Artists express love of country

More than 100 photos featuring the daily life of locals and soldiers based at sea and on the country's islands are on display in downtown Ha Noi.

The exhibition, titled Viet Nam's Sovereignty over Sea and Islands, includes the most up-to-date images of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands during the ongoing tensions since China illegally deployed the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in Viet Nam's waters.

A photo by journalist Vien Su from Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper featuring a Chinese ship attacking a Vietnamese vessel near the illegal oil rig site is on display at the Viet Nam's Sovereignty over Sea and Islands exhibition.

"Sea, islands and fishermen are popular subjects for our photographers," Vu Khanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Photographers Association told Viet Nam News. "That's why we have plenty of photos to exhibit. I think this collection is our photographers' protest against China's intrusion.

"I think the latest images from Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspapers provide the public with evidence of China's aggression and Viet Nam's desire for peace," he stressed.

However, Khanh said that more photos of offshore fishermen who actually work at sea should be added to confirm Viet Nam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands.

According to Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition Department, they received 300 entries in just four days, 112 of which were chosen for the exhibition.

"The shortlisted photos have certain artistic value and content quality," he said.

"Just a few minutes after the exhibition opened, we received requests from Hung Yen Province and the Viet Nam Centre for Exhibition and Arts to borrow the collection when the exhibition ends. It shows the powerful effect the photos have already had."

Visitor Nguyen Tien Dung said the photos were realistic images of the country's beautiful and rich seas, where fishermen and navy soldiers live and guard Viet Nam's sovereignty.

"I have never felt life on the islands so close," he said.

The exhibition, which was co-organised by the Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition Department, the Viet Nam University of Fine Arts and the Viet Nam Photographers Association, will run at Exhibition House, 29 Hang Bai Street, until June 5.

Artful patriotism

In a separate event, a music video of Viet Nam's national anthem featuring more than 1,000 people was released on Tuesday on youtube.

According to musician Ngo Minh Hoang, who was responsible for mixing the music, the initial idea was to gather performing artists.

"But then a children's choir, war veterans, journalists, white-collar employees, students, actors, models, fashion designers, painters and photographers turned up," he said.

All of them wore t-shirts and ao dai (traditional long dress) with images of the national flag. The video also features beautiful scenes of the nation's seas and islands. Veteran painter Pham Luc announced at the opening ceremony of his ongoing exhibition titled Brilliant May at Exhibition House, 16 Ngo Quyen Street, that he would give VND30 million (US$1,500) to Viet Nam's Coast Guard Force from sales of his paintings.

Photographer Jundat (real name Nguyen Dang Long) plans to make a collection of portraits of Vietnamese and foreign people with the Vietnamese flag in the background, then combine all the portraits into Viet Nam's map.

"More than 300 people of various nationalities have signed up to join the project," Long said.

Anyone interested can visit his studio at 18 Le Truc Street to take photos for the project before the end of next week.