Nhan Dan Online- Pham Van Truong, a agraduate from Hanoi Industrial Fine Arts College won the first prize of the Performance Art Talent Prize held by the Embassy of Denmark on October 25.
Truong won the prize for his work “Question Marks” with the message “Perhaps if the question marks existed before the universe, and question mark for you and me… He was also given US $ 3,000. He won the prize from the voting from the audiences right after the performance with 119 votes out of 337 votes, leaving other far behind.
Eight performance art pieces in the final represented diverse performance art styles developed in Vietnam, either by individual or in group, either more traditional or more contemporary. The art works touch upon subject-matters covering a wide range from the general nature of movement, human pain and despair, manmade natural disasters and the limits of the human body.
“Tonight, performance art has received the attention it deserves, and there is no doubt in my mind that performance art in Vietnam will have strong influence on the Vietnamese art scene in the years to come” Peter Lysholt Hansen, The Danish Ambassador to Vietnam expressed as he handed the talent prize award over Pham Van Truong.
The final night saw the performance of eight art pieces by Nguyen Van He, Le Quy Anh Hao, Pham Van Truong, Nguyen Huy An, Le Van Son, Pham Huy Thong, Tran Huynh Trieu An, Le Thi Minh Nguyet. They all are students or graduates from art colleges from Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. They are selected among 30 others since the contest was launched three months ago.
First introduced in Vietnam art scene in the mid 90s, in recent years, performance art has inspired more and more interests even though it is a relatively new art form to local public. The first Performance Art Festival ‘Dom Dom’ in 2006 was sponsored by Danish Vietnamese Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF).
The CDEF talent prize for young Vietnamese artist is organized by the Embassy of Denmark to support the cultural activities in Vietnam. The talent prize is given annually and aims to nurture young talents in various fields of art.
