Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

members of the committee for Women Authors, and the committee for Young Artists (directly related to the Fine Arts Research I nstitute) . The 1 980 National Fine Arts Exhibition was the most comprehensive show of Vietnamese art since national partition a quarter century ago . A confrontation of the traditional and the modern compelled artists to change their views, and young women artists were amongst those involved in an i nnovative movement for future art. Their effort helped create an important turn i ng point for Vietnamese art, with some works and experimentations being more successful than others. This creative spirit was i nspired by a renovation in politics, economics and social life. The birth of an art market and an urgent need for more widespread commun ication with international trends has resulted in more diversified styles of paintings. The practice of painters is no longer as alienated from the international art scene. Frequent exhibitions, in which remarkable features of individual artists reveal themselves, confirm their position i n society and amongst their colleagues. A small number of artists can now l ive through sel ling their paintings. However, the pressure of the market and the questionable taste of foreign buyers are creating problems of serious concern . On the whole, looking back over the development of Vietnamese visual art in the past three quarters of a century, it can be said that Vietnamese women artists have by their achievements contributed new pages to the history of our national art. They wil l certainly make even greater contributions to the renewal of art. Artistic characteristics and creative potential Speaking of the character of Vietnamese women , the Secretary-General of the I nternational League of Democratic Women remarked : 'They are supple like reeds, but these reeds are of steel .' This comment applies to the women of contemporary Vietnam, but it is also a feature which has remained stable through thousands of years in h istory. Perhaps I pai nt to decode the tiny universe within myself. But hope always succeeds frustration. The deeper you plunge into the world of the human sou l , the more i nfin ite and mysterious it becomes - thus the endless need for art, a nd this is perhaps common to other Vietnamese women artists. Scenes of maternal love, flower petals, picturesque scenery, obj ects . . . are all symbolic of more abstract ideas. Figures, space , composition, rhythm , light, li nes, colours, materials, styles . . . are the means through which women convey their souls. However, it is HUMAN LOVE that constitutes their greatest concern , which gives their work a profound humanist connotation. To express grandeur by simple thi ngs, the i nvisible by the visible, to turn one's eyes inwards i nto one's soul , is a Vietnamese woman's characteristic psychology of creation . It lies deep i n her subconscious. This spiritual axis remains invariable like our ski n colour, our tongue, like what makes up our identity. Th is reason for existence inspi res artistic discoveries. It helps Vietnamese women artists see more clearly the different shades of colour and rhythm , of forms and light . . . harmonising them with their soul through the process of creation . This divine responsiveness is quite different from an outward g lossiness, from those techn ical stu nts that are often seen. Refusing to confine themselves to traditional materials, they have explored the possibilities of new materials. In concl usion, I would like to state that within the broader characteristics of Eastern art, Vietnamese traditional art has its own aesthetic traits. Fate has had it that the country's geographic position has always put us at the crossroads of influences from various Eastern and Western cultures. The traditional spiritual life of our ancestors favoured a natural adaptation to Chinese and I ndian aesthetics and , in some regions, to Buddhist art in early history. Historical circumstances of the past century led to artistic contact with Europe through French art in the 1 920s, and later through socialist art. Now there exists an u rgent intermingling with all artistic currents, within a broader global movement towards i ntegration into humankind's civilisation. Confrontation with different artistic traditions is vital , but does not necessarily erase the un iqueness of any particular trad ition, as history has taught us. In this light, steadfastness and specialisation are two 'musts' for Vietnamese women artists. But we Vietnamese women serve several functions within society. No matter how g reat our innate capacity, or how attached we are to art, we can devote very little time to it. Some of our women artists only begin their artistic work in their early fifties, when their ch ildren come to maturity, and they have retired from office (most of them being government employees). 1 1 1