Feedback from Ceramic Road’s author

After some people and experts criticised the Ceramic Road project, Dan Tri online newspaper talked with journalist Nguyen Thu Thuy, who came up with the idea for the project.
Some people and experts have recently criticised the Ceramic Road in some aspects. What do you think about their comments?
Criticisms mainly focus on logos of sponsors. We have received the comments and we will fix logos to make them more suitable to paintings. We are completely pleased about the artistic value of the Ceramic Road.
We have an art council including leading artists and they had evaluated paintings before they were built on the wall. Many professional art foundations have sponsored this project and their experts also assessed paintings before they granted money.
We are very proud to have assistance from many art foundations, embassies and international artists. If this was an amateur project, how could it attract so many people?
Many people wonder why the road doesn’t depict historical events, for example historical battles in Thang Long?
The dike wall is not very high and it is broken into two parts so it is very difficult to make historical paintings with characters. Moreover, the art council agreed at the beginning that we should not depict historical battles with characters because the Ceramic Road is a public artwork, not a painting in the museum which people can stand to admire carefully.
Public spaces should not be decorated by complicated paintings but gently decorative ones to not distract passers-by on the road. Historical paintings must have enormous lay-outs while the dike wall is very long. We can’t build the wall higher to display historical paintings because we have been complained against for raising the wall by 60cm to the current level. Moreover, we have calculated that the present height of the wall is sufficient.
For that length and height of the dike wall, only decorative paintings are suitable.
Without historical events and specific characters, how can this road show the history of Thang Long – Hanoi?
Perhaps it is old-fashioned to tell history with statues and characters. Patterns are also materials for use to tell about history on that wall. The language of patterns and designs can show the imprints of culture, art and spiritual lives of each age. Patterns and designs have carried historical messages.
Some people spoke up against the discordant contents of the Ceramic Road. What do you say to this?
We have a plan that was approved by the art council and the Hanoi People’s Committee in March 2009 and all sponsors have to obey this comprehensive plan.
The plan is the fruit of over one year of a group of artists and sculptors. Accordingly, the road will include many sections with different topics. For example, the A1 section features patterns from the Dong Son civilisation to the Ly, Tran, Le and Nguyen dynasties. The A2 section displays brocade patterns and architectural patterns of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The A3 section is for paintings by Vietnamese and foreign children with the theme “I love Hanoi, the city for peace”. The A4 section is for contemporary paintings by Vietnamese and foreign artists.
Another question is about the endurance of the work. What do you think about the durability of the Ceramic Road?
The material to make these paintings was burnt at 1200oC so they will last for a long time. The paintings will be clean and look like brand new after rains. The glue is produced by modern technology, which is often used to stick big pieces of stone at 20-30 storey buildings.
I think this work will look new for at least 100 years and its lifespan can be thousands of years.
What do you think about the work’s impacts on passers-by?
Two years ago when the project was still on paper, the dike wall along the Red River was a black cement-made line with nonsense pictures. When the first piece of ceramic painting was built on Yen Phu Road, I noticed that local people’s awareness of hygiene improved remarkably. They are glad to have the painting near their houses. Some young couples take photos with the painting.
I’m happy that the project has helped change the view and artists are encouraged by the public’s compliments. When we were working at the section in Tan Ap, some people who live near the Bac Co slope asked us when would the project come to their location. It seems that they “envied” the places which had the paintings already.