Vietnam’s fine arts during 30 years of renewal

Painter Thanh Chuong, President of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, said the past 30 years have seen breakthroughs in thinking and an impressive increase of painters and critics.

In 2013, there were about 10,000 people studying fine arts. Vietnam now has more than 80 fine art training institutions. The most prominent are the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts, the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts, and Hue University.

Painter Chuong said  “There has been a giant leap forward. The renewal has created two remarkable changes: the diverse development of fine arts and the development of fine arts application, in which art is more integrated into daily life and contributes to the national economy.”

The number of exhibitions has been on a sharp rise. There were 200 fine arts exhibitions in Vietnam in 1990 compared to a dozen in 1975, when the south of Vietnam was liberated. Each year about 2,400 new works are submitted for exhibits.

Vietnam’s political and socio-economic changes have led to reforms in the arts. Painter Le Trong Lan, Head of the Fine Arts Council of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, said war used to be the dominant theme of 70% of all works of art, but now themes and styles of expression are more diverse.

“War-time painters used concrete icons to portray the war. Today’s generation uses different styles of expression, which are more abstract and reflect the play of human emotions and the space on the painting’s pictorial space,” Lan added.

Painter Le Huy Tiep, Head of the Graphics Arts Council of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, said graphic logo design has thrived over the past 20 years.

“Vietnam’s graphic arts have flowered in format, content, and material. AS society, technology, and the market have evolved, graphic design has established a firm foothold in advertising, product design, brands, logos, and modern painting”, said Mr Tiep. 

The 30-year renewal process has enabled Vietnam’s fine arts to make greater contributions to national integration and the evolving Vietnamese outlook on life.