Nhan Dan Online – An exhibition entitled ‘Historical Landmarks of the Years of Horse’ opened in Hanoi on January 16 to celebrate the new year 2014 (The Year of Horse).
Works on display include photos, paintings, statues, objects of worship and videos highlighting the presence of the horse in Vietnamese people’s daily life, the country’s history and in traditional festivals.
Additionally, guests can enjoy documentation reviewing the glorious years of the Horse during the national course of construction and defence, including the years of 550, 1078, 1258, 1426, and 1954 when the Vietnamese people defeated invasion from the Liang, Song, Yuan-Mongolia, Ming and the French.
1930, the year the Communist Party of Vietnam was established and 1942, when of the ‘Prison Diary’ poetry collection of President Ho Chi Minh was penned were horse years.
Also on display are 60 paintings of horses by Le Tri Dung, member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.
Most of Dung’s paintings are on traditional Do (poonah) paper using pastel and acrylic.
“The horses Dung created inspire viewers with a powerful feeling of freedom, a reeling sensation of recklessness as always the horses are galloping, like they are flying in the wind,” according to painter and arts critic Nguyen Quan in a foreword for the exhibition.
Meanwhile, Dang Thuy, a 12th grader at the Hai Ba Trung school interested in painting and who intends to study at a fine arts university, said that she can learn a lot from Dung’s works as they have a harmony in lay-out and a subtle palette.
The exhibition, running through March, is part of the ongoing 2014 Spring Fair, which kicked off the same day at the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts (VECCA), No.2 Hoa Lu Street, Hai Ba Trung district.
