Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Lacquer paintings belong to theVietnamese, said Bui Thi Thanh Mai, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Museum of FineArts, while addressing a seminar on lacquer art held in Hanoi onJune 13.

"Some countrieslike Britain, France and Germany also showcase lacquerpaintings, but the term son mai [lacquer] was created byVietnamese," Mai said. "Son mai comprises two words son (lacquer)and mai (grind) which relate to the material and process usedto make a son mai painting.

Over the past 80 years, Vietnamese lacquer mastersreached milestones in developing traditional crafts towards artisticcreativity.

"Let young artists be free to explore andcreate art like our masters. The history of lacquer or son mai artis built from contributions from each country in the world, and Vietnam playedan important role in the development of lacquer art."

Mai made the conclusion after listening to tenpresentations and opinions from the seminar participants.

The seminar, entitled Tranh Son mai - ChatLieu va Nghe Thuat (Lacquer Painting - Materials and the Art) wasco-held by the museum and the Hanoi Goethe Institute, with the participation of lacquer painters,art critics, experts and lecturers from Vietnam, Germany,the Netherlands and France. 

Participants were introduced to the concept of lacquer painting;the history of lacquer art; as well as specific requirements for lacquer materialsand the preservation and restoration of lacquer paintings at the VietnamMuseum of Fine Arts.

From the German Museum of Lacquer Art Munster,director Monika Kopplin introduced the style and techniques developed byEuropean lacquer artists, whilst Dave van Gompel from the Netherlands, anexpert in the restoration of Japanese lacquer painting analysed Japan’s modernlacquer works in the context of preservation and development. 

Expert Gompel also said that artists mustrespect the old, but not fear the new. They should avoid the widening gapbetween artists and craftsmen; cherish the material, farmers and tool makers;invest in education and communication; explore markets outside Vietnam andinvest in conservation and preservation.  

The first Vietnamese lacquer paintingswere made by students at École Superieure des Beaux Arts de I’Indochine(Indochina Fine Art Colleges) in the 1930s.

The Vietnamese people had been using resin fromthe lacquer tree to make crafts and valuable objects for hundreds ofyears, including objects of religious value. 

"After visiting Van Mieu (The Temple ofLiterature) with Vietnamese students, French teacher Joseph Inguimbertyrealised the potential of lacquer resin, which was used in thetemple’s decorations.

He noticed the beautiful gilded and lacqueredobjects and architectural elements. He suggested his students experiment with lacquerresin as a painting material, as an alternative to the traditionalwestern technique of oil painting," said artist Doan Van Nguyen, who is aveteran lacquer painter and lecturer at the Vietnam Fine ArtsUniversity. 

Nguyen stressed that Vietnamese lacquer wasquite different from its Chinese counterpart.

“Vietnamese lacquer paintings arecovered and ground many times with lacquer resin before the artistinlays crushed egg shells, gold, silver and other materials". Nguyen alsoreveals that he has successfully restored his lacquer paintings whichwere partly damaged by oxygen. He is ready to co-operate with the museum torestore damaged lacquer masterpieces. His own lacquer paintingis also in the museum’s collection. 

Art critic Nguyen Hai Yen also participated inthe seminar. She spoke about lacquer master Nguyen Gia Tri. He wasone of the first artists who took up lacquer resin as a new paintingmedium and is now considered the greatest exponent of Vietnamese lacquer painting. 

"Artist Tri stopped his studies at theIndochina Fine Arts College for many years to focus on drawing. During thistime, he noticed differences when using lacquer resin tomake traditional craft objects and make paintings," said Yen.

Yen said that during the early part of Tri’scareer, his lacquer paintings accorded with the romantic colonialstyle and ideals, but he soon began experimenting successfully with moreabstract concepts. 

Yen also expressed her desire to make lacquer paintingsa Vietnamese trademark in the world.

Lacquer painting was amilestone for Vietnamese fine art, but how it will be preserved in the museumis an issue that many participants at the seminar were concerned with. Themuseum’s former deputy-directors Nguyen Anh Nguyet and Nguyen Xuan Tiep gavepresentations about lacquer painting preservation in the museum.

Nguyet highlighted achievements in restoringsome master works, including Nguyen Gia Tri’s master work Thieu NuTrong Vuon (Girls in The Garden). The painting was damaged by bulletsin the American war. The big holes were treated but the lines and colours werenot. Meanwhile Tiep is worried about backwards infrastructure and urges the useof technology to preserve the lacquer painting collection inthe museum. 

"The lacquer painting collectionis very big, due to many reasons the number of restored paintings is veryfew," said Tiep. "It requires the best materials to restore thedamaged works."

Deputy Director Mai thanked the participants forattending the seminar and highly appreciated the opinions which will help themuseum to preserve, restore and popularise Vietnam’s lacquer paintings.-VNS/VNA