From the first frescos in 2013 under the Da Nang mural village project located in a small alley at No.75 on Nguyen Van Linh, one of the city’s busiest downtown streets, until now, nearly a decade later, community art has been shaped and developed closer to the city public.

An artist is completing a work on a mural street in residential group No.12 of Man Thai Ward, Son Tra District, Da Nang. Photo: DOAN NGOC THINH

The colours of life…

In August 2022, the mural road project in residential group No.12, Man Thai Ward, Son Tra District officially opened. Thanks to that, the old residential area, which is hundreds of years old, becomes more lively and fresh. Instead of the old walls, there are images of 20 colourful paintings with a total length of nearly 400m and an area of more than 1,200m². This mural street is one of the newest community art projects covering on a large scale and creating a buzz.

Before that, Da Nang also had impressive community art products such as the Da Nang mural village in an alley at No.75, Nguyen Van Linh Street, the art space under the Rong (Dragon) Bridge on Tran Hung Dao Sstreet, and art works at some schools in the mountainous communes of Hoa Phu and Hoa Bac in Hoa Vang District.

Each mural painting in residential group No.12 of Man Thai Ward is a work of art, inspired by the beauty in everyday life as well as in the labour of coastal people, from rituals and folk festivals dating from ancient times and still being passed down through generations.

Paintings were created by professional and amateur artists from the city's Fine Arts Association. As part of the group that came up with the idea and implemented the Man Thai mural, artist Ho Dinh Nam Kha, the Chief of Office of the Da Nang Union of Literature and Art Associations, revealed that this is just the beginning of Phase 1 of a mural project.

In the next stage, the research and implementation team will try to perfect the model, aiming for a complete “mural village” with spaces for the display of souvenir and culinary products.

Located adjacent to the Whale Temple, a famous spiritual spot in Son Tra District, the formation of a mural street in residential group No.12 will contribute to turning this place into a destination to promote and promote the cultural values of coastal areas with building a civilized urban cultural lifestyle, creating an ideal destination and attracting tourists.

Since its opening, the mural street in residential group No. 12 of Man Thai Ward has welcomed many local residents and tourists for enjoyment. Carefully looking at the large painting at the entrance to the mural road, Mr. Do Huu Quy, 35, Quang Nam Province said that he took advantage of the weekend to take his family to Da Nang to have fun and see the mural road in residential residential group No. 12, Man Thai Ward. “The paintings are beautifully drawn. My children were interested in admiring them.”, said Mr. Quy said excitedly.

From the mural street in residential group 12, Man Thai Ward, running towards the foot of Dragon Bridge, Tran Hung Dao Street, you will encounter another community art community, which are 3D, large-sized murals with the theme ‘Son Tra - One love’.

Using blue mixed with white as the main colour, each painting partly recreates the Son Tra landscape with the natural beauty of the Son Tra Peninsula and the ocean. Painter Phan Thanh Hai, the Head of the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Da Nang College of Culture and Arts, ‘chief architect’of the ‘Son Tra- One Love’ project, said that it is expected to be at the earliest, in 2024. The Faculty of Fine Arts continues to renew and maintain this community art complex.

Besides, we will draw a new drawing and add an image of the red-shanked douc langur. “We expect that when completed, this will be like a miniature Son Tra. The work also sends to the community the message of environmental protection, exploitation and sustainable development, contributing to tourism development and promoting the image of Son Tra District and Da Nang in general.”, artist Phan Thanh Hai expressed.

Nearly a decade has passed since the first large-scale community art project was born in an alley at No.75, Nguyen Van Linh Street, thanks to the talented hands of artists as well as the attention of all levels of industry. In the city, community art spaces such as murals have appeared more and more. The natural beauty of rivers - mountains – sea, along with the depth of history and culture of Da Nang, has become fertile material for artists to incorporate into each community art product and encourage them to be creative to produce quality works.

In addition to projects and painting products, in recent times, community art activities in the city have also created new spaces such as the annual Lunar New Year flower street on Bach Dang Street, the art space for installing stone statues, hats, pinwheels, and it would be a mistake if not to mention the statue garden space at the APEC Park.

The flow of culture and art associated with folk...

Looking back on the past journey, artist Phan Thanh Hai confided that, since 2015, the Faculty of Fine Arts has been coming up with ideas for street art activities or more broadly, community art activities. In 2016, under the direction of the Board of Directors of Da Nang College of Culture and Arts, the Faculty drafted and coordinated with the school's practice centre to develop a 3D, large-sized mural project with the themed ‘Son Tra - One love’ for submission to competent licensing agencies.

For many years, the Da Nang College of Culture and Arts has been the cradle of training, providing most of the workforce in the field of fine arts for the city as well as other localities in the Central Viet Nam and Central Highlands  such as the teachers of Fine Arts at secondary schools, primary schools and preschools, cultural centres. They themselves, with their years of hard work on the podium or the main force implementing community art projects and products, have made an important contribution to bringing knowledge and nurturing the artistic source from the initial steps at school. Many generations of the school's art students are the core of community art projects in the city.

Going beyond ordinary art, community art projects and products implemented recently in the city have become important elements, contributing to awakening and changing the living environment and awareness of a part of the people in contributing to building a cultural and civilized lifestyle, community art spaces have contributed to improving artistic and cultural aesthetics for people.

Artist Than Trong Dung, the Chairman of the Da Nang Fine Arts Association, said that reality shows that not every public art project, after being successful and changing people's consciousness, can be maintained forever.

For example, the Da Nang mural village project in alley No.75 Nguyen Van Linh Street, after initially making a splash, has now deteriorated. In order for a public art project to be sustainable, according to artist Than Trong Dung, when starting an idea to create a public art space, the artist needs to know that community art products are close, easy to interact with the public but still needs commitment of support from the people and local authorities.

Besides the above-mentioned factors, according to artist Ho Dinh Nam Kha, another concern when implementing community art projects and products is the funding for materials and artists. “Artists participating in public art projects rely on the spirit of volunteering to contribute their efforts, while the ability to mobilise funds from local sponsors is still difficult. If a project or a community art product wants to last a long time, it must pay attention to annual maintenance to avoid deterioration. Therefore, in order for community art to develop, bring aesthetic values and enhance people's cultural and artistic appreciation, there needs to be mechanisms and policies to free up resources for artistic works community art", artist Nam Kha expressed.

Reporting by KHANH HOA- Translating by A.THU