Art show celebrates creativity with do paper

Various contemporary art forms inspired by the Vietnamese do (poonah) paper will be showcased at Hanoi Rock City this Sunday to celebration of the traditional material.

Titled Vu Dieu Cua Giay (The Dance of Paper), the event will bring together calligrapher Le Quoc Viet; a group of artists including Duong Linh, Huy An, Tien Quang, Yoyo and Tran Hien who will display an art installation on do paper; and artisan Nguyen Van Tam who will show traditional skills of making do paper.

Plenty of handmade products made from do paper will also available at the event, which is being organised by Zo Project, a non-governmental organisation.

The event will take place between 5 and 8pm on March 9 at Hanoi Rock City, 7/52 To Ngoc Van Street.

Poonah paper has been used to paint or write, as seen in the renowned Dong Ho paintings, calligraphy and water colour paintings or for documenting about past dynasties and family annals.

Poonah paper comes from the bark of the poonah trees in the northern provinces such as Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen and Cao Bang.

It takes several complicated and precise processes to make poonah paper, and these include selecting the material, soaking it in water, pounding and flattening poonah pulp into paper and drying it inside the house. 

Source: vietnamnews (Mar. 6, 2014)