HCM City — An open-air site for sculptures, more focus on the Fine Arts Institute and the construction of material workshops were among projects recommended at a fine arts conference in HCM City yesterday.

Experts also discussed the preservation and development of traditional fine arts which painter and researcher Nguyen Quan said were widely dispersed.

Quan said they needed to be gathered together and preserved in order to prevent them from being destroyed or taken out of the country.

He added the nation should bring in laws relating to the restoration of fine arts works in order to prevent bad restorations.

HCM City's University of Fine Arts professor Nguyen Xuan Tien said there were 3,000 artists working in the fine arts industry, 500 of them sculptors.

"However, the sculptors have not been able to create beautiful works despite their big efforts and important costs they spent on," Tien said.

The country should build a big, open-air site far from the city where sculptors could display their works.

Some experts said more focus should be put on the Institute for Fine Arts Research which had modern infrastructure and qualified experts.

They also said thought should be given to construction of three fine arts materials workshop in Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City.

Vi Tien Thanh, head of the Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition Department, said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had asked the department to plan development of the fine arts sector until 2020 and to submit it to the Prime Minister.

The meeting was organised by the Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in co-operation with the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association. — VNS