Little girl takes a photo with hundreds of colourful butterflies. — VNS Photo Thiên Điểu

HÀ NỘI — Hundreds of glittering butterflies made of paper affixed to a wall have caught visitors’ eyes at an art exhibition in Hà Nội.

The exhibition entitled Become A Butterfly is an installation by South Korean Ahn Yun-mo at the Korean Cultural Centre.

On each wall the butterflies look like small person with two wings, flying together in one direction.

Moving closer and looking at the butterflies, visitors will see many of them are somewhat messy, but made with no less love than the aesthetically pleasing butterflies.

That's because many of them have been made by children with disabilities from the US, Africa, Indonesia, Europe and Việt Nam.

Among the 1,300 paper butterflies are about 100 by students with disabilities from Bình Minh Specialised School in Hà Nội at a workshop held on Monday.

For many of the disabled children, their butterfly was their first complete artwork.

"This is the first time our students have met and exchanged with a Korean artist," said Lưu Thị Thu Hồng, head of Bình Minh Specialised School. 

"The event is very meaningful to the students and gives them a chance to express their wishes to integrate into the community. I hope their artworks to be performed in the world under the artist's project."

The exhibition is part of the project Become A Butterfly initiated by Ahn with children and youth with disablities worldwide since 2013.

"People who live in this world can overcome all barriers of skin colour and language," said Ahn at the exhibition's opening ceremony. 

"The exhibition helps to break the gap between people with disabilities and normal people, creating a new step in promoting the basic role of art to bring people closer together."

The touring exhibition has been held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Bozar Centre for Fine Art in Brussels and other museums in Indonesia, Ethiopia, Thailand, China, Kenya and France.

Ahn received her Masters of Fine Arts from New York City University and has held nearly 80 individual exhibitions at home, in Europe and the US.

"This exhibition has a special meaning because of the people who make it," said the centre's director Park Hyejin. 

"Culture and art are invisible bridges connecting strangers to each other to overcome all inherent physical barriers. I hope that the butterflies in the exhibition will create more wonderful things to connect the hearts of Vietnamese and Korean people more closely."

The exhibition runs until September 14 at 49 Nguyễn Du Street, Hà Nội. — VNS