Artist Phan Ngoc Khue donates a set of hundreds of years old Hang Trong comics to the Vietnamese Women's Museum

Since the beginning of the 16th century, the comic book Zhaojun Gonghu has been known as 49 poems in Nom style in Tang Dynasty style, telling the story of Wang Zhaojun's life.

On the afternoon of March 18, the Vietnam Women's Museum and artist Phan Ngoc Khue jointly organized the opening of the exhibition "Hang Trong Comics".

Attending the event were representatives of the Vietnam Women's Union, the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, museums, relics, universities, cultural researchers, artists and press agencies.

Họa sĩ Phan Ngọc Khuê trao tặng bộ tranh truyện Hàng Trống hàng trăm năm tuổi cho Bảo tàng Phụ nữ Việt Nam

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition “Hang Trong comics”. (Photo: Le Nhan)

Speaking at the opening of the event, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum, affirmed: "For the ancient Hanoians, there was an indispensable spiritual food and elegant hobby, which was enjoying Hang Trong folk paintings."

According to her, each painting displayed at this exhibition exudes liveliness, sophistication, and deep meaning in both content and form, representing the unique folk art of Vietnam.

The Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum emphasized that, in the face of the decline, risk of loss and difficult challenges facing folk paintings in life, the event is a good opportunity for the public to admire and feel more clearly the beauty and value of a famous painting genre of Hanoi.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum, delivered the opening speech of the exhibition. (Photo: Phuong Thao)

Sharing about his journey of collecting Hang Trong folk paintings, artist Phan Ngoc Khue said that wherever he went, he asked people if they had any sources of paintings or if they had preserved any folk paintings, because this type of painting is popular among the people.

According to him, paintings are made of paper and with the hot and humid climate of our country, it is very difficult to preserve them for a long time. Therefore, collecting and preserving them is extremely important.

Introducing the comic book series Chieu Quan Cong Ho donated to the Vietnam Women's Museum, the artist said: "Since the beginning of the 16th century, this story has been known through 49 Nom poems in the Tang Dynasty style, recounting the life of Vuong Chieu Quan. Praising loyal and heroic women, the work promotes the education of noble personalities that every society needs to cultivate and build for people."

Artist Phan Ngoc Khue (third from right) with representatives of the Vietnam Women's Museum and guests cut the ribbon to inaugurate the exhibition. (Photo: Le Nhan)

The artist added that the current set of paintings was given to him by Ms. Truong Thi Bao, owner of the famous Thanh An painting shop in Hanoi in the 1980s. Through the process of restoring the paintings, he was able to have the paintings to introduce and display at the museum.

In addition, within the framework of the exhibition "Hang Trong Paintings" also introduces to the public 10 sets of four paintings with famous stories such as: Son Hau, Nhi Do Mai, Tu Dan, Han So Tranh Hung...

The exhibition is open to the public from March 18-31 at the Vietnamese Women's Museum, 36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Comic book series "Zhaojun Pays Tribute to the Lake". (Photo: Phuong Thao)

Artist Phan Ngoc Khue, a researcher of Vietnamese ethnic art, is known for his lifelong passion for studying folk paintings, especially Hang Trong folk paintings. He has collected and treasured the wonderful works of Hang Trong comics.

With the Hang Trong paintings displayed at this exhibition, the artist has contributed to keeping alive the Hang Trong folk painting genre of Vietnam.

The exhibition continues to spread the love and awareness of preserving the national cultural heritage of painter Phan Ngoc Khue in particular and of the Vietnam Women's Museum in general to the community.

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