BUÔN MA THUỘT — A thematic exhibition dedicated to late songwriter Trịnh Công Sơn, known as the “Bob Dylan of Việt Nam”, is taking place at his birthplace in Buôn Ma Thuột City in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk.

Entitled Trịnh Công Sơn – Cảm Hứng Từ Thiền và Cà Phê (Trịnh Công Sơn – Inspiration from Zen and Coffee), the exhibition has been organised by the Museum of Coffee World – Trung Nguyên Legend. The event is the first of its kind ever taking place in Buôn Ma Thuột City.

Visiting the exhibition, guests will have a chance to learn interesting stories about the talented songwriter and the meditation in his music legacy. His daily habit of enjoying coffee also has been presented at the exhibition.

“Only two words ‘Zen’ and ‘coffee’ can describe almost fully our beloved brother,” Nguyễn Trung Trực, a representative of Trịnh Công Sơn’s family said.

Born in 1939 and passed away in 2001, Trịnh Công Sơn is one of the most influential figures in Việt Nam. Although he attracted attention with love songs composed in the late 1950s, it was his anti-war songs, particularly those collected in Songs of Golden Skin (1966), that created the “Trịnh Công Sơn phenomenon”.

His 600 songs about love, war, and the philosophy of being human in turbulent wartime, have been widely popular among Vietnamese people both in and outside the country.

Guests visit the thematic exhibition 'Trịnh Công Sơn – Inspiration from Zen and Coffee' at the Museum of Coffee World in Buôn Ma Thuột City. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

Most of his songs carry his distinctive ideology and lyrical style, expressing great love for the Vietnamese people and his homeland while praising peace and love.

In 2006, he was awarded the World Peace Music Award next to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

Mentioning how Trịnh Công Sơn’s music can contribute to the meditation, Prof John C. Schafer at the Humboldt State University in Arcata, California wrote: “For many Vietnamese people, listening to Trịnh Công Sơn’s music is almost like listening to a sutra.”

In 2016, during his official visit to Việt Nam, then US President Barack Obama recalled the song Nối Vòng Tay Lớn (The Great Circle of Việt Nam) by Trịnh Công Sơn as an example of peace and friendship.

Singer Giang Trang, who has performed a lot of Sơn’s songs, said: “Songs by Trịnh Công Sơn bear features of mediation, of nothingness. People need to have enough life experiences to understand the meaning of lyrics.”

The thematic exhibition Trịnh Công Sơn – Inspiration from Zen and Coffee opens to public till the end of August. The Museum of Coffee World locates on Nguyễn Đình Chiểu Road, Buôn Ma Thuột City. — VNS