VietNamNet Bridge – Japanese painter Toba Mika has pursued only one topic for 16 years: Vietnam. Her latest exhibition opened in Hanoi on December 6.

Japanese artist Toba Mika and art critic Phan Cam Thuong.

The exhibition entitled “Nara and Hanoi – Linking Eternal Capitals”  celebrates Hanoi’s 1000th anniversary and Nara citys 1300th anniversary.

Toba Mika came to Vietnam in 1994, after traveling through other South Asian countries. According to famous Vietnamese art critic Phan Cam Thuong, that was the time her career was at a standstill.

In Vietnam, she discovered an eventful life, interesting contradictions and flexible moves that she did not see in a developed country like Japan. Since then Vietnam has become the subjectof her works.

Slumps in HCM City by Toba Mika.

She has produced around 100 paintings about Vietnam. Most of them are landscapes. She organized exhibitions in Hanoi, Hue and HCM City in 2003 and 2005.

All paintings by Toba Mika use Japanese traditional dyeing technique called katazome.

Katazome is a method of dyeing fabrics using a resist paste applied through a stencil. In this kind of resist dyeing, a rice flour mixture is applied with a brush or a tool such as a palette knife. Pigment is added by hand-painting, immersion or both. Where the paste mixture covers and permeates the cloth, the dye applied later will not penetrate it.

Katazome consists of 18 complicated stages so not many Japanese artists use this technique

Railway in Hanoi.

Art critic Phan Cam Thuong said that Katazome is similar to the dyeing techniques of H’mong or Dao ethnic people in Vietnam.

Katazome is suitable for large-sized paintings like Toba Mika’s artworks.

Toba Mika, 49, is a lecturer at the Kyoto Seika Art University, Japan.

Her exhibition will last until December 25 at the Temple of Literature and the Vietnam Art Museum in Hanoi.

Vietnam’s landscapes in Toba Mika’s paintings:

PV