PUBLIC ART – HANOI’S CREATIVE CULTURAL SPACE
On October 4th and 5th, Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports in collaboration with Architecture Magazine – Vietnam Association of Architects and United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) organized a series of seminars and trainings on “Public art – Public creative cultural space for the sustainable development of Hanoi”.
Activities towards the Creative Design Festival 2022 and the Hanoi Public Art Design Contest 2022.
Phung Hung Mosaic Street: Public Art Space
The event is an opportunity to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and improve the capacity of stakeholders in the design, planning, operation and management of public cultural and creative spaces and public art; encouraging the formation of creative and innovative ideas…
During the seminar on October 4th, participants discussed the role of public art in the development of cultural industries and public creative cultural spaces associated with sustainable development of urban areas; building, operating and managing public creative cultural spaces.
Architect Le Phuoc Anh, Hanoi University of Architecture, said: Square is the most common definition for public space in the world, but in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular, most squares act more like a traffic island than a convergence of socio-cultural exchange activities, with the identity of the place and the spirit of the place.
According to PGS. Dr. Pham Quynh Phuong, Hanoi National University: “Public space is especially important for cultural life, especially for cramped and stuffy urban areas, this place acts as “healing” for mental health. Therefore, whether they have a small area or a large scale, these spaces need to be created to become real cultural spaces, a cultural school that nurtures the soul of the community, contributing to creating a good and humane living city; including the role of public art.”
The series of seminars and trainings on “Public art – Public creative cultural space for the sustainable development of Hanoi”
Affirming that Hanoi is entering the blooming period of art creation for public spaces, with outstanding public projects and works, such as: Ceramic street, blooming electrical cabinets, ceramic mirror houses, thinking about playgrounds in the street …; the formation of a series of subway stations or parks, flower gardens are in the area of renovation, planning also are the potential suggestions for experimental art creations, Dr. Emmanuel Cerise, Director of the Paris Region International Cooperation Support Agency in Vietnam, expressed that preserving heritage does not necessarily have to stick to existing values; we can give heritage a new value, new life. In addition, Mr. Emmanuel Cerise also noted that it is necessary to focus on sustainability for buildings, because public spaces are especially outdoors, subject to many impacts on time and climate.
According to Mr. Emmanuel Cerise, in recent years, public spaces have been formed in Hanoi, such as the ceramic road project. However, much of the public space lacks sustainability. For example, projects to paint patterns on the brick floor of Trang Tien Street that only lasted a few months were damaged or the condition of the ceramic road was peeling.
Sharing the same view, artist Nguyen The Son – curator of 2 Phung Hung Mosaic projects and Phuc Tan art project shared: The project itself is not called public art, they are only landscape renovation; Therefore, the concept of public art or public space is not legitimate.
According to experts, the responsibility of urban governments is very important, decisive to the success of construction planning and investment. That content, concretized by orientations and solutions such as: Urban governments need to integrate artistic design planning for public spaces into zoning and urban design projects. It is necessary to build a network of innovative centers to districts with diverse, flexible and effective investment, management, exploitation and operation models, combined with strengthening public-private cooperation.
Citing the experience of creating effective creative spaces in the area, Vice Chairman of Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee Nguyen Quoc Hoan took examples of Hoan Kiem Lake walking street and its vicinity, Phung Hung fresco space, Phuc Tan public art space …; At the same time, affirming, the participation of the community plays an important role, determining the success of the projects.
On October 5th, with the theme of the specificity of places in public art creation, delegates were trained on designing, implementing, maintaining and managing public artworks for young art design talents in Hanoi.