HÀ TĨNH — The central province of Hà Tĩnh has come up with an innovative way to reduce moss on its walls and attract tourists.

Artists from the province are giving its walls a makeover by creating murals depicting figures and landscapes mentioned in the Tale of Kiều (a Vietnamese epic poem), as the poet, Nguyễn Du, was a native to this locality.

Painters from the province-based Nguyễn Du Art and Culture College have completed 30 murals on the walls surrounding the village. Walls along the roads in Phong Giang Village, which falls in Du’s native commune of Tiên Điền, got murals earlier this month.

Some murals include the lines of the poem in Vietnamese and English. According to Phạm Ngự Bình, the commune’s chairman, the bilingual inscription is to encourage foreign visitors to visit the late poet’s hometown.

Bình expects the murals to lure more tourists to the village and boost the business of its homestays, run by 14 families in the locality.

Brighter surroundings: Children in the village enjoy murals. Photo ngoisao.net

The murals have received popular support, as the local residents say they give the village’s roads a vibrant look. “We are happy with the colourful walls. No more boring, rusty fences in the village,” said Nguyễn Thị Tần, a resident.

Cao Tiến Hùng, one of the painters, said it was more challenging to depict the poem than any other artwork as the description of figures and landscapes mentioned in the poem needed to be accurate.

The idea of murals was suggested by the province’s Department of Culture and Sports, which proposed some 200 murals around the village.

Hà Tĩnh is the eighth locality in the country to be getting mural streets. Others include Tam Thanh and Tam Hải villages in central Quảng Nam Province, Gành Yến Village in central Quảng Ngãi Province, Cao Lãnh Village in southern Đồng Tháp Province, a fresco alley in Đà Nẵng, Phùng Hưng Street in Hà Nội and Cảnh Dương mural village in neighbouring Quảng Bình.

Tale of Kiều is recognised as a top literary work in the country. It was written by poet Nguyễn Du (1766-1820), who was also a mandarin in the eras of the Nguyễn Lords (1558-1777) and Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945). — VNS