Vietnam Fine Arts Association marks its 60th anniversary.

Over the course of the past 60 years of development, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association’s generations of artists have made many valuable contributions, including the first generation of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts (formerly Hanoi College of Fine Arts) in 1925.
The generations of artists who joined the two resistance wars fought against French colonists and American imperialists; and the generations in the period of strengthened industrialization and modernization, and proactive international integration.
From its first 123 members, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association now has 1,903 spread across the country. The Vietnam Fine Arts Association has developed in scale, quality, and in the efficient organisation of activities of association, such as setting up camps, and announcing works through domestic and international exhibitions, contributing to the building and development of Vietnamese modern fine art works. With its great achievements, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association has received many noble awards from the Party and the State, including the Ho Chi Minh Order in 1997 and the Gold Star Order in 2007.
Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of the Party and State leaders, Politburo member Vo Van Thuong praised the achievements of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and its artists over the past 60 years. As a political-social-professional organisation, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association has gathered a large number of artists; creating an atmosphere of unity and creating many valuable works, while contributing to building an advanced Vietnamese culture, he added.
“The association should continue to bring creativity into full play, which is associated with the pride and responsibility of artists to build a Vietnamese fine art with both a progressive and traditional identity,” he said. “The artists should maintain truth, virtue, and beauty while promoting Vietnam’s fine art to the world.”
However, he also said that there remain some shortcomings within the association. Some artists rely on old ways of creating without any innovation, some have even copied others or violated copyright, and some important topics like farmers, workers, soldiers, and people’s security officers have not been taken seriously.
He said the association should encourage member artists to create more works of a higher quality of ideological message and technique, improve the effectiveness of exhibition activities, and develop fine art critics. At the ceremony, the association gave merit certificates to former leaders of the association and some artists who make active contributions to the sector.