Hanoi – Umeå

Bildmuseet presents contemporary Vietnamese paintings by 12 artists working in Hanoi. The Hanoi – Umeå exhibition features fifteen paintings using traditional lacquer techniques by artists who are students or teachers at Hanoi College of Fine Arts. Two of the artists – Tran Hoang Son and Trieu Khanh Tien – are visiting teaching staff at Umeå Academy of Fine Arts this spring.

Vietnam has a history of conflict during the 20th century, with 50 years of French colonial rule and wars with France, the US, Cambodia and China. From the 1960s until 1986, the country had a social realist depiction requirement – only social realism was accepted, as it was considered the only politically important means of depiction. Modernism and abstract expressionism were seen as reactionary.

The Vietnamese art scene is becoming increasingly international, but contemporary painting is deeply rooted in traditional techniques such as lacquer painting, woodcut and fabric printing, and traditional or expected motifs. The narrative is often figurative, but of a different nature to social realism.

The exhibition includes works by Truong Tuân Anh, Lâm Dùc Manh, Nguyên Bao Hà, Pham Khành Thành, Nguyên Vièt Dông, Nguyên Quôc Huy, Doàn Dung Sy, Tran Hoang Son, Nguyên Quôc Thàng, Trieu Khanh Tien, Lê Trân Hâu Anh and Luong Công Tuyên.

With thanks to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Umeå Academy of Fine Arts at Umeå University.