 | Panoramic: Two people look at the 9.6m-long painting Ha Noi – Defence Works and Flowers by Nguyen Doan Son. — VNA/VNS Photos Truong Vi |
 | Riding the wave: The lacquer painting Red River's Wave by Nguyen Thu Thuy is on display at the exhibition. |
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HA NOI — Artists participating in the Ceramic Road mural project have mounted an exhibition entitled Dau An Ha Noi (Ha Noi Millennium Express) in honour of the capital city's 1,000th anniversary in October.
The exhibition displays over 50 works, including ceramics, photography, sculpture, paintings, lacquerware and graphics, expressing the love and pride of the artists for Ha Noi.
The Ceramic Road is the mosaic along Ha Noi's levee road begun in March 2007. The project has attracted 20 Vietnamese and 15 international painters from 10 countries. Around 500 children from Viet Nam and abroad, 50 fine arts students and 100 artisans from traditional pottery villages have joined in completing the project.
The grey cement flood walls along the long levee road fronting the Hong (Red) River have been decorated with colourful painted ceramic mosaics.
"I believe that the Ceramic Road will be a proud hallmark in the minds of Ha Noi people," said painter Pham Viet Hong Lam. "The project will become famous worldwide."
Over 6,000sq.m of ceramic mural has been completed, with the remaining sections to be done soon, said painter Nguyen Thu Thuy, the head of the artists' group.
"We feel pleased with the quality of the Ceramic Road," Thuy said. "Nearly four years passed by with many changes in weather and the environment, but the works have held up well. After it rains and it's been washed clean, the Ceramic Road looks even more beautiful."
In the exhibition, Thuy showcases her experimental process of printing photos of Ha Noi on ceramic. She applied the new technique to print photos on large ceramic pillars.
"I printed photos of Ha Noi from the 19th and 20th centuries and baked them on at 1,2000C," she said. "I was so happy when the photos appeared clearly on the pillars."
Photos and other images are often printed on ceramic cups as souvenirs but are used only indoors.
With her special techniques, Thuy has created pillars that can withstand the elements along the Ceramic Road.
"At the opening ceremony, some ambassadors told me that they wanted to print photos of their countries on ceramic pillars like this," Thuy said.
Among the other participants in the new exhibition are photographers Huu Bao, Le Bich, Dominique de Miscault from France, Consuelo Le Mire from Chile and Xiomara Perez from Panama. Through their photos, visitors to the exhibition can see how people love the road.
A painting entitled Ha Noi - Chien Luy va Hoa (Ha Noi – Defence Works and Flowers) by artist Nguyen Doan Son is also on display. The 2.25-by-9.6m painting took three years to finish and depicts Ha Noi in the winter of 1946.
The exhibition runs through next Monday at the Museum of Fine Arts on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Ha Noi. — VNS