'Hạ Về' (Summer) an crylic on canvas created in 2018 by Nguyễn Khánh. — Photos courtesy of VNUFA

HÀ NỘI — Dòng Chảy (Flow), a special art exhibition to celebrate 100th anniversary of the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts (VNUFA, 1925-2025), is slated for this week in Hà Nội.

The exhibition showcases a total of 70 outstanding paintings by 56 artists from across the country, who all former students or lecturers at the university's Faculty of Fine Arts Training.

Dòng Chảy opens today and runs until Friday at the university's Art Space, 42 Yết Kiêu Street, Hà Nội.

FULL OF LIFE: 'Sự Sống' (Life), an acrylic on canvas created this year by Ngô Bình Nhi

It features the reunion of VNUFA alumni who have become artists with certain successes in their artistic career. Many of the authors are working as lecturers and researchers at fine arts colleges and universities across the country while others are possessing high academic degrees and running art projects renown in the country and abroad.

'Mưa Rừng' (Forest Rain) a synthetic colour on silk created this year by Phan Minh Bạch

The event, an initiative by alumni from the Faculty of Fine Arts, is the highlight of a series of activities held throughout the year to the VNUFA's 100th anniversary which will take place in November this year.

Through their displayed works, each of the artists wants to present their unique emotional nuance, expressing the personal style and perspective on life and art.

Although they cannot fully represent all generations of students at the VNUFA, the authors have typically shown their passion representing students of the Faculty of Fine Arts Training, according to the event's organising board.

The board said Dòng Chảy which means "flow", reflect a profound gratitude of the alumni, a natural and proud continuation of their "flame of passion and creativity" to "looking back" to the origin, where intense emotions have helped them create works imbued with love for life and art.

The work 'Ngày Bình Yên' (Peaceful Day), an oil on canvas created in 2023 by Vũ Mười

The event is aimed to show the alumni's achievements as a gift to the university on its 100th anniversary, contributing to affirming its role, position and quality of a leading prestigious fine arts training centre in the country.

It is regarded as not only a 'meeting point' for generations of artists to show their gratitude towards their school and teachers, but also a 'green thread' to continue the cultural and artistic tradition and spread love and dedication for art to many young artists and students who are now studying at the university.

Based in downtown Hà Nội, the VNUFA was formerly known as L'Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine (the Indochina School of Fine Arts) and has through the years, been hugely significant in terms of being a cradle for Vietnamese art.

Opened in 1925 L'Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine developed through different periods of history until it was officially renamed as the VNUFA in 2008.

The Indochina School of Fine Arts has great influence in creating a milestone as an important 'turning point' for traditional fine arts into a new era, in which the country's fine arts develop towards a national - modern direction integrating with the world.

The VNUFA is one of the leading institutions on training fine arts in Việt Nam under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

One of its important missions is to nurture talents and provide high-quality human resources to serve the national artistic goals, meeting requirements of the country's cultural, economic and social development in the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.

'Biển Vàng' (Golden Sea), an oil on canvas by Vũ Quang Hưng

The three factors at its core operation include Identity, Creativity and Humanity. Creativity is always associated with the inheriting and promotion of national cultural identity and traditions, and it needs a "kind heart" and "works for people", according to a VNUFA statement.

It is striving to maintain its prestige as a leading and advanced fine arts training institution in the country with high reputation in the Southeast Asia and Asia as the whole by 2030. — VNS