VietNamNet Bridge – About 40 calligraphic works by leading artists are now on display at the Viet Nam Museum of Fine Arts to welcome spring and the beginning days of Tet (Lunar New Year).

All hands on deck: The largest work, at 2m by 8m, was created by four calligraphers. VNS Photos Nguyen Binh

It is the first time contemporary calligraphy works are being introduced at the museum. The show displays the works of Nguyen Quang Thang, Pham Van Tuan, Nguyen Van Thanh and Tran Trong Duong. All of them are working at the Institute of Han - Nom Studies.

The exhibition, entitled Net Xuan (Charming of Spring) - Art of Nom, is co-hosted by the Viet Nam Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Han - Nom Studies.

"It is a good chance for the public to see Vietnamese traditional calligraphic art," said Vuong Duy Bien, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. "Traditional calligraphy works are made by the calligraphers to call to mind the beauty of traditional cultural custom on the occasion of Tet."

The works, inspired by the poems of late renowned poets in Vietnam, are written in Nom. Mau Troi Song Xuan (Blue Sky Spring River) is the largest work, sized at 2m by 8m. It is made by all the calligraphers, featuring the text of Nguyen Tieu, a poem by President Ho Chi Minh.

The president wrote the poem in 1948 while living in the Viet Bac Northern Liberated Zone during the national resistance against the French colonization. With four sentences only, the poet crafts the image of a boat under the full moon in the spring, according to calligrapher Thang. There are about 10 works are inspired by the Nguyen Tieu poem.

Avant-garde: A work measuring 70cm by 140cm by Tran Trong Duong.

"The poem inspires us to make the work on canvas with avant-garde style," said Thang. "We want to introduce new and strange factors to calligraphy, combining the classic style of the orient with the abstraction expressionism of the west and zen of Japan."

Thang is also the exhibition curator and created about 15 works in total. Other his works are inspired by poet Nguyen Du, who lived in the 18th century. He is a member of Tien Ve (Avant-garde) Gang of Five and has exhibited his calligraphy works in Vietnam and abroad such as mainland China, Taiwan and the US.

The calligraphy pieces include 16 traditional calligraphy works and 25 avant-garde calligraphy works. Duong has seven works based on poems by Nguyen Du and Ho Chi Minh. He holds four quill pens at the same time to draw producing the different shades of the works.

Tuan and Thanh drew on poems by Nguyen Trai in the 14th century and King Tran Nhan Tong in the 13th century. Most of their works are in the avant-garde calligraphy style, which is one of three kinds of calligraphy in Vietnam. The others are traditional calligraphy and Vietnamese romanised character calligraphy.

Both traditional and avant-garde calligraphy are based on Han (Han Chinese script) and Nom characters. Calligraphy comes from China and has been seen as an art form in Vietnam, South Korea and Japan. Vietnamese romanised character calligraphy has been widely practiced in the last century across Vietnam.

The exhibition will run until March 2 at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. 

Source: VNS