VietNamNet Bridge – Young artist Nguyen Thanh Phong from Ha Noi studied at the Viet Nam University of Fine Arts and has become well-respected in the field of animation. His comic, Man-turned-tiger - which won the Special Jury Prize at the Asian Youth Animation&Comics Contest 2011, Sat thu dau mung mu - comprised a controversial collection of modern ironic sayings, while his latest project City Tales is being produced in conjunction with the Goethe-Institute Viet Nam. He sat down with Moc Mien to discuss the passion and process behind his works.

What attracted you to comics and animation art?

The comic genre has always inspired me since I was a child. At an early age, I drew lots of comic and animation pictures. I feel like I may never ask myself if I am attached to the genre forever because it comes so naturally to me. I feel excited about many things, but right now the comic genre is the most effective tool for me to translate my ideas into visual art works. Maybe fate decides what I am doing.

Is it a love for children that motivates you to draw?

No. I would like to address this suggestion. My target audience is not children; the youngest people I'm aiming at are teenagers.

To clarify further: one of my first works was titled Legend of Dragon Captain. It is a legendary story which happened during the Tran dynasty when the nation was striving to fight Mongol-Yuan invaders from China. The story had been nurtured since I was at high school. I then, together with my friend Khanh Duong, developed the idea and it was published in the Tre magazine (Tre Publishing House). We later created different works for high school students namely Nhi and Tun, as well as Orange which was dedicated to young basketball fans.

Personally, I find creating for adults more interesting. With my own short comic series, I target adult audiences, imploring them to consider social controversy.

Let's talk about Sat thu dau mung mu, the controversial comic collection of modern ironic sayings. What motivated you to do it?

The motivation for the comic book comes from its unique and interesting features - comic books had never been published in Viet Nam before. I didn't feel like I was working, rather I was playing with the characters. I was challenged to translate casual ironic language into visual art works. When Nha Nam Publishing Company offered me the contract I said yes immediately. The editorial board of the company was in charge of collecting modern sayings and I turned them into illustration.

In reality, I sometimes use sayings given in the book, but not frequently. I hardly use them in conversation with elder respected people. But many of the elder people use that kind of language when they talk with me. It's really funny.

Over the course of 12 months (May 2012 to May 2013), you were selected as one of nine comic artists from nine cities in Germany and South-East Asia to respond to the same set of monthly themes under the City Tales project organised by the Goethe-Institute. Why do you think you were invited?

I gave them a bribe. No, that's a joke! I really don't know why I was invited. I guess they studied my previous publications and decided I was promising for a contemporary urban life project.

Did you suffer any pressure when taking the role?

The challenge comes from inside. I am a perfectionist. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy for me to draw a single topic each month. But when I started working seriously, things went off track. I realised that numerous themes and issues were available for me to exploit. I was flooded with options and ideas. The task became harder when I realised I had to draw within one single page. For example in July last year, I wondered which animals would be described. At first, I chose dogs. They are close friends of the human and ironically, their meat is often cooked into many people's favourite dishes. However, I eventually drew turtles and those in Hoan Kiem Lake. It carried our legendary tradition and concerns of modern society.

What do you think of the position comics and animation art hold in the eye of society and readers?

The distinction of comics and animation as the "ninth art" has long been recognised around the world. It has a certain effect on global audiences. We should remember that comics and animation are not just for children. Many comics works are touching and comparable with their literary equivalents. There is a growing trend for comics and animation to be dedicated to adult readers.

Unfortunately in Viet Nam, comics and animations are underestimated and mistaken as a genre exclusively for children. This perception is quite backward and carries a lot of prejudice. I suppose the root cause can be attributed to the biases of parents, educators and publishers. Such comments as "Comics help ruin the language ability of children" persuade parents to forbid their children from approaching comics and animation art.

The underestimation of comics in Viet Nam leads to disadvantages for both authors and readers. On one hand, readers suffer from lack of appropriate art works matching their tastes, while on the other, authors become more hesitant with their creations.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages for comic and animation creators in Viet Nam?

Potential opportunities for the development of Viet Nam's comics industry have not been fully exploited. While the market for foreign comics and animation publications has become saturated, we are fortunate to have passionate young Vietnamese authors. They can find themes for comic creation anywhere. They also now have greater access to tremendous amounts of material.

However, the disadvantages seem to far outweigh the advantages. Viet Nam only has a modest history linked to the comic and animation industry, not to mention social biases towards the genre that are yet to die out. Most publishing houses are not interested in domestic comic works because of inefficient publishing strategies. As a consequence, authors struggle on low incomes and limited working materials.

I am facing both the advantages and disadvantages. But most of all, the challenges are to sustain ambition, while keeping myself active and responsive to heated social issues and developing further.

Despite the hardship, you still enjoyed early success. What helped you become popular among readers?

In the context of difficulties in publishing in Viet Nam, the internet is a very effective tool for helping budding artists to survive. It narrows the gap between authors and readers. I have had a lot of works published on the internet and they evoke great responses from readers. I hope that in the near future, authors like me can sell their products on the internet when readers are more aware of intellectual property rights.

Source: VNS