling houses and ponds, with the message that the narrow houses are twisting their bodies to live at this time. Another drawn on the train's side portrays colourful squares going up and down, describing busy life with its own rhythm.

When asked about her thoughts of local artists, Enghardt smiled: "The reason I have returned so many times tells a lot about what I think about the artists in Viet Nam." The painter said that if the train project receives the go ahead, she would return to Viet Nam next year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News