VietNamNet Bridge - "The look of the woman," held by the Goethe Institute Hanoi and the Art Vietnam Gallery, brings together the latest works of eight female artists who are exciting in practicing contemporary art.

Ms. Suzanne Lecht - Art Vietnam Gallery director – is the curator of the program. She says: "The exhibition wants to create space to celebrate and explore the essence of the feminine spirit. With this exhibition, women are honored like themselves, by what they do and how they look the world."

The eight artists practice various art types, creating diversity for the exhibition. Painter Vu Kim Thu contributes the work “Floating landscape”, featuring a mica and Japanese washi paper made standing lamp. With intricate and subtle brushstrokes, Kim Thu maps the landscape of tiled roofs, traditional houses on a paper lantern. The work suggests nostalgia for the old roofs of Hanoi.

Dinh Thi Tham Poong is known for paintings on do paper, the paper made from the bark of the Rhamnoneuron balansae--traditionally produced in many villages in Vietnam. But this time she brings to the exhibition three lacquer works.

Phi Phi Oanh introduces a work titled “Armor,” a half-length, lacquered puppet with a mask and a soldier’s hat. Through this work, she shows the shirt that we wear to conceal our personality.

“Inside us” by Nguyen Thi Chau Giang is an innovative silk painting. She drew on both sides of the material, using the image of the woman and the dragon to represent the opposition, a metaphor for the struggle to maintain a balance between the two extremes of male and female.

Maritta Nurmi is a Finnish artist but she has been living in Vietnam for more than 20 years. The work “Let’s keep dreams as ceramic plates in your hands” is a large vase, with motifs. Through the work, Maritta wants to make a metaphor: just as the vase made from clay, the artists have to test themselves in fire and they are also strong and fragile, sad and happy with their aspirations.

“Metaphor” is an installment work by Nguyen Huu Tram your work. She uses hundreds of X-ray films to create a blanket of memories.

Nguyen Thi Chinh Le contributes 12 bronze statues entitled “Diners”. The statues are both powerful and subtle, reminding the viewer of the past and suggest about the future.

As the founder of an independent center of documentary and video art, Nguyen Trinh Thi brings to the exhibition video “Let's praise famous women”, which explores the various aspects of labor in Vietnam. The video does not chant the famous women but individuals in their work.

The exhibition will open at 6pm, March 7 at the Goethe Institute Hanoi and will last until March 23.

The artworks on display at the exhibition:

Thanh Van