1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

o f s o c i a l i s t r e a l i s e , d e a l i n g w ith g r e a t s u b j e c t s ( f i g h t i n g , p r o d u c t io n , l i f e o f w o rk e rs , p e a s a n t s and s o l d i e r s ) d e ep ly marked w ith th em a tic and propaganda c h a r a c t e r . Prom th e mid-GO’ s to th e m id-70’ s , a number o f a r t i s t s o f whom th e most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e were Nguyen Sang (1 9 2 2 -1988 ) , 3 u i Xuan P h a i (1921-1988) and Nguyen Tu Nghiem (1922 - ) ach iev ed a s i g n i f i c a n t r e n o v a t io n to do away w i th th e a f o r e s a i d h a b i t s and i n f l u e n c e s . In r e s p e c t to p l a s t i c lan g u ag e , th e y tu r n e d to n a t i o n a l t r a d i t i o n s embodied i n pagoda and communal house s c u lp tu r e and ( c o lo u r a g ^ u n a r New Year g r e e t i n g j wood- cub , w h ile p u t t i n g to advan tage th e te c h n iq u e s o f modernism and t h e P a r i s schoo l which th e y adm ired . Phe s u b t l e and l a t e n t com b ina tion o f th e s e two s o u r c e s o f i n s p i r a t i o n i n t h e i r s t r o n g , o r i g i n a l p e r s o n a l i t i e s b ro u g h t them g r e a t su c ­ c e s s , c o n f e r r in g on V ietnamese p a i n t i n g a new, p e c u l i a r q u a l i t y o f i t s own, y e t in no way e s t r a n g e d from th e jvorld . S ince th e e a r l y 8 0 ' s , e s p e c i a l l y s in c e Ttd o i mo!" ( r e n o v a t io n ) w i th freedom o f c r e a t i o n b e in g p rom o ted , l a r g e W e b e r s o f young a r t i s t s have made many e x p e r im e n t a t io n s , grown more p r o f e s s i o n a l and b o ld ly a c c e p te d i n f l u e n c e s from Western (Eu ropean and American) p a i n t i n g . However, t h e main in fo rm a ­ t i o n which r e a c h e s them i s abou t e a s e l - u s i n g p a i n t i n g o f th e p e r io d p r i o r to 1950. V ietnamese p a i n t i n g has become much more v a r i e g a t e d . Among th e young a r t i s t s , most s u c c e s s ­ f u l a r e th o s e who a r e a t ta c h e d to n a t i o n a l t r a d i t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g th o se o f e t h n ic m i n o r i t i e s , w i th an i n t r o v e r t a e s t h e t i c a t t i t u d e , a t t a c h in g ^ g r e a te r im p o r ta n c e to th e s p i r i t u a l th an to th e outward c o n c r e t e ap p e a ran c e , ex ten d ­ i n g . t h e i r themes to v a r io u s d i r e c t i o n s . One o f them i s Nguyen Xuan Piep (bo rn 1956 ) , th e o n ly V ietnamese a r t i s t p r e s e n t a t t h i s e x h i b i t i o n • The th r e e major e v o l u t io n a l s t a g e s o f V ietnamese p a i n t ­ in g d e s c r ib e d above show t h a t a r t can o n ly g e t r e a l q u a l i ty when th e a r t i s t has s t ro n g p e r s o n a l i t y s t r o n g a ttachm en t to s o c i e t y and t r a d i t i o n s r e v iv e d i n e v o l u t io n and i n t e r r e l a t i o n . I t must be s a id t h a t i n Vietnam, a c c e p t a t i o n o f f o r e i g n s t y l e s , schoo ls and " ism s" d id n o t e n t a i l c u r r e n t s w ith