Party time: Artists Vo Xuan Huy will soon present an art exhibition at the Vinh Moc war tunnels in the central province of Quang Tri. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

QUANG TRI (VNS)_— A local artist will soon bring a new image and art exhibition to the Vinh Moc guerrilla war tunnel system in the central province of Quang Tri.

Vo Xuan Huy intends to put 2,000 colourful baloons and his audiences in the tunnels and then push the ballons through the tunnels' exit and into the sky.

The tunnel system has three storeys, which lies 12m, 15m and 22m under the earth's surface.

The artist will also place photos in the passageways so that the public has to look, and even step on them as they pass.

"I designed the installation that way so people will have the feeling that the sky is under their feet," he explained, "It implies that the tunnel system runs so deep that it runs through another skyline."

Huy said the aim of the art project is to make contemporary art move closer to the public, especially the youth, and connect it with a historic war site.

"Art will lure visitors to the historic place," he said.

The art project will open at 9am, May 26, and continue until June 6.

Huy is a lecturer at Hue Fine Arts College. He has had nine solo exhibitions and joined dozens of group exhibitions and art events in Viet Nam, as well as in Thailand, France and Singapore. Also, his paintings have been purchased in the UK, the US, France, the Netherlands and Singapore.

In 2013, the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum included his painting, entitled Vong Tu Chien Truong X (An Echo from Battle X), among its collection of contemporary paintings.

Vinh Moc tunnel had been an important shelter for local residents seeking to escape air strikes in the north by the American air force between 1965 and 1972.

The province endured the dropping of more than one half million tonnes of bombs during those years. — VNS