A giant coconut shell mosaic depictingGeneral Vo Nguyen Giap and his victory at Dien Bien Phu has been placedon display in time to celebrate the hero’s upcoming 99 th birthday onAugust 25.
After a two-day exhibition at the Ho ChiMinh City Exhibition Hall on Le Thanh Ton street , the painting will bebrought to Quang Binh, Gen. Giap’s native province, for an officialexhibition in co-ordination with several other events in the provincenext month.
The 2.4m by 10.8m artwork, made from 9,000 coconut shells, 100 litresof glue and some other parts from coconut trees, was finished over aforty-day period by a group of ten people under the supervision ofartist Vo Quy Quoc.
The work Anh Hung Dien Bien (Heros of Dien Bien) features the battle atDien Bien Phu which liberated the Vietnamese from the French in 1954,and an image of General Giap, the brilliant commander-in-chief in thebattle.
The 26-year-old artist, who hails from the same village in Quang Binhprovince as Giap, said the work was a way to express his respect forthe hero as well as celebrate the spirit of the Vietnamese people inthe cause of their struggle for national independence.
The mosaic tells the story of Giap and the battle in mural form. Quocspent more than a year researching and collecting materials for thegiant artwork.
He said that he spent around 1 billion VND on materials and wages tohis team and has donated the finished mosaic to Quang Binh province.
When it is displayed in the province next month, it will join acollection of around 40 coconut shell paintings to be displayed. Thenew work is being proposed as the record-holder for the longest coconutshell painting in Vietnam . Quoc has two previous works listed in theVietnam Book of Records.
The first, Vietnam Que Huong Toi (Vietnam My Motherland), made in 2007,and 2008’s Bai Ca Ket Doan (Song of Solidarity), feature President HoChi Minh conducting a choir representing all 54 of the nation’s ethnicgroups.
Quoc has been making coconut shell art since he was a kid, with hisfirst public installation, a mosaic of Hoi An town, completed in 2002.He has studied at the Hue Fine Arts College./.
After a two-day exhibition at the Ho ChiMinh City Exhibition Hall on Le Thanh Ton street , the painting will bebrought to Quang Binh, Gen. Giap’s native province, for an officialexhibition in co-ordination with several other events in the provincenext month.
The 2.4m by 10.8m artwork, made from 9,000 coconut shells, 100 litresof glue and some other parts from coconut trees, was finished over aforty-day period by a group of ten people under the supervision ofartist Vo Quy Quoc.
The work Anh Hung Dien Bien (Heros of Dien Bien) features the battle atDien Bien Phu which liberated the Vietnamese from the French in 1954,and an image of General Giap, the brilliant commander-in-chief in thebattle.
The 26-year-old artist, who hails from the same village in Quang Binhprovince as Giap, said the work was a way to express his respect forthe hero as well as celebrate the spirit of the Vietnamese people inthe cause of their struggle for national independence.
The mosaic tells the story of Giap and the battle in mural form. Quocspent more than a year researching and collecting materials for thegiant artwork.
He said that he spent around 1 billion VND on materials and wages tohis team and has donated the finished mosaic to Quang Binh province.
When it is displayed in the province next month, it will join acollection of around 40 coconut shell paintings to be displayed. Thenew work is being proposed as the record-holder for the longest coconutshell painting in Vietnam . Quoc has two previous works listed in theVietnam Book of Records.
The first, Vietnam Que Huong Toi (Vietnam My Motherland), made in 2007,and 2008’s Bai Ca Ket Doan (Song of Solidarity), feature President HoChi Minh conducting a choir representing all 54 of the nation’s ethnicgroups.
Quoc has been making coconut shell art since he was a kid, with hisfirst public installation, a mosaic of Hoi An town, completed in 2002.He has studied at the Hue Fine Arts College./.
