Winners of the 11th “Bui Xuan Phai: For the Love of Hanoi” awards were announced at a ceremony in Hanoi on August 29. 

The awards ceremony was created by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper, along with the family of the late painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988) in 2008 to honour his career and spread his love for the capital city. 

The awards were classified into four categories: Grand Prize, Idea Prize, Job Prize, and Work Prize. 

Speaking at the ceremony, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi praised the efforts by the newspaper in organising the awards, which have served the mission of discovering and honouring significant contributions to the capital city.  

This year’s Grand Prize went to 96-year-old Nguyen Ba Dam. Dam, born in Moc village, Giap Nhat, used to serve as a history teacher at Phan Dinh Phung high school. He was a good friend of Bui Xuan Phai and was an inspiration for 242 of Phai’s portrait sketches.

He is renowned for his collection of ancient coins and artist belongings. To date he has published two books on Hanoi, with two others expected to debut in 2018 and 2019.

The Work Prize went to the poetry collection “Ta con em” (I have you) by poet Phan Vu and the documentary film “Mon Hanoi” (My Hanoi) by former French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean Noel Poirier. 

The Idea Prize was handed over to Associate Professor Nguyen Van Huy and other scientists who suggested the preservation of Vuon Chuoi’s archeological relics, where the first inhabitants are believed to have settled down in the capital.

Bui Xuan Phai

The winning entries of the Job Prize were the vault murals along Phung Hung pedestrian street and the handing over of two ancient anchors to Hanoi by Quach Van Dich.

The Phung Hung murals are the result of an art project to renovate the street of the same name and introduce art into urban areas which began in August last year. Behind the project was the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee, UN-Habitat and the Korea Foundation. The urban street art evoked memories of old Hanoi and traditional Vietnamese culture.

Elsewhere, Quach Van Dich said he spent nine taels of gold to buy the memorabilia anchors and that despite receiving high offers in the billions of VND to sell them, he decided to donate them to the Hanoi Museum last year. 

VNA