The exhibition "Dialogue with Hang Trong Folk Painting" opened this week at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, featuring 29 Hang Trong paintings by artisan Le Dinh Nghien and 38 artworks on silk, lacquer, poonah paper, and oil paint by young artists inspired by this school of folk painting.

The event is organized by the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature in cooperation with collectors, artisans, and a group of young artists under the project "From Tradition to Tradition".

The exhibition has been on display at the Temple of Literature. Photo: VNA

Hang Trong folk painting is one of the unique painting schools, imbued with the aesthetic and cultural values of ancient Hanoi people. The unique artworks of this painting school, depicting the daily life of Vietnamese people, have impressed the world public.

With the diversity of genres, and the sophistication of design techniques, Hang Trong folk paintings have contributed to the enrichment of traditional cultural life, creating a distinctive character and an integral part of Vietnamese folk paintings.

Faced with the danger of folk paintings falling into oblivion in modern life, many activities have been carried out to restore and preserve Hang Trong folk paintings.

This exhibition is held with the desire to promote the beauty of this unique school of painting to a large number of people who love traditional art, especially the young generation and international tourists. It is also an opportunity to introduce art products that have resulted from the process of discovering the artistic values of the heritage of Hang Trong paintings.

The artworks are arranged in pairs, with each Hang Trong painting by artisan Le Dinh Nghien displayed alongside an art piece inspired by the original work. Photo: VNA

According to Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature, the exhibition is based on the untiring efforts of artists and painters in their journey to preserve and promote traditional art in contemporary life.

The exhibition is also a driving force for the personal creations of young artists, encouraging them to learn and inherit the traditional artistic quintessence of their ancestors.

Since the project "From Tradition to Tradition" was initiated and implemented from 2020 to now, it has brought a lot of achievements.

Curator and artist Nguyen The Son said that he and his fellow artists have tried to discover the artistic values of the heritage of Hang Trong folk paintings in particular, as well as other traditional cultural values of Vietnam. The project has encouraged young artists' creativity through research and learning from the knowledge of traditional techniques of Hang Trong folk paintings.

The artworks are arranged in pairs. Each Hang Trong painting by artisan Le Dinh Nghien is displayed alongside an art piece inspired by the original work. This exhibition creates an interesting dialog between the traditional and the contemporary, the old and the new.

The exhibition runs until July 31 at the Temple of Literature.