The Artist Yumiko Ono (who wears ao dai) introduces her work to viewers
Telling spiritual and cultural stories
One month after coming to Hue to learn and create art, Janneke Kornet, the artist from the Netherlands had her first showcase of the works of spiritual culture in Hue through workshops at New Space Arts Foundation from February 1 to 5.
All the works mention worship belief and are composed of materials familiar to Hue people. The most impressive piece is the installation "Hue" with incense sticks arranged in the sand in the winding image of the Perfume River. To make this work, as soon as she arrived in Hue, Janneke Kornet knocked on the door of each house, even went through the trash to ask for ... incense sticks which remained after burning.
Another work called "Thien Y A Na" was arranged by Janneke Kornet from the wood of agarwood tree and the incense sticks she collected at Hon Chen Palace, where the Holy Mother Thien Y A Na is worshiped. Janneke Kornet also painted 2 paintings of Thien Y A Na with the images of clouds and sea foam.
With each work, Janneke Kornet would often tell related stories and convey her ideas about art. According to her research from the legend, the Holy Mother Thien Y A Na was born from clouds and sea foam but her body was made from agarwood tree. This was the inspiration for her works.
Creating with silk
On the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Rat, the Hue public also enjoyed a contemporary installation exhibition entitled "Organic matter" by Yumiko Ono, the artist from Japan, at Diem Phung Thi Art Center.
In addition to the paintings, it is worth noting that 4 installation works were created by Yumiko Ono from traditional Vietnamese silk. This art of silk fabric installation was inspired by Metabolism, a Japanese architectural movement between the late 50s and early 70s of the 20th century.
By creating soft architectures, Yumiko Ono tried to create a realm between the real and the unreal. With soft sculptures combined from many architectural modules, Yumiko Ono created a dialogue, giving viewers a new art space.
As introduced by Yumiko Ono, Metabolism architecture creates a truly living building, an architecture that can be replaced and expanded. Architecture is no longer the lifeless structures. There is harmony between people and architecture, and there is life, landscape, music...
Coming to Vietnam to attend her brother’s wedding, Janneke Kornet has registered for an internship at the New Space Arts Foundation. Ms. Yumiko Ono came to Hue to exhibit her works due to her connections with curator Hoang Thi Hien, a Hue local studying in Russia. They all have in common an interest in Hue's traditional culture and can find creative ideas here.
Janneke Kornet excitedly shared: “What I find most interesting when I come to Hue is the spiritual culture, which is deep and important in everyone's daily life. I am really impressed with the image of incense everywhere in the city, it is a testament to the activities of the world linked to the gods. This is very unique, completely different from life in the Netherlands and I am inspired by these ideas”.
The exhibition in Hue is just the beginning. Janneke Kornet said that when she returns to the Netherlands, she will bring incense remainders and sand to continue building ideas for exhibitions in the Netherlands.
According to Yumiko Ono, there are many buildings with similar architecture to Metabolism in Vietnam. The University of Education - Hue University is such an architectural type. Yumiko Ono believes that her exhibition will be close to Vietnamese people and will send the message of preserving ancient architectural values.
Learning about traditional Vietnamese materials, Yumiko Ono chose to experiment with silk, because it represents Vietnamese material. So, it will be familiar to the viewers, and has a special connection with Metabolism, a kind of organic architecture.
Yumiko Ono shared: “I like silk because of its softness. Before choosing silk, I researched and learned that silk is a special handicraft industry in Vietnam. I chose this material to create pieces of art as a special gift to the Vietnamese public in general and Hue in particular ”.
Story and photo: TRANG HIEN