HCM CITY — Two bronze sculptures of Thang Long dragons that will be auctioned on television next month have been brought to HCM City as part of a programme to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.
Sculptors at the Dong Son Fine Arts Joint-Stock Company in Ha Noi made the artworks, which will be displayed in HCM City as part of the Thang Long Dragons and the Southern Land and Thang Long Land-Thousand Years of Nostalgia programmes. The date of the exhibition has not been announced.
The two dragons coded 0001 and 1,000 will be sold by auction during a television programme to raise funds for the Viet Nam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin on September 26.
The TV programme, Rong Thieng Ngan Nam (Holy Dragons of Thousand Years), will be broadcast from the Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Ha Noi.
The Dong Son Fine Arts company said the numbers 0001 and 1,000 attached to the two dragons are linked to two special historic events, the year King Ly Thai To issued a royal proclamation to move the capital from Hoa Lu in present day Ninh Binh Province to Thang Long now Ha Noi, and the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long.
Some of the rest of the 998 items are being auctioned via email rongthanglong@gmail.com or on www.rongthanglong.vn until August 30, while others will be given as gifts during the anniversary events, Le Dieu Huong, director of the company, said.
The Thang Long dragons were cast in pure bronze, with two imported ruby eyes, and were based on the dragon allegedly seen by King Ly Thai To. Each product weighs 3-3.5kg, and is numbered from 1 to 1,000.
The company expects to complete all of the dragon sculptures by early September. — VNS