Artist Bùi Hoàng Dương. Photo courtesy of the artist

 HÀ NỘI  The secrets of spiritual culture and life of the Mường ethnic minority in the north-central province of Thanh Hóa will be revealed at an exhibition titled Mo Mường to be held this week.

The exhibition will display 35 paintings and two installations by Bùi Hoàng Dương, a Mường artist from Thanh Hóa.

It features the Mo Mường – a popular ritual ceremony which has become the unique cultural heritage of the Mường ethnic community in Thanh Hóa and many other provinces in the northern mountainous region.

Mo Mường is a job and also a performance practiced at funerals, religious festivals, and life cycle rituals by the ethnic Mường sorcerers.

 "Ah.... Today I clasp my hands together to pray to you here." That is the opening words of a sorcerer in most of the praying practice that Dương had been very familiar with since he was a little child living in his native village in Thạch Thành District.

Dương said he was born in a family with generations of practicing the  Mường prayers. His great-grandfather recited the prayers but since he passed away in 1954, the practice no longer remained in the family. However, many of his followers tried to preserve it.

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An oii and canvas painting features part of the Mo Mường practice. — Photo courtesy of the artist

​The artist said his exhibition was aimed to help promote and preserve the unique cultural value of the Mường.

"About 10 years ago, many people did not understand Mường prayer, so considered it a kind of superstition due to the wrong methods of some local shamans. Actually, Mường prayers are all about morality, ethics and doctrines of humanity and life that teach people about good personality, social behaviour and filial piety. Many practitioners now understand they have a responsibility to lead the nation in the best spiritual direction, maintain and protect the cultural foundations," said Dương.

Dương, who has travelled extensively throughout the country and abroad since 2000, has a deep and endless affection for social life, humans and animals particularly dogs which appear in many of his works displayed in this exhibition.

Commenting on his works, writer Nguyễn Đình Chính said: "It is not unusual that when people see paintings, they often ignore what is 'right or wrong, ugly or beautiful'. If they like, they will stop to look at them but If they don't, they will walk away."

"It is not like that for Dương's paintings. Even if you don't like them, you can't walk away," he said.

"Be patient and wait until the colour and lines in the paintings disappear. The paintings are slowly emanating and erupting a very strange but familiar energy. It is not the energy that pushes people to drown and become corrupted in hatred, greed and confusion but a clean spirit that inspires people to slowly find the deep, pure, true dimension hidden in their souls, helping us know who we are, where we come from and where we will go. Strangely, we also understand deeply about the natural world, which we are exposed to every day by our five senses. That real world, actually is not real," Chính said.

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A painting shows one Mo performing the Mo Mường – a spiritual activity of the Mường people in Thanh Hóa Province. — Photo courtesy of the artist

​This is Dương's fourth solo exhibitions since 2007. His latest group exhibition was XOM, which took place in Hà Nội last August.

He chose this time to open the display as it was safer since COVID-19 impacted the whole art and culture sector. The artist said he spent almost a year preparing for it and hoped he would help preserve the Mường epic poem "Land and Water".

Through the generations, Mường prayers have been passed down verbally in the community. When they’re collected, translated, and published in books, however, they begin to exist separately from people.

These days, most Mường prayers are called "Mo Mường". They are a collection of verses recited at traditional Mường funerals. 

Each Mường community has its own version of prayers, but they are all fairly similar. The existence of various versions of "Mo Mường" has helped expand the heritage and spiritual life of the Mường people.

The Mo Mường exhibition will open between April 24-28 at the Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum at 66 Nguyễn Thái Học Street, Hà Nội. — VNS

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