Norwegian sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken, in his early seventies, has established a special attachment to Da Nang’s Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village for nearly two decades. He has always nurtured his intentions of developing sculpture in this site into a type of arts, not just a local handicraft industry.

Norwegian sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken beside a highly impressive sculpture named 'Song Bien’ (Seawaves)

The foreign talented sculptor is about to leave the city on certain health grounds, but for him, this beloved city with friendly and nice inhabitants will remain deep in his mind, wherever he is, for the rest of his life,

Mr Oyvin Storbaekken paid his first visit to the Village in 2001.

At that time, he was very impressed by the locally-carved statues of Buddha, Jesus, Shiva, dolphins, lions, dragons and tigers.  Pieces of rocks weighing several tonnes were carved into sculptures by the talented stone sculptors.

He developed a strong passion for local stone sculptures, and decided to settle down in the city to develop the Da Nang Sculpture Project, which aims to guide local sculptors in the use of modern carving techniques. 

Over the past 17 years, Mr Storbaekken has invited many renowned sculptors worldwide to participate in the project in order to promote exchanges of stone carving experience.  This has led on to locally-carved sculptures being exported to northern European markets.

Mr Storbaekken graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Arts, and he has over 20 years’ experience in working as a lecturer at the Academy and at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. 

The strong-willed man has done his utmost to appeal for Norwegian organisations to give financial aid, worth 16.5 billion VND in total, to the Da Nang project. 

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation fully funded the project during the 2003 - 2006 period, whilst the Norwegian Church Aid and the Nordic Assistance to Viet Nam sponsored the 2007 - 2009 period. 

Norwegian sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken getting indulged in his work

Following approval by the municipal People’s Committee, the city’s Sculpture Fund was officially established in June 2009.

The fund operates on a non-profit basis for the sake of the development of the local culture and sculpture arts.

In addition to groups of visitors to the city, a total of over 100 sculptors and artisans from foreign countries, mainly in European countries, have visited the Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village since 2003.

Amongst the visitors to the venue, 40 sculptors from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Australia and other countries have completed their sculptures in the city’s stone carving village. 

The most remarkable sculptures include ‘Banh Rang Cong Nghiep’ (Industrial Gear), ‘Guong Mat Am Ban’ (Negative Face), ‘Doi Mat’ (Eyes), ‘Chay’ (Flowing) and ‘Song Anh Sang’ (Light Waves). 

These above arts works have helped to advertise the image of the city’s stone carving village to sculpture-lovers around the world.

Mr Oyvin Storbaekken said he hopes that more female sculptors would attend training courses under the Da Nang Sculpture Project.

Before leaving Da Nang, the Norwegian sculptor have already instructed his outstanding trainees to create a highly impressive sculpture named 'Song Bien’ (Seawaves), which is considered to be a farewell gift, and more importantly, a sincere thank for Da Nang.

Alongside, ‘Song Bien’, another work entitled ‘Dong Sua Me’ (Mother's milk) by local sculptor Pham Hong, will be displayed on busy coastal route Vo Nguyen Giap by late this month.