In a flash, HaNoi’s Ceramic Mosaic Mural as seen from the taxi, October 2010, iPhone photos © 2010 by ybonesy, all rights reserved.
Entering the city of Hanoi last week, I immediately notice that the ceramic wall is done. This four-kilometer-long work of art, which has been in progress for the three years since I started visiting here, runs along the city’s Red River dyke system. Earlier this month, just in time for last week’s celebration of Hanoi’s 1000th birthday, the completed wall officially became the world’s largest ceramic mosaic, as recognized by Guinness World Records.
The idea for a ceramic wall along Hanoi’s Red River came from young journalist and painter Nguyen Thu Thuy. About the world record, she said:
We are very proud to have successfully gained a Guinness World Record achievement. This project reflects the vibrancy and complexity of Vietnam’s capital city, and is the ideal way to commemorate Hanoi’s 1,000 year anniversary. The integration of international artists and children’s art depict many different moods, cultures, eras of history and styles, and they have all been created with the greatest craftsmanship. We hope that this achievement brings pride to Hanoi and that the people of the city enjoy the mural’s beauty for many years to come.
The collective public work of art—Vietnam’s first—began in 2007. The mural is organized in 21 sections and was designed by 35 professional artists from ten countries and supported by hundreds of artisans from traditional ceramic villages in Vietnam, Vietnamese and other children, and students from fine arts colleges throughout the country. The murals depicts Vietnam’s landscape and peoples, and is said to be a visual narration of the country’s history.
The mural embodies the country’s rich tradition in ceramics, of which I barely scratched the surface during a day of sightseeing to the town of Bat Trang. The entire village, it seemed, was dedicated to the making and selling of gorgeous plates, cups, vases, sculptures—you name it, they made it.
More than anything, Hanoi’s Ceramic Mosaic wall reminded me of the color and buzz and energy of Hanoi and all of Vietnam.
You can read and see more about the wall, including video clips showing artists working on the mural, in the official Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural website. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural blog includes many interesting photos, such as the original Photoshop artist renderings of the mural back when it was only a concept. That site also talks about the artist and staff of the project. Finally, this Travel Blog entry includes close-up photos of the wall in progress.
thank you so much for sharing this, ybonesy.
cc
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Ah, C.C., you would love this given your craft and talent. I wish I had better photos. Really is an amazing feat.
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It is really amazing. Have a view of a small bit of it from my hotel balcony.
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Beautiful and very impressive. Why don’t we ever hear about things like this in US news?
I’ve learned so much from your vietnam posts! Thanks fir giving me these peeks into this fascinating culture. Because of you, Vietnam is now on my must-see list
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ybonesy, welcome home! This is a pretty cool art project. I checked out the link with the section — artist tiles around the world. Loved the tiles from young kids that were submitted, too. Would love to see this but am doubtful I will ever get to this part of the world. So I’ll have to experience it through your eyes. We live in such a young country. Can you imagine a city here being 1000 years old. That’s really something to celebrate.
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Hey, pirano, cool, what a nice thing to be able to see, although I would imagine you get some traffic noise if your hotel is on or near that particular road.
Jude, I know, there could be so many human interest stories to replace all the ones that fuel fears. BTW, I love your avatar picture. My goodness, you look like a professional acrobat! Did you see Pink when she did her act for one of the music awards?
QM, thanks, it’s so good to be home. Fall has arrived with a vengeance; in fact, it’s looking almost like winter is arriving right now. Hanoi was so gorgeous on this trip. You have to hit the city at the right time. Too hot and sticky and smoggy (from China pollution) in the summer. It can get pretty darned cool in winter (Dec/Jan). But October, wow. We did have some rainy days but also one of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen in Vietnam.
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Very impressive. I think the idea of/for the wall is inspiring, along with the fact that it is such a “communal” effort. Checking out the website for more pics!
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Yeah, and if you look through the history of the wall, you’ll see that it had been an eyesore for so long. It’s just such a brilliant idea, given that the wall was there, given the artistic tradition of Hanoi (I always think of Hanoi as being the artistic, bohemian city, while Saigon is the business, glitzy city). And the fact that Vietnam has this ceramics-making tradition in various villages. And that the wall lent itself to telling a narrative history of the city, a literal timeline.
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Do you think there would be website coverage of it somewhere?
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The best websites I found, C.C., were the three links that I put at the bottom. There is a lot on the web about it, if you do a search on “Hanoi ceramic mural,” or anything like that, but many of the mentions are brief or poorly written or just cut-and-paste from somewhere else. I think the Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural blog (link at the bottom of the post) seems to be the one produced by the team that oversaw the mural. I could be wrong, but that was my sense.
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Fellow blogger Gunnar Berg sent me the link to this ceramic mosaic mural on the side of the grocery store in Grand Marias, MN. Being in MN, I thought QM might enjoy seeing it, too. (Scroll to the bottom.)
http://oakwoodlife.blogspot.com/2008/07/grand-marias-in-town.html
Thanks for sharing, Gunnar!
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I love the idea of reconceptualizing “wall” and how a wall can actually bring people together as a connecting device, rather than something that only divides, defends or blocks others out. I imagine too, that if we spent more time artistically revisioning our inner psychological walls, something new could also emerge in what it means to be a human being.
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Wow, teresa, what a profound insight. Love it.
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Thank you for sharing your travels. I would love to see Viet Nam and her art.
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