Creative: Children paint together on a giant canvas to express their dream of living on a green planet. — VNS Photo Minh Thu

HA NOI (VNS)  — Bui Hoang Nam, an 11-year-old student in Ha Noi, looked at the tray of colours with concentration and selected suitable clours for his painting of a tropical coconut island.

He was one of 40 students, aged five to 15 years who put together a collection of paintings inspired by sea and islands.

The event was part of a Culture, Tourism and Environment Day held yesterday at the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts at 2 Hoa Lu Street to celebrate World Environment Day.

The event was aimed at raising awareness of environmental protection, especially environment at tourist spots, historical sites and cultural festivals.

After the opening ceremony, the students quickly ran to the painting area and chose brushes for themselves. They were eager to paint on a 4m-long work on canvas titled Green Nation, Green Planet.

Nam said in recent weeks, people spoke a lot about the Spratlys and the Paracels, so he painted these islands.

"I haven't been to any island," he said. "The island in my imagination has many coconut trees and birds," he added.

Nam said he was excited to be working on a big canvas with his friends.

"Each one of us has a small area on the canvas. We can paint anything we want, as long as we follow environmental and landscape topics," he said.

"I think when we finish, the painting will look colourful and strange with different pictures," he added.

"Through the painting, I want to express my dream of living on a peaceful and green planet," he stated.

To mark the occasion, more than 100 paintings by children on the theme of environment, culture and tourism, along with those of the sea and islands were exhibited together with pictures from top photographers, including Na Son, Dang Duc Tue and Do Doan Hoang. The exhibition will run for two days. After the launch of the Environment Day, members of the Central Youth Union will join hands to clean the environment at some historical sites in Ha Noi. — VNS