Rice, corn, potatoes and cassava 'grow' in the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

In the new exhibition space of the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts, there is a set of four paintings of rice, corn, potatoes and cassava as well as a 3D film about this set of paintings.

The rice stalks gradually grow, develop ears, and then become heavy with ripe grains. The corn plants gradually grow, and the corn cobs also grow, plump. Baby chicks come to the corn plants, birds come to eat the rice… Such agricultural scenes take place peacefully on 3D films. Then everything is reduced to a miniature space in Dong Ho paintings - an intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO.

Corn painting in the Vietnamese tetraptych

PHOTO: MUSEUM PROVIDED

It is part of the new exhibition space of the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts - the exhibition space for applied arts and folk arts - which opened today, on the exact day the museum was founded (June 24, 1966).

Previously, the museum also had a section displaying both applied art and folk art with the number of artifacts reaching more than 500. Now, when combined, the number of artifacts is about 200, the display area is also reduced. However, this intentional arrangement helps the display space have a new spirit: how to make the story of art clearer.

"The group of exhibits has a story. The exhibits will be displayed in rotation, and thus some will be on vacation. Those that are not on display will be digitized and looked up (on-site)," said Ms. Vuong Le My Hoc, head of the exhibition room.

The 3D images of the Dong Ho paintings of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, winter, rice, corn, sweet potatoes and cassava were born because of that. "This is a set of four paintings of the Dong Ho line. This set of paintings has not been displayed before. Usually, Vietnamese four paintings are clearly influenced by China. But this set of paintings with rice, corn, sweet potatoes and cassava is very Vietnamese. That is why we chose to invest in making 3D images of this set of paintings. Other sets of four paintings such as To Nu... are still available in the search software", Ms. My Hoc shared.

The doll set recreates the costumes and images of the characters in the famous ancient play Quan Am Thi Kinh

PHOTO: MUSEUM PROVIDED

According to the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, in this new exhibition space there are artifacts such as: costumes, jewelry, musical instruments, weapons, labor tools, household items, children's toys... of some ethnic groups. They show unique indigenous characteristics, as well as the absorption of the quintessence of Far Eastern and Southeast Asian culture. In addition, statues and folk paintings also show stories of traditional beliefs, festivals...

Typical painting genres such as Dong Ho, Hang Trong, Kim Hoang… and worship paintings of the Kinh people and the Dao, Cao Lan, Tay, Nung ethnic groups… are also on display. Besides, there are statues of daily life, landscapes, stories and worship statues of Bat Trang, Truong Son - Tay Nguyen…

When displayed together, artifacts also help visualize the culture more clearly. For example, Ms. My Hoc said that Mother Goddess worship paintings and votive offerings displayed together help tell the religious story surrounding the Mother Goddess worship.

Thanks to this storytelling display, viewers will have interesting moments when they see familiar cultural stories, or now encounter them for the first time. They can feel how the typical butterfly buttons of Thai costumes are made, how curved the ancient bamboo clogs are, or what the characters in the play Quan Am Thi Kinh wore...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lua-ngo-khoai-san-moc-trong-bao-tang-my-thuat-vn-185250623231948377.htm