VietNamNet Bridge - Julien ‘Seth’ Malland’s portrait of a Saigon girl was the highlight of ‘Esperantopolis, cultural venue of francophonie community’ which took place in the city over the weekend.

The girl painted in graffiti enthralled foreign visitors and local people alike at the cultural event but 48 hours earlier the painting appeared in an old building in District 2 and was the talk of the city.

At the invitation of the French Cultural Institute (Idecaf) in Vietnam, the organizer of the program, Seth came to Vietnam three weeks before the event to look for inspiration.

He strolled around the city and discovered some cleared houses with rough and variegated walls in District 2.

“The broken and bruised walls were destroying the beauty of the area, so I decided to liven it up with animated and funny drawings,” said Seth.

Explaining the image, he said: “When I asked the house owner if I could paint, I did not say what I would draw. But a very pretty girl came over and talked to me, and her beauty and charm gave me inspiration for my work. Now the crumbled house is colorful and full of vitality,” he added.

Seth said it took a week to complete the artwork which was very popular and drew a lot of curiosity of the Saigonese people. His work appeared in a local newspaper and suddenly Seth is a popular artist.

He has visited countries all over the world but doesn’t earn a penny from his art, so he puts his artworks into books and films during his journeys as documentary movies.

“Vietnam has had a strong impression on me, from the people, landscapes to food. I will come back to Vietnam again to find graffiti artists so I can make a film about them,” he said.

Source: SGT