Placing a monument on the street not only becomes a tourist attraction but also a symbol of gratitude and honour for those who sacrificed and contributed to the Fatherland, especially when linked with true stories in history. The statues are like ‘epic songs’ reminding the younger generation to always remember the great merits of the previous generations.

The sculpture ‘When there is good land, birds will perch’ depicts doves gathering in a nest, symbolizing a young, dynamic and livable city. Photo: D.H.L

Idea from love for the homeland

Located at the My Khe Beach, the statue of ‘Mother Au Co’ is probably familiar to many local residents and tourists when recalling the myth of the Dragon King Lac Long Quan and Mountain Goddess Au Cơ. After their marriage, Au Co gave birth to a sac containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born; this is the origin of the Vietnamese people.

The monument cluster is bright white with the image of a giant egg and the two breasts of a Vietnamese mother. The blocks are simple but meticulously carved, symbolizing fertility and the meaning of history, the origin of the Dragon and Fairy descendants.

What is special is that the ‘Mother Au Co’ statue was made by the native of the homeland of Quang Nam - Da Nang, the famous sculptor Le Cong Thanh (1932-2019). The story goes that the pure white stone blocks were placed in the right position at midnight on June 30, 2007, lying majestically on the East Sea like a legend. Before that moment, at 6:30 p.m. on June 30, 2007, a brilliant rainbow appeared across the sea from Son Tra Peninsula to the Marble Mountains.

In fact, the statue was created by sculptor Le Cong Thanh in the mid-1980s. While some of his foreign friends wanted to enlarge it in bronze to bring back to France or Italy, he believed that the statue could only be erected in the place where he was born. In 2007, he returned to his homeland and surveyed the location, architectural plan, and then planned the construction. Within a month and a half, the ‘Mother Au Co’ statue was completed.

Also born in the Quang Nam - Da Nang land, sculptor Pham Van Hang has many sculptures rich in poetic language. Perhaps that is why when mentioning him, people often think of large works with the stature of monuments on squares and urban streets. With ‘Heroic Mother’ monument, this is a large work of art, formed from the idea of commemorating the heroic mother of Da Nang, Mother Nhu, who, along with 7 brave soldiers of Thanh Loc Dan Ward, Thanh Khe District, laid down their lives for their country's independence in 1969.

To express the image of this brave and indomitable mother, he spent every night thinking with stacks of sketches to find ideas. Once returning to the resilient land of Quang Nam, sculptor Pham Van Hang encountered a skinny mother walking against the wind and rain and stretching out her arms to cover her children.

Therefore, he quickly sketched out the layout for the work ‘Heroic mother’ when his emotions were overflowing. The unique feature of this monument is that the sculptor used collected cannon shells to shape this majestic artwork. Finally, his first large artwork was completed after 18 months of construction and placed right at the gateway to Da Nang with a height of 11.50 m, using up to 1,200 cannon shells.

Reflecting local historical traditions

As a native of the capital city of Ha Noi but being emotionally attached to the land of Quang Nam - Da Nang, sculptor Pham Hong has created typical statues. Outstandingly he made a series of portraits of Uncle Ho such as ‘Viet Nam in my heart’, ‘Uncle Ho on the day of liberation’, which was placed at the Cultural Centre at 84 Hung Vuong, then moved to a city-based military training school.

Currently, on the streets of Da Nang stand two statues ‘Aspiration for peace ’and ‘Mother’s milk’ by sculptor Pham Hong placed on Tran Hung Dao Street.

The statue ‘Aspiration for peace’ shows the desire to bring peace not only to Viet Nam but also to all of humanity as a whole. The statue ‘Mother’s Milk’ uses the image of breast milk in order to express the feelings about mothers during the war who helped, raised and protected revolutionary soldiers; and through the image of a heroic mother, he expressed his love for their homeland, the whole country and desire for peace as well,” sculptor Pham Hong explained.

During the years of resistance wars, the Quang Nam - Da Nang land made many contributions to the cause of national liberation. Perhaps because of that, sculptor Pham Hong always wanted the city to have a contemporary sculpture space that reflects the entire revolutionary tradition of the heroic Quang Nam - Da Nang land, the history of the homeland through statues of famous people and national heroes for many centuries.

When it comes to the historical theme, sculptor Pham Hong has completed a number of works such as ‘The Nui Thanh hero’ and ‘The Victory of Bo Bo’. Especially, he also wanted to realise the idea of creating monuments bearing the image of Hai Van at the namesake pass.

The Hai Van monument is expected to show the image of a sail with a cluster of statues cast in cast iron or steel to express the strong will and heroic spirit of of the Quang Nam - Da Nang people, especially those who made significant contributions to the Fatherland’s revolutionary cause.

With the role of training sculptors and supporting the fine arts activities of Da Nang, Ms. Phan Quynh Huong, the Director of the Da Nang Sculpture Fund, said that, in 2017, the fund donated two statues worth more than VND 1.1 billion to the city, ‘Sea waves’ and ‘Mother's milk’, located at the beginning of the Vo Nguyen Giap - Vo Van Kiet intersection and a park in front of the AZURA building with the support of two sculptors Pham Hong and Oyvin Storbaekken from Norway.

Last year, the Da Nang Sculpture Fund created the work ‘Love of the Sea’ located in the park on Le Van Hien Street, Ngu Hanh Son District. In the coming time, it is hoped that that the municipal government will create favourable conditions to support the fund's development by assigning it with the task of creating sculptures for public display across the city.

It can be seen that placing statues on the streets of Da Nang not only creates beauty for the urban space but also helps local residents and tourists understand more about the historical and cultural traditions of Quang Nam - Da Nang, thereby, arousing love for the homeland among future generations.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by A.THU, P.TRA