People’s Artist Ngo Manh Lan has contributed seven animated films to the exhibition: ‘Speaking Mynah Bird’, ‘Warm Clothes’, ‘The Story of Saint Giong’, ‘Thang Long Dragon’, ‘Silurus and Toad’, ‘The Miracle’ and ‘Kitty’, which won the Silver Pelican Award at the Rumania International Film Festival in 1966.
His pencil sketches capturing the fighting and working spirit of the militia in the Thanh Tri suburban district of Hanoi during the national resistance wars against the French colonialists and US imperialists are also on show at the exhibition.
“Through my artwork, I would like to introduce French people to Vietnamese fine arts during the country’s defence, construction and renewal”, said Lan at the exhibition opening.
His son, Ngo Duc Lam, is showing 29 oil paintings depicting the tranquility of rural villages in Vietnam, especially in the northern region.
“I hope to portray Vietnamese people in rural areas and introduce international foreign friends to the beauty of the country’s culture, particularly in the north”, he says.
Born in Hanoi in 1934, Ngo Manh Lan entered the first revolutionary fine arts training course taught by the renowned Vietnamese painter To Ngoc Van at the Viet Bac military base between 1950 to 1954.
He continued his studies at the Department of Animation at the Soviet Union National University of Cinematography in Moscow from 1956-1962, then returned to Vietnam and worked at the Vietnam Film Studio. He is considered one of the founders of Vietnamese animation and has produced 17 films so far. He was awarded the title of ‘People’s Artist’ in 1997.
Ngo Duc Lam, born in 1976, is a graduate of the Vietnam Fine Arts University and a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association. He specialises in landscape oil paintings. He recently had a solo exhibition entitled ‘My Homeland’ at the Exhibition House in Hanoi in December 2011.