Projects mark Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary

Businesses and individuals nationwide continue to present their unique present to the capital city of Hanoi in celebration of the city’s 1,000 th anniversary this October. A ceramic mosaic mural along the Red River dike in Hanoi is scheduled to complete on September 25, on time for the anniversary on October 10.
Painter Nguyen Thu Thuy, the brains of the project, said the 3,950m mural has been recognised in the Guinness Book of the World Records as the world’s longest ceramic picture.
Experts of the Guinness World Record are scheduled to visit Vietnam from October 2-5 to present the certificate.
Working since 2008, domestic and foreign artists have completed 21 stretches of the ceramic road which features the history, beautiful sites and famous pottery villages of Vietnam.
As part of Hanoi’s 1,000 th anniversary celebrations, the largest personal collection of Hang Trong folk paintings, with 149 painting, by Pham Duc Si opened in the VietArt Centre, Hanoi on September 9.
Si has spent almost 10 years to search for the paintings which are unique to Hanoi but are falling into obsolescence, including dozens of paintings based on Chinese legends and paintings for hanging on the altar.
On this occasion, the Ninh Binh provincial Business Association and Dong Thanh Craft Import and Export Company on September 9 co-organised an inauguration ceremony of enormous embroidery.
The 35m × 3.5m embroidery, weighing 250kg, using Italian wool and around 180kg of thread, has been completed after one year.
The embroidery contains images of significant events in the history of Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh province), which was the capital under the reign of the Dinh, Le and Ly dynasties.
Also, in celebration of the capital’s anniversary, Dong Ngac commune, Tu Liem district, Hanoi on September 8 started the casting of a two-ton incense burner, which is to be put in front of the monument of King Ly Thai To in central Hanoi.
The lotus-form bronze burner, measuring 1.2m high and with a circumference of 1.4 m, costs nearly one billion VND, funded by donations from members of the Thang Long Antiques Association.
It is expected to complete on September 25.