]ssJ:DF_PPUzEJa3޾UYӢ[17_T#fLӨHH~Er@@qzPbNx9O;xؐq}6*1Z*T4: ȋӿo<{\:4?p`ZE6]g~jD&cdk#*A0C%]mwn{YۚeO{=n5Nz@RJ%NTOh!*\ޟGa4ubݻP5QE CtS]OV`.U14!8 6MFaulٺ@,=Vr8poH'-}Ie5Tn>#mE*KʶeZ} Z)W+|:|\!1jT]bW#6%"xt-w0nKXP LIh#fL[p!~!i&mncM‡f+PrmiH8zCގA< ,(\ad=m1#}=(7ѮB¾Ë=PϪp_"6U%A+EM&ofR <OfI4`%5pG%TGk|;T zi#߹0M: a}~3z<e_;AM޾ qvQ9Tgn$ ]ٖY~P|)̰ŏ'Q];`/@ac=8o*>M 1b1Kb;U|sŘ % zX1Rd0^e ' dw5]X8\+ľk~m6FYV?l✿6SȤ) ꩍE1+8xsJLϙ% *4W\C} 1PqPct]['Ũ[*AN?vJV-\O(-܌a/KH:WqqP75+wOG12pFf=UgǔRI.M#<\ ԄE%BR؍x3<8>'v@.e3@L%d5y<=y OP6sB14Yݴ3v̠EV|\J1Ӧ\Wy# X! -6}Xa ±Bںnٯu>J~LfbkpD g!0Ϡ4j?=s2dLŴ=Ib ?Ʒk_I]^k!:Ǩ05?-tAp]8[[h)W q+B@DB~DHnTZJ<^i M"-y)ʩYخ]7]ܳ =7T vo.\:*Fdsw~si~sY8<ɧGoiS]+ETAtY+zs9ְ q_{m=Lpc}5ySPGʁSWHxM 1u@q enμJE3P@>*>X X&K<5_nvAcRI*wcfc*^!5Xx<AO>de*I( r~,':`X"*]F;פ!m3{]ｏr:H;j 2bi' ݙw7|O_o8#)a4mxك Jv<7#3uNh~F"&gn4 4paZϢcbO|&eQd)3{Oe-\ e/f0(OKfM3|4 w$buQ-ӄn>,$fm4i5PZ'A[8]Vc]L ="E^RaBr'4!Zg=߼*vWÉxPg cbp`'#P|qڑ (βb:'t ?J?"E$'fe\IsqO}Kt [ #W4m|t E-/GKp^gEc7@K8bA:p12 @^?:zewG񼒽?8H#3g\+|/R!:6U]0!e9f Y74~pdA `6V`"6 _nRLnuVA+T+$ć*hz9m]K[~0gKPg S&R[u é렢G n ֑p9FA^R%qkrCQotհcazfTMA҄%a-=&aZz[~3 vwrfo[$( 4;%$n׌GVj+;ˈFSuB08 vqp1lۋ 步Rd܅mID\G[ɝ#+z©px0 + Q\m.=?zHZ#A}D_[A$mRD"_pu Oٮv%xY ?L8+V|_fgz&6W\;z]zF&虔 uǧ,Un<]I$RMFRor}&ޛjv@=1qܩ,-;xiڹV ic;(SrϒѾԞM'X\ԂORK}pӿ9 W^U Ӭ}?s&%8/jEUgL@Ǒq<8se.]qIڌpi2t4/kxe1gMϣb:AM`TGN+Xh]n ȷ&mɾҏ6G^_FC!#0ӨfMsmRbESkݻO`X_-yr<|Dw3N5<^|`^ d:T.#wD ;Yc#n-C&",{QcA*XQ}ԉ&`bno*QQa5+6.23QH1v GZIiE*C8UeB' ,,?ye"bEf#`ASϤTU ݹtb%8y[B.mMaʠD}ˎy -Tb6$ތ/TC0NpU i?ؤ ` svPEB5&2,)Ǽ eVW]l1ٺ[ F"}2.m0CPhuX@+WSO,@()>3Pw7?!otp}ž{{ t'UG)L4~~qY>|Sb&̀~ tWk ANKO8<Ĩ($&5/Ać{E, kH x֡H3ia9,< dgB%:v=\%>k;@*3MF0Q ;aD4sh\|4U<2OPzNL^v:`w? ѩwA"vs in the Vietnamese villages were more concerned with creating art forms which were uniquely their own. When the colonial scholars were researching local art traditions, they often dismissed village art as "backward" and folk art as "primitive." It is not until the past decade that Vietnamese scholars have begun to explore the significance of village art in Vietnamese art history.

In the period following independence from the French in 1954, and the founding of the Vietnamese nation, artists and intellectuals focused their energies on constructing a national cultural heritage and promoting Vietnamese national art. This included the building of the National Fine Arts Museum in 1966 the Institute for Art Historical Research shortly after, and the publication of various treatises on national sentiments in Vietnamese art. President Ho Chi Minh himself advocated furthering research in archaeology and art history in order to prove indigenous elements in Vietnamese culture and make the Vietnamese people proud of their artistic and cultural heritage.

Some of leaders in the movement for the "nationalization" of Vietnamese art, of the creation of art in support of the revolution, were Nguyen Do Cung, who founded the National Fine Arts Museum, To Ngoc Van, who founded the Resistance Arts School and the painter Tran Van Can. Most of the literature I art produced in the decade following independence promoted patriotic ideals in art and notions generally linked with socialist realism. During these years, abstract art was forbidden from view, and art movements [inked with 'Western capitalism," such as surrealism and conceptualism, were discouraged. In the opinion the revolutionaries of the time, art was to serve the people, and the idea of art for art's sake was to he rejected. Art historical writings were shaped accordingly, with texts explaining the achievements of the Vietnamese people and the spirit of the Vietnamese nation. More than providing new information, many of these texts, in fact merely expanded on the research undertaken by the French. They began with the Dong ;on period and continued through the various dynasties proving that the Vietnamese people constantly maintained a national identity in the making of art.

In the early eighties, one self-taught art critic, painter and art historian, Nguyen Quan, educated in he West, challenged the narrow view of Vietnamese "propagandistic" art. When Quan became general secretary of the Vietnamese Association of Artists in 1981, he attempted to introduce other art forms to his colleagues and add such fields as Art theory and European Modem Art to the curriculum taught at the l-Hanoi School of Fine Arts where he had become a lecturer. Though Quan received criticism from his elders at first, he is today considered responsible for providing Vietnamese art with a new vocabulary and freeing it from its narrow definition of merely serving the revolution. Quan collaborated with one of his students Phan Cam Thuong, to produce two of the most significant contributions to the history of Vietnamese art since Bezacier, "Art of the Viet," and " Art in the Vietnamese village," both published by the Fine Arts Publishing house in 1990 and 1991 where Quan was also Chief Editor at that time .

The publication of these two books made Quan and Thuong the most recognized authorities on Vietnamese art history today. Although far from being the definitive or complete texts on Vietnamese art, their combination of in depth research and critical thinking has made a lasting contribution towards understanding Vietnamese art history. Unlike their forefathers, in these two hooks, Quan and Thuong do not promote national identity in Vietnamese art- Their task is more modest and therefore perhaps more accurate and scholarly. Rather than glorify the achievements of the Vietnamese people, they instead are searching for what is distinctly Vietnamese in Vietnamese art. By expanding ideas about the origins of art making in the villages, they have found the way to explain motifs and patterns in Vietnamese artistic imagery and cultural thinking without resorting to comparisons or contradictions with China or the West.

In spite of the fact that Quan and Thuong have made significant leads in the writing of art history, it remains that Vietnam still lacks true art historians. Quan is considered an " art critic" more than an art Historian, and Thuong's knowledge of art history is somewhat limited in time and space. He lacks knowledge of Western art movements and his expertise comprises the ancient art of Vietnam, 10th to 18th century temples and sculpture. There are practically no authorities on Western art in Vietnam? no recognized specialist on the history of colonial architecture or the presence of French artists in the country. Few art critics are able to make valuable interpretations or commentary on the work of younger artists. Art criticism is often reduced to description or personal sentiments towards an artist. Perhaps the reason for these gaps is that art history is still in the making, and not enough time has elapsed since art critics and art historians such as Quan and Thuong began to steer away from discussing nationalistic trends in art, and it will take some time before art is looked at in its own right and art critics begin to evaluate art for its own sake rather than as an appendage to national and social discourse.

Bibliography:

Bezacier, Louis:
L'Art du Vietnam, Paris: Edition de l'Union Franaise, 1955.
Nguyen Quan and Phan Cam Thuong:
My Thuat cua Nguoi Viet (The Art of the Viet). Hanoi: Fine Arts Publishing House (Nha Xuat Ban My Thuat), 1990.
Nguyen Quan and Phan Cam Thuong:
My Thuat o Lang (Art in the Village). Hanoi: Fine Arts Publishing House (Nha Xuat Ban My Thuat), 1991.