Light sculpture performed at reception for President Putin
Artist Bui Van Tu performed the light sculpture "Great Russia" on a very special stage in his artistic career.
It was a performance within the framework of the art program, taking place after a friendly exchange between President To Lam, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the Vietnam - Russia Friendship Association and generations of former Vietnamese students in Russia.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chose Tu's work as a gift for Russian President Putin. At the reception, President To Lam, on behalf of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, presented the work to the Russian leader.
3 minutes of sublime performance
As the lights dimmed on the stage, artist Bui Van Tu, dressed in a modernized ao dai, introduced a light sculpture called “Great Russia.” The sculpture featured the image of a war horse neighing loudly and galloping majestically under the canopy of a birch forest.
As the light shines on the sculpture, the shadows of the birch forest emerge and blend together to form an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a young man.
In particular, when artist Bui Van Tu continued to rotate the birch tree so that the light would shine at the right angle, the image of the young man transformed into a portrait of the current head of state of Russia.
Through the 3-minute performance, the 9x artist outlined the entire journey and career of the special President of Russia. This special gift shows respect and the desire to strengthen good relations, demonstrating the cultural exchange and lasting friendship between Vietnam and Russia.
With the art of light sculpture, the presence of shapes and shadows conveys the message of close friendship. This is also the first element the young artist researched when coming up with ideas for the gift for the head of Russia.
Moreover, he delicately chose to express the work on a block of driftwood, sculpting the corner of a birch forest - the symbolic tree of Russia. This image also reminds us of Uncle Ho's teaching: "For the benefit of ten years, we must plant trees. For the benefit of a hundred years, we must cultivate people."
In particular, the image of a horse neighing majestically and powerfully represents courage, determination, loyalty and pride. Because of these sacred meanings, Mr. Tu decided to express the precious details on the light sculpture.
Artist Bui Van Tu also revealed that this was a gift that was kept secret until the last minute. Only when it was performed on stage did people know the content of the work, so they were very surprised and excited to enjoy it.
Three months ago, Mr. Tu was contacted by the agencies, discussed and asked to design a meaningful gift for the Russian President. Receiving the "assignment", he painstakingly researched the country and people of Russia to come up with ideas for this special gift.
“When I received the invitation, I was very happy, proud and honored because the gift of great diplomatic significance was entrusted to the hands of our young people. Along with that, I was also quite pressured in preparing a meaningful and interesting work of art,” said Mr. Tu.
The 9x artist started to plan, prepare the content, create the light sculpture and submit it to the Reception Department for approval. All preparation steps have the highest requirement of confidentiality.
Among the gift options proposed, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chose the light sculpture. Upon receiving this information, Mr. Tu once again reminded himself to prepare well for his performance.
“After being selected, on the afternoon of June 19, before the event, President To Lam came to review the performance of this work. This was the final step for the official performance on stage, when welcoming President Putin,” the young artist recounted.
On stage, in front of high-ranking leaders, Mr. Tu could not avoid the pressure and anxiety about his performance. However, when he was in the center of all eyes, he regained his composure, showed his confidence, and displayed the beauty of his work of art. The young artist received endless applause from the audience.
To ensure the neatness and completion of this light sculpture performance, Mr. Tu has experience in designing light sculptures in a previous major program chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
The founder of light sculpture
Artist Bui Van Tu is considered the pioneer in researching, naming, and developing light sculpture in Vietnam. To date, he has more than 100 works in 4 collections.
However, few people know that he started out as a civil engineer. Thanks to this seemingly dry and rigid job, he came up with the idea and developed the form of light sculpture.
Mr. Tu was born in Ninh Binh, a farmer's son. During his youth, he always took advantage of his free time to work part-time in the construction field he studied. Once, when he finished building a rockery and saw the shadow of the rockery on the wall, it looked like a bear, so he wondered why he couldn't turn that shadow into a work of art.
Through the combination of sculpture and light, the artist can create unique images from the shadow of the object.
At that time, he thought he had never seen any work of art that danced with shadows, except for hand dances. That concern urged him to research and develop light sculptures. To sustain his life, he still worked as a construction engineer, while researching, learning, and exploring more about this new field.
“When I was a construction engineer, there was always a corner in the construction site command for me to do light sculptures. This was like a hobby of mine. Instead of entertaining myself with games like everyone else, I chose this subject,” Tu laughed.
When he started to form his ideas about techniques, lighting art structures, and customer portraits, he started his own business. His family strongly opposed this decision.
Mr. Tu recalls: “At that time, the most common saying I heard was “You are a stable engineer, why pursue something that has no concept and no one knows about?”.
The young artist also said that many people thought he was crazy, doing unrealistic and fanciful things. During the 3 years of working as an engineer and doing research, he had to worry about making ends meet, "patching up" to survive.
It was not until 2020 that he was able to establish a company, focusing full-time on light sculpture. “Now, I can confirm that the path I have pursued, the art of light sculpture, has been successful. This art form not only generates income for me, but also provides jobs for more than 50 people in the company,” Mr. Tu proudly said.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/mon-qua-tong-bi-thu-tang-tong-thong-putin-duoc-giu-kin-den-phut-chot-20240621145502804.htm
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