French author-illustrator Jean-Charles Sarrazin at his exhibition featuring Hanoi in 1987 and 1988 and the originals of his three books now published in Vietnamese (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Sketches and photos of Hanoiby French author-illustrator Jean-Charles Sarrazin from 1987 and 1988 are ondisplay in Hanoi, accompanied by the originals of his three books recentlytranslated into Vietnamese.
In the exhibition Between France and Vietnam,Sarrazin presents his views of daily life in the country’s capital when hestudied at Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts thanks to a scholarshipgranted by the French government. He was then the first French student to beoffered a scholarship by the French government to study in Vietnam afterunification.
“You can see in my photos the trams and cyclosand bikes of Hanoi. I chose them to display at the exhibition in Hanoi becauseI was surprised to see that the trams totally disappeared from the city,” hesaid.
“I used to travel everywhere in the region, withmy handbook and my camera and my bike. I am happy to come back to Vietnam thistime as this country strongly marked my life. I’ll revisit my old friends andteachers.”
Sketch of Kim Lien pagoda by Jean-Charles Sarrazin in 1988 On May 6, he met the public in the city andpresented his three newly published books in Vietnamese at l’Espace, the FrenchCultural Centre.
His latest children book is inspired by atraditional Vietnamese tale entitled Tri Khon Ta Day (The Intelligence). Hedemonstrates to his reader through a fable that everyone has his ownintelligence, provided one knows how to use it.
He also organised workshops in Hanoi and HCMCity to teach young Vietnamese children to draw.
Jean-Charles Sarrazin is an illustrator of the Ecole des Loisirs, a well-knownpublisher of children’s books and young adult books. He teaches drawing,writing and illustrating children’s stories.
“I was 20 when I first discovered Vietnam in1987. It was in 1986, at the end of my studies in France that I met the poetand Minister of Culture Cu Huy Can. I told him of my desire to pursue mystudies abroad after my diploma at the National Superior Applied Arts School"Olivier de Serres" in Paris,” he recalls.
“I wrote a project about the exchange of artisticknowledge which I sent to Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts. My idea wasto learn traditional techniques such as lacquer, wood engraving and painting onsilk, arts specific to Vietnam.
In exchange, I proposed to give a course to thepupils of the school on the "arts of communication" in Europe.
The university agreed to receive him. “InFrance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to create a scholarship for theoccasion. It was a political event. The first scholarship after 40 years for aFrench student wishing to continue his studies in Vietnam,” he recalls.
It was an exciting year for him professionally,but also personally. He met great artists such as Bui Xuan Phai and Buu Chi.After he went back to France, with the help of Nguyen Thu, the then director ofthe Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts, he developed an exchangeprogramme between the fine art universities in Paris and Hanoi.
“I met young teachers like Trinh Tuan during mystay at the university or Tran Trong Vu, then a young teacher at the VietnamUniversity of Fine Arts. With my bicycle, I accompanied them during theirvisits to the countryside, the temples, and the traditional festivals, drawingand photographing by their side.”
The exhibition runs until May 15 at l’Espace,the French cultural Centre, located at 24 Trang Tien Street. — VNA
VNA
