Day 46 - day 2 in Ho Chi Minh City - fine arts - Trial by fire: new bike, first tour, first time in Asia

December 10, 2024

Day 46 - day 2 in Ho Chi Minh City - fine arts

I started the day in the usual way with a banh my and then caught Winston for a coffee. I must say that I found Highland Coffee a great disappointment. This chain, started by a Vietnamese-American is all over the place so I'm not disappointed about trying it. The coffee was poor for 79,000 D a cup - five times yesterday's street coffee. But, as I said to Winston, I don't know which country I'm in; I could be anywhere. The old rule applies - chains are for pulling!

After coffee we walked the couple of km to the Museum of Fine Arts, making a few photos along the way.

The tiny stools, often pink, that one sees wherever there's street food in Vietnam.

Orange wall with chequered tiles and plastic-ware.

On our way, we happened upon the Mariamman Hindu Temple and so paid a visit.

Statues of various deities circle the walls. Immediately, I was reminded of the complexity of Hinduism. I'll never get my head around it and don't need to. I'll enjoy their temples and leave it at that.

The name of the temple itself gives a clue because Mariamman is a Hindu goddess associated with rain and fertility.

And so it was, off to the Museum of Fine Arts, with a badminton court in its central courtyard.

There were a good number of works, many of which I enjoyed. I show a few here, interspersed with shots of and from the building. So, if you find yourself in Saigon, I'd recommend a visit.

Le Van Mau, Portrait of a southern woman, No. 2.

We moved from Sculptures to a gallery of works by Lê Thị Kim Bạch, who some regard as Vietnam's first well-known female painter. Many of her paintings were on silk.

For the peace of the country - a very moving work.

The next gallery had works by another female artist Le Thi Luu, who had a fascinating life from 1911 to 1988, living in Vietnam and France, but evacuating to Guinea during WWII.

Diep Min Chau was a painter and sculptor who spent a lot of time with Ho Chi Minh, who features in many of his works.

Uncle Ho going fishing at Viet Bac war zone.

The Museum has much leadlight, sometimes with missing bits.

At about this stage of the visit, a group of young art students asked for an interview about my feelings of the Museum. That was easy, given that there are a lot of works relating to the fight for independence. I told them how I grew up in the years of the American War and that names like Danang, Saigon, My Son and Hanoi were etched in my memory from hearing them on ABC radio.

Another artist famous in Vietnam was Nguyen Sang, who designed The Republic of Vietnam's first stamps in 1946. They were issued during an arduous time in the resistance war and were of huge significance - they spread the message around the world that Vietnam is a country. It's hard to believe that it would take another 30 years and so much bloodshed to realise the dream.