INTRODUCTION

In 1994 Hanoi was a sleepy village, cyclos lazily encircled Hoan Kiem Lake, espousing poetry to their patrons in the dark, misty night. Artists, poets, and writers sitting on small bamboo stools in dimly lit cafes, drinking and smoking into the late night created a nostalgic, romantic atmosphere of a time gone by. Vietnam is a country deeply rooted in the past, a country with a tragic history, its people stoic and hardworking yet joyful in their simple everyday life.

I was drawn to Vietnam at that time because of the art and the lure of discovering a mysterious, exotic country that shared a sad history with my own. Government gallery openings at 11:00 a.m. filled with beret clad artists sipping rice wine, gouache paintings of romantic landscapes and portraits evoked a contemplative, reflective atmosphere in stark contrast to the fast paced life in the West from where I had come.

Living and working with the artists in Vietnam for the past eleven years has been a wonderful journey of discovery, of new ways of thinking, expressing, and being. I have mounted exhibitions over the years in Hanoi, Hong Kong, America and Europe, each with the express purpose of exposing these artists from a country long closed to the outside world, newly awakened with a fervent hope and energy for the future. In recent years there have been many exhibitions of art from Vietnam throughout the world. Many of these have focused on the war or on the beauty of traditional Vietnam.

This current exhibition, The Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell, Vietnam Past and Present’, is an attempt to portray works that exude the pulse of what is happening today, the outlook of youth and the spirit of those who dare to present life in a state of change.

Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell

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The exhibition is composed of ten artists from Hanoi, each portraying a unique and intensely personal expression of the dynamic life in Vietnam today. The core of the exhibition is an installation by British artist, Simon Redington, residing in Vietnam since 1997. A culmination of 6 years of research with Vietnamese artists and Buddhist scholars, Simon has produced a portfolio of ten prints based on Buddhist and Oriental beliefs concerning The Circle of Life, the law of causality. The addition of quotes from Dante’s ‘Inferno’ brings these traditional ideas into a western context that has surprisingly modern relevance.

The works of the other artists provide an interesting interplay of the forces of the past imposed upon the life in the present. The work contained in this exhibition was produced at a certain time and place in its history. Each individual artist in their own way is looking at the rapid changes in Vietnam today and taking up the challenge to define the past, present and future with all it’s horror and beauty and to adapt it to a new age.

The location is of quintessential importance, however it is also the universal nature of the work that is relevant and predominates as much as their particular place of origin. The threads of continuity are visible in some works, heavily veiled in others. The aim of this exhibition is to present life in Vietnam today, a country recently open to the outside world. The present is heavily rooted in the past and yet the energy and mentality is racing toward the future. Vietnam is in the eye of the world today.

An exotic country recently opened, a safe haven in today’s troubled times, a country with a tragic past and a bright future, it is time for Vietnam to be seen as it is now in 2005.

Suzanne Lecht
Art Director
Art Vietnam Gallery
www.artvietnamgallery.com
Hanoi, Vietnam