1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

TRADITIONS AND EVOLUTION IN PRESENT-DAJ VIETNAM'S ART -o*o- Nguyen Quan - Hanoi t- I n i t s 2 ,5 0 0 -o d d -y e a r - lo n g h i s t o r y s in c e th e famous long Son c u l t u r e o f S o u th e a s t A sia o f which Vietnam once was a major c e n t e r , V ietnamese a f t has always been a p ro d u c t o f a c c u l t u r a t i o n . T h e re fo re , t h e p r e s e r v a t i o n o f t r a d i t i o n s and , on the o th e r hand, s te a d y e v o l u t i o n tow a rd a d i s t i n c t i v e physiognomy o f i t s own i s n o t a q u e s t io n i t has j u s t been fa c e d w ith r e c e n t l y , i n t h i s c e n tu r y , a l th o u g h s in c e th e end ing o f th e war i n 1^7 59 w ith th e econom ic, c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l r e n o v a t io n i n th e c o n te x t o f th e v ig o ro u s advance o f th e whole A sia* P a c i f i c r e g io n and th e deve ­ lopment o f th e r e v o l u t i o n i n in f o rm a t io n , t h i s q u e s t io n has grown more u r g e n t , more im p e r io u s and more i n t e r e s t i n g th an a t any tim e i n th e p a s t . The. com p lex ity o f th e a c c u l t u r a t i o n i n Vietnam r e ­ s u l t s from th e t h r e e f o l low in g main f a c t o r s : 1 / - A pa r t from th e V ie t s who make up o f th e p o p u l a t io n , th e V ietnam ese a l s o in c lu d e more than 50 o t h e r e th n i c g ro u p s . The e t h n i c m i n o r i t i e s i n t h e N o rthe rn mountain r e g io n b e a r i n ­ f l u e n c e s from China and t h e i r a r t i s s t i l l p u r e ly and s im p ly a s s o c i a t e d w i th r e l i g i o n and t h e i r a p p l ie d a r t i c l e s w ith th e sy s tem o f god s and s a i n t s o f a c u r io u s v a r i a n t o f Taoism. The e t h n i c g ro u p s i n th e C e n t r a l H igh lands s t i l l keep i n t a c t t h e i r o r i g i n a l S o u th e a s t A sian p a r t i c u l a r i t i e s from o ld en timetf and t h e i r a r t i s n o t so e s t r a n g e d from t h a t o f t r i b e s l i v i n g i n o t h e r S o u th e a s t A s ian c o u n t r i e s . The Cham peop le i n th e Sou thern p a r t o f C e n t r a l V ietnam , owner o f th e a n c ie n t Champa kingdom which was annexed to Vietnam f o u r hundred y e a r s ago , e n r i c h our c u l t u r e w i th t h e i r o r i g i n a l and monumental works o f s c u lp tu r e and a r c h i ­ t e c t u r e . The Sou th w ith th e Mekong, a f e r t i l e la n d r e c la im e d by th e j o i n t e f f o r t s o f V ie t , Chinese and Khmer p e o p le , became p a r t o f Vietnam o n ly 300 y e a r s ago . Tens o f a r t i s t s o f e t h n i c m in o r i­ t i e s