Foreign sculptors bring their tools back to Hue

HA NOI — Artists from eight countries came to the former imperial capital of Viet Nam on Monday to begin crafting works for Hue’s Third International Sculpture Symposium.

The sculpture camp and exhibition opened one month earlier than the biennial Hue Festival scheduled this year for June 12.

The symposium opened in Phu Xuan Park, 300m away from Ngo Mon Gate in the Forbidden Purple City at which the festivals opening ceremony will be held.

"The location of the symposium exhibition site is ideal because it is located at the heart of the festival," said sculptor Nguyen Hien, deputy-head of the organising board.

Hien said the sculptors will receive more money this year than they had in the past. The Ford and Rockefeller foundations from the US donated a total of US$120,000 and the Ministry of Culture and Information funded an additional VND50 million.

There will be 31 sculptors participating in this year’s event, down from 34 in 2002.

The sculptors from the Netherlands, Japan, the UK and China have taken part in the event previously. French, Canadian and Iranian artists are to participate for the first time.

Eleven Vietnamese artists will also participate. Sculptures have chosen to work in stone, stainless steel, bronze, aluminium, and for the first time this year, cast-iron.

Hien said, 18 large stone blocks had already been brought to Phu Xuan Park.

The executive board has also ordered 500 stones blocks which are currently 1km away from Hue.

Forty-two stone masons from Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces, 20 welders from Hue and 30 students from the Hue Fine Arts College have been invited to the symposium to assist the artists.

Sculptures will be on display through June 15 at the International Statue Park, to be built at the foot of Ngu Binh Mount in Hue, Hien said. — VNS