Music composer Phu Quang wins the Grand Prize of the 13th Bui Xuan Phai – For Love of Hanoi Awards (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Music composer Phu Quang has won the Grand Prize of the 13th Bui Xuan Phai – For Love of Hanoi Awards for his renowned and immortal songs about the capital city.
The annual awards, initiated by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s "The thao va Van hoa" (Sports and Culture) daily, was part of the activities towards the 1,010th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi and the centenary of Painter Bui Xuan Phai, a founder of modern art in Vietnam. The award ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi on October 7.
On the occasion, VNA Deputy General Director Vu Viet Trang and guests cut the ribbon to open an exhibition entitled “Bui Xuan Phai – A century of love for Hanoi” by Tran Chinh Nghia with about 30 paintings of Phai’s portraits and another exhibition of Bui Xuan Phai’s paintings and sketches collected by Painter Van Duong Thanh.
Speaking at the event, Trang said that despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper kept organising the humane awards.
The award ceremony this year is of major significance as many meaningful activities have been organised to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the famous painter, she stressed.
Trang spoke highly of the efforts by the organising board to detect new figures to honour.
Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy affirmed that the annual Bui Xuan Phai – For Love of Hanoi Awards is of great significance to honour artworks and deeds for the love of Hanoi, thus contributing to building locals’ cultural life.
Hanoi authorities always support the meaningful awards, he added.
A student takes a look at Bui Xuan Phai photos and paintings (Photo: VNA) According to the jury, Phu Quang, born in 1949, is the youngest to have won the prize so far with songs about Hanoi. He also partnered with the awards as a member of the jury from its first edition.
This year’s Work Prize was granted to Marko Nikolic, 33, from Serbia with the novel “Pho Nha Tho” (Church Street). Through a romantic love story, Nikolic depicted typical identity of Hanoi with both oriental and western features.
The Job Prize went to the Phuc Tan public art project carried out by the People’s Committee of Hoan Kiem district, through which domestic and foreign artists turned a garbage collection point into an art road and sent out a message of environment protection via the use of recycled items.
A group from Ha Dong district also earned the prize with the collection and donation of about 150 royal decrees to localities, more than 80 of which were for temples in Hanoi.
Presenting Idea Prize to the competition for design and construction of milestone Km0 by the Hoan Kiem Lake (Photo: VNA) The Idea Prize was awarded to the competition for design and construction of milestone Km0 by the Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of the city. The contest was held by the Vietnam Association of Architects' Architecture Magazine under the auspices of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.
Bui Xuan Phai was born in Hoai Duc district on the outskirts of the capital on September 1, 1920. Phai made his name by creating art on Hanoi's Old Quarter.
He was among the last artists to graduate from the Indochina Fine Arts College in 1941-1945. As well as his famed oil-on-canvas paintings, he also reaped success with other themes including cheo (traditional opera) and portraits. He used many materials such as canvas, paper, wood and even old newspapers due to a lack of material.
Phai won various awards at National Fine Arts Exhibitions and Hanoi Fine Arts Exhibitions many times. His illustrations on cheo won the book design prize at the Leipzig Book Fair in 1982.
He died in 1988 in Hanoi. In 1996, he was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize in literature and arts./.
