Renowned painter Bui Xuan Phai (Photo courtesy of the late artist’s family)
Hanoi (VNA) – Nominations for the “Bui Xuan Phai: For Love of Hanoi” Awards 2019 contain nostalgia for a Hanoi in a time long gone by.
The organising board of the 12th edition of the “Bui Xuan Phai: For Love of Hanoi” Awards recently approved 10 final nominations.
This year, the award continues its journey to seek, discover and honour creators and works, activities and ideas connected to the development of Hanoi, as well as profound sentiment for the capital city.
Reflecting Hanoi lifestyle
The nominations include works, ideas and activities which honour Hanoi and contribute to the city’s development, namely the books entitled “Mot thoi Hanoi hat”, “Kim Lien mot thuo” and “Hanoi quan xa pho phuong”.
The Idea Prize and Job Prize feature the efforts to help the “Hanoi Post Office” building near Hoan Kiem Lake regain its old name, activities by Hanoi authorities and the local community to promote the image of the capital as a city of peace, the determination to revive To Lich River of Hanoi authorities and locals, and a project on building the Formula 1 race course and hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix in Hanoi for the first time in April 2020, among others.
A representative of the organising board said as they keep a close watch on the activities “for love of Hanoi” in a year (from September 2018 to July 2019). A list of more than 40 individuals, works, ideas and activities meeting the awards’ criteria has been completed for submission to the jury.
This year, the jury consists of poet Bang Viet, former chairman of the Hanoi Literature and Arts Association, who will be head of the jury; journalist Ho Quang Loi, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association; historian and National Assembly deputy Duong Trung Quoc, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Historical Science; journalist Ngo Ha Thai, former Deputy General Director of the Vietnam News Agency; Prof. Dr. architect Hoang Dao Kinh; and journalist Le Xuan Thanh, Editor-in-Chief of the The Thao & Van Hoa newspaper.
The awards were initiated in 2008 by the Vietnam News Agency’s The Thao & Van Hoa daily and Bui Xuan Phai’s family.
Along with the Grand Prize, the most important award granted to an individual who has devoted his or her life to the development of Hanoi and has a career that is strongly connected to the capital, the award has three other categories: Idea Prize, Job Prize, and Work Prize, each honouring a winner.
Jury members put nominations under the microscope. (Photo by organising board)
Nostalgia for Hanoi in a time long gone by
According to the organising board, each category has several outstanding nominations. Head of the jury, poet Bang Viet said it is interesting that nostalgia is a highlight of the 2019 nominations.
“Kim Lien mot thuo” by Vu Cong Chien - a nomination for the Work Prize - is a case in point. Chien’s writing brings readers back to Kim Lien quarter, the first high-quality apartment complex built in Hanoi in 1959, in its first years. The book not only helps the old generations recall their beautiful childhood, but also delivers a simple and warm image of culture, lifestyle, thought and demeanour of Hanoi citizens to the younger generations.
In addition to novels, proses, notes and memoirs, the jury also pays attention to scientific research which requires great efforts. Those archival works re-create part of cultural and art-related activities of Hanoian, and are filled with the spirit of the millennial city.
(Photo: VietnamPlus) Besides, a Hanoi sketching group receives a nomination for having striven to keep memories of the capital city through their works. Established in September 2016, it comprises of more than 3,000 members, both Vietnamese and foreigners, in all age groups and jobs.
The group often arranges field visits to various locations in Hanoi to sketch with different themes.
From those trips, members will gain an understanding of Hanoi’s history and culture from the past to the present and share interesting corners of the city. At the end of January, they released a sketch book titled “Hanoi’s old tenements: Sketches and Memories”. The members wish to keep images of those tenements which many generations in the city have fond memories of.
The award ceremony is set to take place later this month.
“Bui Xuan Phai: For Love of Hanoi” Awards 2019’s nominations
Grand Prize: one nomination, to be announced
Work Prize:
1. “Mot thoi Hanoi hat” by Nguyen Truong Quy, which introduces Hanoi’s lifestyle in the 1947-1954 period through Doan Chuan’s compostions;
2. “Kim Lien mot thuo” by Vu Cong Chien – a memory of Hanoi’s apartments in the past;
3. “Hanoi quan xa pho phuong” by Uong Trieu, which depicts the capital city’s cuisine.
Job Prize:
1. A Hanoi sketching group that has striven to keep memories of the capital city through their works;
2. A series of activities by Hanoi authorities and the local community to promote the image of the capital as a city of peace;
3. The efforts to help the “Hanoi Post Office” building next to Hoan Kiem Lake regain its old name.
Idea Prize:
1. The determination to revive To Lich River of Hanoi authorities and locals;
2. A project on building the Formula 1 race course and hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix in Hanoi for the first time in April 2020;
3. A training-research project on giving Hanoi’s traditional wet markets a facelift led by architect Steve Davies./.
