Arts Trends In Viet Nam
Nguyen Hung


It should be first pointed out that French artists who taught "L'Ecole
Superieux des Beaux Arts de L'Indochine" (The College of Fine Arts of
Indochina) opened in Hanoi in 1925 were blazetrailers of contemporary
arts of Vietnam. European arts have had much imprint on Vietnam's.
Whatever "ism" have existed in Europe whether Classical Naturalism,
Medieval Religionism, Post Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism,
Surrealism, Abstractionism and even present-day Installation and
Land Art , all turn up in Vietnam.

It does not mean, however, that Vietnamese arts is a simplified copy of
European arts since artists of any time while choosing new school for
expressing select just what is most pregnant to their perception.

First generation of contemporary artists like To Ngoc Van, Tran Van
Can, Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Nguyen Do Cung made a
hard "break" with the "weight" of classical European arts to seek for
their own "inspiration-generating' sources". Their search commenced
with images and then with materials, techniques Soon they reached
uniform thinking in arts creation, i.e. exonerative expression of their
feelings and aesthetic viewpoints. Present- day people when watching
paintings of these "elders" have to concede that they only learned
European graphic techniques and materials. Freely and naturally did
they make use of the "physic" space, oil material; at the same time they
"acad-emised" folk materials like lacquer, silk, carvings Spiritually,
they retained "Vietnamese nature" to the full by non- rationalization
and unaffected characterization of feelings on surrounding entities -
landscapes, objects and beings and of folk metaphysical concept

imbued with Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Generally speaking,
"L'Indochine" era artists fully conceived that foreign arts schools only
meant when the best parts selected, thoroughly uniform in the course of
thinking which has its own settings and ways of reception.

Not any significant change took place during the first period of
Vietnamese modern arts from the inception to 1980s. In the North, the
search for new expressing ways of some artists was just tentative and a
matter of formality. The Revolution Arts was, in effect, the
continuation of the one initiated by the pioneers of the "L'Indochine"
Arts School with a new spirit based on "lyrical citizenship and State
affairs" feelings. Among Revolutionary artists Nguyen Sang may be the
only (one) who dealt successfully with socialist historic realism through
richly-generalised and strongly touched paintings (e.g. "Giac dot lang
toi - The Enemy Burned My Village", "Ket nap Bang d Bien Bien -
New Party Members addmit- ted in Dien Bien", "Thanh Nien thanh
dong - Bulwark Youth"). Most of the rest, though upheld Realism, were
really romanticists holding social revolutionary or national outlook In
the South, over this period, something quite different underlying the
"self' of the artists together with Western influence added nuances to
the scene

Since 1960s, modern trends such as cubism, surrealism, expressionism,
abstractionism have been widely tested. Yet, it must be honestly said
that Western rationalism which was brought into Vietnam under these
different "isms" born different nature and had another fate-it seemed
too big a "shirt" for the confusing spiritual situation either dragged on
by daily feeling or drifted with symbolic meaning of romantic
sensibility. It is not at all by accident that many artists in the South,
after some time's quest, reveted to symbolism; most of them "took

shelter" in some fixed means to satisfy their own petty dreams at haute
salons

Never have Vietnam's arts activities become so excitingly hectic as
present, In no more than ten years, the number of graphic artists has
hiked significantly and exhibitions held consecutively Every artists
tries to have his/her own identity resulting in quick ramification into
variously shophisticated trends.

It is difficult to name existing arts trends in Vietnam. There has yet a
uniform ground on which reliable reference and argument can be based
for art criticism. Moreover, Vietnamese artists do not hold fast to any
trend, on the contrary, they are ever volatile. For instance, a symbolist
of yesterday may now turn out an abstractionist and then symbolist
again. An artist that is so deft as a tribal religionists with surrealist
expressions, then selling himself to the ambiguity of decoration
works In general, very few of them have dedicated to uniformly
lifetime quest so how to name their arts trend?!

If European academic arts studies with widely-used concepts and
aesthetic categories were taken into consideration, it would be likely
forceful and arbitrary. Such use will drive current confusing situation to
the worst. It will be a big mistake, for example, to classify a Hanoian
who draws cubic-structure paintings like Picasso's as cubist since his
paintings consist only highly symbolic folk images through the means -
merely form - of cubism. In other words, this is only a mixture so-
called "old wine in a new bottle".

Thus, an accurate understanding of Vietnam arts can be obtained
through perception integrally based on its background and ways of

thinking affecting each trend. It should be vigilant with deceitful forms
easily led to incorrect titles

Many artists in Vietnam take to the characterization of reality. Yet it is
a long way from reality depiction to realism. They are not different
from their "L'Indochine" elders who were far removed from social
affairs just availing themselves of the method as a means to express the
purely romantic feelings of surrounding beings in the forms of
impressionism, symbolism or expressionism with much romanticsm.
There is, for instance, one artist in HCMC who draws in details. Many
people put that the paintings look more like photos. Yet they radiate
something closer to expressionism than reality depiction. Others put
that his paintings are of "Zen" style - giving out internal placidity in
this ephemeral world They are all, regretfully, incorrect. What in all
his paintings are almost uniformly expressed Even Revolutionary
artists who draw in the citizenship spirit having in minds an
indebtdness to generalise historical events have yet been able to move
further to social realism. Prevalent are chronicles whose subjects and
image structures are only selected through the artists' own feelings.

In addition, there are many abstractionists, both imaging and non-
imaging. Many exhibitions of this kind of paintings have been held, yet
the viewers tend to be indifferent and keep a distance from them.
Different opinions among Vietnamese artists' circle have been heard
about abstract paintings. Many of them forget that abstractionism is the
result of art process in which colour, hues, expression of lines and
interaction of rhythm, even structure layout by themselves carry
merits of manifestation. Abstractionists are not bound with identified
content of the images; but they can fully express their own feelings
which may still be obscurely deep in subconsciousness. It is

noteworthy that not many Vietnamese abstract paintings radiating
widespread vitality. Just few of Vietnamese abstractionists man- aged
to embody spiritual feelings close to those of their fellow symboists
and expressionists; perception, for them, is not the problem to be taken
for granted, it's simply spiritual feelings towards internal peace and
tranquility in this real worry-ridden world. Most paintings of this trend
do not have much colour-e.g. fickling candle flame and regularly
structured strokes are more favoured. Most of what remains are either
confusingly or monotonously and meaninglessly made.

If the paintings of each Vietnamese abstractionist are seen from a
systematic viewpoint, it can be easily found out that most present- day
artists merely symbolize and try to find their own identity by a certain
principle of symbolization. Generally speaking, modern Vietnamese
abstractionism has yet been an expression of inner feelings but, on the
contrary, a concealment under what is called "style".

The "Doi Moi" (renovation) period in Vietnam has had great impact on
Vietnamese arts. Vietnamese artists are facing the challenge of
simultaneously integrating into the world's arts and upholding national
identity. The situation together with daily temptation of world's popular
painting market hit hard impatient artists who have sold themselves and
lost their roots. They take refuge under certain "blockhouse of forms"
dubbed as "national or modern styles" and feel satisfaction with the
illusion of being an artist.

Vietnam 's arts is still in the quest of a breakthrough inception. It can be
further said that the value of arts is not based on any recognition of
national or international crowds or the orientation is not determined by
the movement of any "major" arts. Each culture successfully flourishes

in its own way. There are not higher or lower cultures but only
similarities and differences between them, Vietnam 's arts will prevail
thanks to self- renovation not references to arts of another land.
Individually, sensibility, purely uniform art "language", and brave
expression have built- in worth. "To err is human", so artists may at
times commit "ideology" faults; even in such astray moment, were the
artist's thinking real touch of dignified personality, the works of art will
survive with time and constantly inspire to sympathisers. Truth and
novelty coincide in arts provided that the novelty is the truth found out
by a sensitive, sensible and sincere being