Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Elder Nguyen Ba Dam won the Grand Prize for his books on Ha Noi at the 11th Bui Xuan Phai Awards ceremony held yesterday at the Vietnam News Agency.
Born in 1922 in Moc Village, Thanh Xuan District, Ha Noi, Dam is a retired history teacher. He has published two books entitled Thuo Ay Ha Noi (Ha Noi Moment in Time) and Ha Noi Nhung Cau Chuyen Ke Tu Cuoi The Ky 19-20 (Ha Noi - Stories from the Period of the 19th - 20th Centuries). The books are highly regarded by Ha Noi researchers and readers because the simple and compact writing style and it tells many unknown stories about Ha Noi Capital.
He is writing another book about Ha Noi which will be published by the end of this year.
He is also an antique collector and has a passion for ancient coins and relics related to Vietnamese artists. He is one of the close friends of painter Phai. He is the model that the painter portrayed the most, depicting him in more than 240 portraits.
"My husband sketched Dam a lot," said the late painter’s wife, Nguyen Thi Sinh. "He drew Dam with different kinds of materials such as matchbox or cover of a book. He knew Dam’s face very well even though he often drew without his friend present."
Dam beat out five other nominees who have contributed greatly to Ha Noi during their career.
"The award expresses the younger generation’s gratitude to Dam who has maintained Ha Noi’s memory over nearly one century," said poet Bang Viet, chairman of the jury panel. "He has Ha Noi’s soul".
The awards organisation board also presented three other awards: the Work Prize, Idea Prize and Job Prize.
Poet Phan Vu and former French ambassador to Ha Noi Jean Noel Poirier won the Work Prize. Vu’s poetry Ta Con Em (Ha Noi - My Love) was published by the Writers Association Publishing House this year. It is an epic written in 1972, comprising more than 440 sentences. However, only 21 sentences were previously widely known because composer Phu Quang set them to music.
Vu is also director, script writer and painter. Due to health conditions, Vu could not come to the award ceremony to receive the prize.
In a clip sent to the organisation from France, the former ambassador said that he was very honoured to be awarded the noble recognition. "I regret that I will unable to be in Ha Noi to receive the prize.
His documentary Mon Hanoi (My Ha Noi) was launched last October on the occasion of the Ha Noi Capital Liberation Day celebration. In the 52-minute documentary, the former diplomat takes the audience with him on a journey to discover Ha Noi – a city that evokes his hometown of Paris.
Ha Noi’s bustling streets, street vendors, colonial-era buildings showing the lingering influence of French architecture, old style communal residences and hidden corners: all have been presented vividly in the documentary.
The Prize for Great Work done in Ha Noi went to the Phung Hung Street mural painting project, a joint effort by the Hoan Kiem People’s Committee, the Korea Foundation and UN-Habitat. The mural painting street was inaugurated in February. Nineteen paintings were made by Vietnamese and South Korean painters.
"It is a great honour for the Korea Foundation," said Hyung Min Woo, the foundation’s representative. "I know that this is an important award of Ha Noi. We could not have carried out the project without the Hoan Kiem People’s Committee; painters and local residents. We will not stop and we will live up to the significance of the award."
Hanoian Quach Van Dich also won the Job Prize for his donation of two ancient anchors to Ha Noi Museum. He bought the two anchors at the end 1999 at price of more than 10 taels of gold. The anchors were assessed by a group of archaeologists from Japan, France and Canada in 2008. They concluded that the anchors may have been made in the 15th century.
The Prize For Great Discovery was presented to Associate Professor Nguyen Van Huy for his proposal to conserve the Vuon Chuoi archeological site. The need to preserve the archaeological site, believed to be Ha Noi’s first human settlement, has become more urgent as construction is set to begin on a large project in Kim Chung Commune, Hoai Duc District, where the relic is located.
The Bui Xuan Phai Awards - For The Love of Ha Noi have been awarded annually by The Thao & Van Hoa (Culture & Sport) daily since 2008 to honour the contributions of individuals and organisations to society, culture and the arts in Ha Noi.
The awards are named after renowned painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920-88) whose iconic works of the capital city achieved global fame. — VNS