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| Exhibition space of Ceramic Card Exhibition |
Coming to the exhibition space of Củi Lũ Art Space (next to the De Vong River, Hoi An), I watched the writer's two children arrange the ceramic works brought from Hanoi , immersed in the beauty of ceramics in harmony with literature, and listened to the stories they told about the exhibition preparation and the creative process.
From the journey of the heritage bus
The two sons of writer Nguyen Huy Thiep, Nguyen Phan Bach and Nguyen Phan Khoa, deserve to be called the “fire carriers” on the heritage journey, the bridge that brings their father’s artistic heritage from Hanoi to Hoi An - where pottery becomes the “way” between earth and fire.
Phan Bach confided: “2025 marks the 75th anniversary of our father’s birth (1950-2025), the two brothers decided to fulfill his wish when he was alive, which was to bring ceramic art to the heritage space. The products were selected from the family collection in Hanoi and Gallery 39A Ly Quoc Su, transported to Củi Lũ Art Space (Hoi An) - a location near the nearly 500-year-old Thanh Ha pottery village. The 1,200km journey not only transported ceramic works but also carried the “soul” of Thiep’s literature.”
| The exhibition is like a stick of incense on the occasion of the writer's 75th birthday. Those ceramic candles, although not lit with real fire, still shine a multi-dimensional Nguyen Huy Thiep: writer - painter - the leader of endless artistic innovations. |
In the exhibition, Bach participated in a dual role - both as an organizer and one of 42 artists. He painted on Bat Trang blue-white ceramic, inspired by the short stories The Retired General and The Biggest Beast. His work demonstrated the "sudden enlightenment" style of painting (drawing one stroke, without editing) - the philosophy that Nguyen Huy Thiep once said: "Painting for Thiep must be like drifting - a stroke of fate".
Unlike other artists, Bach approaches his father's literature through personal memories. He portrays the characters in the story Thiep with "gloomy, pensive" faces - a characteristic style from the series "Vo Dien". This is also his way of relieving pressure: "My family is under pressure from my father's reputation... Becoming an artist is my father's wish, but asserting oneself is the difficult thing". He recalls his father's last words while lying on his sickbed: "When I'm gone, you can use the things I wrote and drew to include in my posthumous works...".
Go to the multi-generational art exhibition
The Thiep Ceramic Exhibition in Hoi An displays nearly 200 works, divided into two groups: Group 1 includes ceramic works painted by writer Nguyen Huy Thiep himself in the 90s (portraits of literary friends, self-portraits, ancient poems of Ho Xuan Huong, Bui Giang...); Group 2 includes works by 42 artists (from painters Luong Xuan Doan, Do Hoang Tuong to writer Nguyen Quang Thieu) "reading" Nguyen Huy Thiep through ceramics.
The authors do not illustrate, they “translate” Nguyen Huy Thiep’s writing on ceramic. Famous works over the past 3 decades such as The Retired General, The Biggest Beast… are created into shapes, color blocks, and unique rhythms, creating a silent dialogue between classical blue glaze and contemporary sketches. There are sentences that seem to have settled on the pages of books, but now “wake up on ceramic glaze”.
Nguyen Phan Bach lifted a blue and white ceramic plate and said: “This is a Self-Portrait my father painted in 1997. At that time, he once told me: “Literature and painting are like two parallel roads running to the ocean”. Now my brother and I bring the work to Hoi An, I understand that this is a way to bring his legacy back to the source of Vietnamese ceramics”.
Bach confided: “We wanted to give our father a 75th birthday where literature and ceramics become one. Each plate, each glaze, each sentence is living on - in a different form. Literature is not just for reading. Sometimes, it is to be touched.”
The Gom Thiep exhibition in Hoi An not only honors the literary beauty of Nguyen Huy Thiep but is also a harmony between generations in a multi-heritage space: Củi Lu Art Space (Truong Sa Street) 3km from Thanh Ha pottery village, creating a connection between traditional crafts and contemporary art. As curator Le Thiet Cuong said: “Hoi An ancient town is a symphony of living heritage. Gom Thiep in Hoi An is not only a display of works but also a conversation between pottery and the wind of Hoai River, with the pottery-making hands of artisans from Thanh Ha pottery village, half a thousand years old”.
The exhibition closed on June 28, but the dialogue between literature - pottery - life seems to have just begun. "Each piece of glaze, each sentence is still alive" - perhaps, this is just the beginning of a long journey: the journey to bring cultural heritage out of the museum, to blend into the contemporary breath.
Khieu Thi Hoai
Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202507/khi-gom-van-va-cuoc-doi-hoa-nhip-o-thanh-pho-di-san-0b82431/
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