HCM CITY— People’s Artist and movie star Trà Giang’s impressions of nature will be shown at a solo exhibition to celebrate Lunar New Year at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum next week.  

Giang, one of the country’s first and leading movie actresses, has found recognition for her painting. Her exhibition Qua Miền Tây Bắc (Travelling to Northwest) contains 30 paintings featuring the beauty of the Vietnamese people, colourful flowers, fruits and landscapes.

Featured works include Hải Hậu — Nam Định (Hậu River in Nam Định Province), Đèo Pha-đin (Pha-đin Mountain Pass), Bản Xín Chải–Sapa (Xín Chải Village in Sapa) and Thung Lũng Đỏ (Red Valley), which portray moutainous areas and local people. 

Her still life paintings of flowers show movement and are rendered in vivid colours, forms and textures. 

"I decided to spend my remaining time on painting because I found in art an unlimited love for life and people," said the 76-year-old Giang, in an interview with Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper. 

Born in Quảng Ngãi Province, Giang studied at the Việt Nam Cinematography School in 1959. She began her career when she was at school.

Her first film was Một Ngày Mùa Thu (The First Day of Fall), a production by Huy Vân, one of the country’s most talented movie directors.

Known as a movie star in the 1970s, Giang played leading roles in quality movies such as Vĩ Tuyến 17 Ngày Và Đêm (Parallel 17 Days and Nights), Chị Tư Hậu (Mrs Tư Hậu) and Ngày Lễ Thánh (The Holy Day), which are recognised as canons of the Việt Nam revolutionary movie.  

Playing a southern woman during the American War in both Vĩ  Tuyến 17 Ngày Và Đêm by People’s Artist Hải Ninh and Chị Tư Hậu by People’s Artist Phạm Kỳ Nam, she won the best actress prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1963 and 1973. 

She performed in dozens of films directed by gurus such as Bạch Diệp and Trần Phương.

Giang began her love for painting in 1999 when her close friends, female artist Lê Thị Thoa, former deputy director of the Pasteur Institute, and renowned artists Mai Trực and Quang Luân, influenced her.  

The desire to paint led Giang to study at classes at the HCM City University of Fine Arts.

"I work like a kid with fresh love and enthusiasm for art,” said Giang, adding that through painting she can fly and dance as free as a bird.

Her first solo exhibition, Hè Về (Summer Comes Back), opened at Lotus Gallery in 2006, and since then, she has organised dozens of solo and group exhibitions.

Her last solo showcase was Mùa Xuân (Spring) at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum. 

The 10-day exhibition Qua Miền Tây Bắc will open on January 18 at 97A Phó Đức Chính Street, District 1.—VNS