HÀ NỘI — An exhibition of contemporary artworks opened to show the universal language created by Hungarian and Vietnamese artists at the Việt Nam National Museum of Fine Arts on November 23. 

Entitled The Language of Images: Hungarian – Vietnamese Contemporary Painting, the exhibition displays about 60 pieces in different mediums by 12 Hungarian and 10 Vietnamese artists. 

“Regardless of the place where the artists live, they are going to use the language of creation for expressing ideas and feelings," said Marta Simonffy, president of the Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists Association at a press conference before the exhibition’s opening ceremony. 

"A language shared by artists across the world, one that holds a mirror for us, a mirror in which we can perceive our world. There might be different styles and directions in expressing art, since the artist will also always reflect the moment in time and the traditions he is living in."

Silk painting by Illenyl Tamara.

Three silk paintings by Hungarian artist Illenyl Tamara will surprise visitors. Measuring 80cm by 100cm, the paintings are watercolour on silk, which is typical in Vietnamese art. Artist Tamara learned about the Vietnamese silk painting when she travelled to Việt Nam. She uses silk aquarel techniques, adopting them to the European aquarel painting style.

"I liked Vietnamese silk paintings the first time I saw them," said Tamara. "Silk is very thin so we can see through it. So I put a background layer under the silk to paint."

Tamara is one of two Hungarian artists present at the exhibition’s opening ceremony. She is a veteran artist from Budapest and has been a member of the Hungarian Artists’ Foundation since 1969. She has held a number of solo exhibitions in France, Finland, Slovakia, Thailand and Việt Nam. Her first exhibition in Việt Nam was in 1997. 

Ory Annamaria is also from Budapest. She is displaying oil-on-canvas works on the theme of ‘trees’ at the exhibition. The paintings were made in 2016 when she was in Hungary. "The tree is one of the most important creatures in any place in the world," said Annamaria. "The paintings at the exhibition are typical of the Hungarian style."

Paintings by Nguyễn Đình Hoàng Việt.

Other Hungarian artists displaying artworks at the exhibition include Gabor Vessey; Eszter Csurka; Lola Kovacs and Jeno Levay.

Đặng Thu Hương and Nguyễn Đình Hoàng Việt are representative of Vietnamese art. While Hương is a veteran artist and popular with sơn mài (lacquer) and oil-on-canvas paintings, Việt is the one of the youngest artists at the exhibition. 

Hương’s sơn mài paintings, measuring 80cm by 135cm, are impressive with traditional colours of brown, yellow and red. 

From the central province of Huế, Việt exhibits eight works which are made with oil and newspaper on canvas. "I have deep concerns about dead animals or the lives of damaged and abandoned objects and want to find out their story," Việt said about his works. Việt observed slaughter houses and focused on depictions of chickens, ducks and pigs after they were killed. 

The exhibition runs till December 2 at 66 Nguyễn Thái Học Street. It will be held at HCM City Fine Arts Museum from December 19 to 26. — VNS