“You’ve just been honored with the Bui Xuan Phai Award - For the Love of Hanoi for your ‘Strolling the Streets’ series of exhibitions depicting Hanoi. How did it feel to be called Pham Binh Chuong - ‘the keeper of the Old Quarter’s soul’?”

Honestly, I don’t know who first gave me that title, but it’s a tremendous reward. When a painting resonates with the audience’s emotions and they remember me through such a name, that’s happiness enough. But I don’t see it as an endpoint.

For me, an artist is born to paint, not to chase recognition. What matters most is passion and feeling. When you pour your heart and energy into your work, someone will eventually connect with it  -  and that connection is the greatest prize.

I consider this award a meaningful milestone in my creative journey.

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Painter Pham Binh Chuong.

Your 2024 exhibition “Strolling the Streets 4” marked 20 years of painting Hanoi. Looking back, how would you describe that journey?

In 2004, I organized the first “Strolling the Streets,” marking a turning point  -  a departure from abstraction toward realism. Over the past 20 years, I’ve dedicated all my artistic energy to Hanoi. It has been a deeply personal narrative  -  sometimes nostalgic and tender, sometimes contemplative about the city’s changes and people’s lives.

In the early stages, I was drawn to narrow, quiet, and contemplative corners of the city. I almost never painted people  -  sometimes I did, then erased them. Perhaps I sought stillness that matched my emotions after years immersed in abstract art.

In later exhibitions, I began observing life’s movement more closely. People started appearing more clearly, like the main characters of my paintings. I also noticed tangible aspects of the urban landscape  -  the weather, the scenery, even billboards and street ads. I believe that to capture the essence of the city, you cannot ignore these modern details.

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Artwork “Cloudy Day.”

By the time of “Strolling the Streets 4,” your view of contemporary Hanoi had reached a new level?

That’s right. Hanoi today embodies a subtle yet constant interplay between old and new, between convenience and order, between what has existed for centuries and what arrives daily. I wanted to portray that quiet competition of urban life.

Painting, I believe, isn’t just about preserving what’s poetic. The Hanoi of the past may have been serene, but today the city is developing at lightning speed. Many houses and streets vanish within months. Even Hanoi’s rain has changed with climate shifts  -  no longer the gentle drizzle of poetry but often fierce and relentless.

I wanted to reflect these transformations as a reminder that Hanoi is changing every single day.

In the time of the masters, Hanoi was still. Artists could set up an easel outdoors and return days later to find the same scene unchanged. But in my time, the city changes overnight. That’s why the old things have become even more precious  -  even a wooden window or a lattice door feels like heritage now.

My paintings are a fusion  -  classical in composition and form, abstract in their spontaneous brushstrokes, and impressionistic in light and color. This blend makes my art hard to categorize. Yet ultimately, my paintings offer viewers a truthful reality  -  real in image, real in emotion.

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Artwork “First Winter Sunlight.”

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Artwork “Hang Duong Street.”

After 25 years devoted to Hanoi, have you ever asked yourself what to paint next?

Yes, many times. I’ve wondered whether to continue with themes already recognized, even featured in textbooks, or to seek something new. My answer remains Hanoi  -  but from different perspectives. I want to delve deeper into the lives of people living alongside the cityscape  -  old and new, in a constantly shifting metropolis.

So what, in your view, is the most important thing for an artist painting Hanoi?

It’s genuine love and emotion. If you paint just for recognition, your inspiration will eventually run dry. I think as long as I still feel a stir in my heart before an old street corner, a mossy roof, or even a wall waiting to be demolished, I can still paint  -  and still share something real with the audience.

Tinh Le