A workshop with the theme of positioning Vietnam’s fine arts in the region was held recently at Quang San Art Museum in Thu Duc City of HCM City with the participation of artists Chau Giang and Uu Dam, and curator Ace Le. 

The workshop was held within the framework of the UOB Painting of the Year, a competition for painters in 2024 for the second time in Vietnam. 

At the event, guests discussed the diversity of perspectives about Vietnam’s fine arts, as well as the importance of cultural identity.

According to Dam, many years ago, collectors said they wanted art pieces which could show Vietnamese features. For example, they wanted paintings with bamboo trees, buffaloes and coconut trees, which bore native colors.

“At that moment, I reacted angrily to their suggestions. But I later realized that they had the right to expect that Vietnamese paintings bear Vietnamese features and they must be different from Indonesian paintings, for example,” he said.

“Painters need to think about what to do to both preserve the traditional national identity and show modernity with an international approach,” he explained.

“Emotion is the most important factor in painting. However, there also must be reason in paintings, which shows artists’ knowledge and education because after all, this is a job that requires methodical professionalism,” she commented.

Lack of artists

The participants at the event expressed concern about the worker shortage in painting. Statistics show that the number of university art students has decreased in recent years.

According to Alec Le, only three students majoring in art graduated from Hue Art University last year. The same situation was seen in Hanoi and HCMC, the two largest education centers of the country.

The curator explained that students do not want to study arts as they think that they will not have a good future. Young people prefer graphic design and interior decoration as they can easily find jobs with stable incomes after graduation.

“Meanwhile, many people have a wrong way of thinking that there is no need to study at schools to become painters, because painting just requires aptitude and creativity,” he said “This makes painting go downhill."

He stressed that Vietnam lacks human resources for academic painting, and painting is losing its position in the society.

Participants said that there should be cooperation among various parties to find the solution. In addition to learners’ aspirations, the industry needs support from the art market, artists, exhibition organizers, and art sponsor organizations. This will encourage young artists.

Ace Le said Vietnam has a unique position located at the intersection of art history, sharing the colonial history of Southeast Asia.

The number of collectors willing to spend money on Vietnamese and Indochinese paintings is high. Therefore, registering for a competition of regional stature like the UOB Painting of the Year will help Vietnamese painters become better known in the international market, and increase the value of paintings.

UOB Painting of the Year is one of the most prestigious art competitions in Southeast Asia which has helped discover over 1,000 art talents in the region each year. 

In 2023, the competition for the first time was opened to Vietnamese competitors, with a chance to compete with talents from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Eight artists were honored at the first competition in Vietnam displaying artwork that won prizes. The exhibitions attracted tens of thousands of art lovers.

A board of jurors consisting of famous artists of Vietnam’s arts will choose winning art works this year based on criteria, including message, creativity, composition and technique.

Tuan Chieu