Portrait of a painting village

17:11' 03/07/2007 (GMT+7)

Co Do painters with their easels VietNamNet Bridge – Perhaps no place in Vietnam is as special as Co Do village in the northern province of Ha Tay. Here, farmers whose nails are blackened with dirt can always be seen painting. The village is situated on the bank of the Red River, not far from Trung Ha wharf where the Da and Red rivers intersect. Despite many historical upheavals, Co Do village still retains the simple beauty of a Red River Delta village: tile-roofed houses, bamboo rustling in the wind, immense green fields where a stork can fly, as Vietnamese farmers often say, and wharfs bustling with ships. “Painting is in our blood,” villagers here said with pride. In hamlets, on the streets, near bamboo rows, in longan groves, small kids are often seen drawing. They paint on paper, walls or the ground. Easels are a common sight at Co Do. Easels are put right next to ploughs in the fields since farmers here have the habit of painting whenever they have a break or some sudden inspiration strikes them. They paint what they see in their own village or travel faraway to look for subjects. Some villages “give birth” to several paintings daily. Others have so many that they can fill an ox-cart. There are nearly 800 households with 3,000 residents here. And they all consider painting a daily hobby. So in 2000, when 2 professional painting sessions were opened free to villages, they attracted many people. In some families, all 3 generations are enrolled in these classes. Equipped with basic knowledge of the art, many of these students are now able to earn a living by painting. There are also less official classes delivered to young kids by older generations of painters who were born and grew up professionally in the village. In painter Hoang Tuan Viet’s green orchard, for instance, 15 students from 10 to 15 years of age who dream of becoming painters daily sit drawing at their easels. From these rustic “home-made” classes, many kids have grown up to become art teachers, and many more are studying at art colleges and universities throughout the country. The most famous painter from Co Do is Nguyen Sy Tot, who is widely considered the forefather of painting at Co Do. He graduated from the former Indonchina Fine Arts College (Vietnam University of Fine Arts today), the alma mater of generations of talented artists in the country. Every time he went home, especially in his later life, Sy Tot taught painting to village kids, who drew pictures of chickens, pigs, and bamboo and banana trees with pieces of brick. In remembrance of what he did, last year, the Ha Tay Province People’s Committee inaugurated the Art Museum of Sy Tot and Family, which is now attracting visitors coming every day to see great works like the Monochord’s Notes draft (the final version is being exhibited at the Vietnam Art Museum). Besides Sy Tot, there are younger generations of painters from Co Do who are well known in the professional circle, not to mention amateur painters of all ages. The village also has a painter’s club with 30 members of diverse ages, professions and backgrounds. Every year without fail, the club organises exhibitions showcasing works by these “peasant painters”. And whenever an exhibition takes place, it turns the headquarters of the commune’s People’s Committee into a festive site. Villagers come and say things like, “Oh, this is Mr. Hao’s betel-nut groves” or “These chubby cheeks must be Mrs. Thuy’s boy’s.” “Co Do people have taken the brush for the past 40 years. At present, 16 people from the village are members of the Vietnamese Arts Association and 6 are in the Ha Tay Association of Literature and the Arts. This is a firm foundation to develop a painting village,” said painter/teacher Hoang Tuan Viet. “We’re trying to establish a village painting workshop that will serve training, practice and production purposes and help turn Co Do into a painting brand name,” he added. (Source: Viet Nam Net)