HA NOI — The Bui Xuan Phai – For the Love of Ha Noi Prize awards ceremony was held yesterday in the capital, by the Bui Xuan Phai Foundation and The Thao & Van Hoa ( Sport & Culture) newspaper.
The prize, to be an annual event, was created to award outstanding artists, authors and scholars who reside in Ha Noi, and base their work on the beauty of Ha Noi.
As a taste of things to come, five excellence awards for 2008 were also given out at the ceremony by the panel of judges.The first work, by Hoang Quoc Hai, is a four-volume historical novel about the Tran dysnasty, set over a 175-year period. The novel reflects the author’s profound love of the people and the land of Thang Long-Ha Noi.
The second award went to painter Van Tho’s, for his work about the Hong(Red) River.
The third award went to ceramic artist Nguyen Thu Thuy and her colleagues for designing a six-km long ceramic mural. The design features different sections retracing the history of Viet Nam, and if realised will run along the Hong River from Au Co Avenue to Tran Khanh Du Road.
The fourth award was given to Hoang Cong Khanh and Quynh Mai, for the play titled Cung Phi Diem Bich which was performed at the Viet Nam Cai Luong Theatre (Reformed Theatre). Hoang Cong Khanh wrote the script and Quynh Mai directed.
The last work awarded was the major historical mural Ha Noi – Chien Luy va Hoa ( Ha Noi’s Defence Works and Flowers) by painter Doan Son. The mural depicts images from the first days of the war of resistance against the French in 1946 in Ha Noi.
The Bui Xuan Phai Foundation, named after a wellknown painter, was launched on the 20th anniversary of his death on June 20. Phai was wellknown for his paintings of Ha Noi’s Old Quarter. His work can be found in many galleries around the world. In 1996, the painter posthumously received the Ho Chi Minh Prize, the highest national award for arts and letters. — VNS
