The Story of Han Nom PDF for more

THE HAN NOM STORY
ADocumentaryFilmProposal
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
DOCUMENTARY FILM
Perna Content is currently seeking to raise an additional $41000 USD to
continue to produce, edit and distribute a documentary film about one of
Vietnam's most important artists and scholars who are influenced by Han Nom.
Initial production has already begun with filming in Hanoi and Boston but there is
still much more to be done.
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
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“My work explores the presence and role of Vietnam’s ancient and recent history within its current culture. Often combining ancient and
traditional calligraphic forms with sculptural installation, I seek to investigate and uncover Vietnam’s contemporary society’s interaction
with its past traditions.
For more than 1,000 years Chinese calligraphy was the dominant form of writing used in Vietnam. In the 11th century the Vietnamese people
also adopted our own script known as Nom. For centuries the Vietnamese people could read and write both the Han Chinese characters and
the Nom Vietnamese characters. Chinese people could not generally read Nom- it was only for Vietnamese people. With the advent of French
domination of our culture for 80 years, Vietnam converted to its current phonetic form of western writing. Except for scholars, Vietnamese
people no longer are able to read either Chinese characters or Nom.
I use both of these scripts in my work to talk about the loss of this aspect of Vietnamese culture. Through various installation devices I
incorporate sound and movement to relate to other aspects of written communication and language.”
Le Quoc Viet
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
WHY A FILM ABOUT AN ANCIENT VIETNAMESE WRITING SYSTEM?
“ In Viet's paintings one encounters calligraphy, Chinese ink
drawings and paper rubbings of stone reliefs taken from aging
pagodas. These purely black and white representations are often
highlighted by colorful print details. The wood blocks Viet uses
are hand made and one can also trace their origins to the
pagodas that dot the Vietnamese countryside. Each vibrant print
lends a richly detailed and edgy touch to Viet's paintings,
creating a visual language that is irreducibly traditional and
modern. These works are the product of a complicated and
uneasy soul. They represent a man who has one foot firmly
planted in age-old Buddhist practices while the other is
searching for traction amongst the rapid waves of change that
characterize modernity.”
Pham Cam Thuong
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THE BRIEF STORY OF PHAN CAM THONG,
LE QUOC VIET AND THE ZENEI GROUP?
Le Quoc Viet was born in 1972 in Thanh Hoa province, one of the poorest regions in Vietnam. When he was seven he was sent to the Long Cam Pagoda
where he studied for 10 years learning Zen Buddhism, Chinese, Sanskrit, and teaching himself to draw from the illustrations in the Buddhist texts. When he
was 17 he traveled to Chua Huong (Perfume Pagoda) to continue his studies and to become a Buddhist monk. At Chua Huong he met the Venerable
Thich Vien Thanh who told Viet that he had too much “fire in his belly”, that he was bright, ambitious and a talented artist and encouraged Viet to study
art rather than become a Zen Buddhist monk.
Following Thich Vien Thanh’s advice, Le Quoc Viet has gone on to become one of Vietnam’s most important artists. Viet is now a leading Buddhist, Chinese
and Nom scholar and the foremost calligrapher in Vietnam.
Le Quoc Viet is one of only 150 Vietnamese scholars who can read and write in Nom, the ancient Vietnamese language. In 2000, after 10 years of
research, Viet with scholars Phan Cam Thuong and Cung Khac Luoc, published Ancient Graphics of Vietnam, an extensive and valuable body of work
about the ancient graphics of Vietnam covering the entire country.
Le Quoc Viet creates a striking and powerful image with his black lacquered teeth. In the past many Vietnamese believed that only savages, wild animals
and demons had white teeth. The blackening of one’s teeth was often done to assure one would not be mistaken for an evil spirit, but when the French
came to Vietnam, they did not understand the implied beauty and black lacquered teeth was discouraged. In the countryside one still sees the
occasional lacquered teeth and not infrequently you might still encounter it in the pagodas with the senior monks, but it is hardly a contemporary fashion.
By lacquering his teeth Viet has made a personal statement that harkens back to his life in pagodas.
Le Quoc Viet is now researching the lives of 17th century monks from the ancient pagodas of North Vietnam, the development of Zen Buddhism and its
impact on society.
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SYNOPSIS – WHAT IS THIS FILM ABOUT?
Simply said this film is about Han Nom, Buddhist scholars and the art. Using Viet’s art, story and narrative we explore Vietnam’s culture, heritage,
customs, and the social impact of being modern in a rapidly changing world.
The arc and narrative of this film is as follows: We will follow the thread and narrative of Viet’s life as an artist and a scholar , beginning with his upbringing by monks in the Long Cam pagoda.
We examine what drives this artist, what impact he has.
We will follow Viet’s path and quest as he travels throughout Vietnam for knowledge about the life and teachings of the monks in the pagodas of
North Vietnam during the 17th century and the development of Zen Buddhism.
In the foreground we follow Le Quoc Viet’s rich, fantastical life and his search. In the background, our film explores the historical and cultural
issues that face a rapidly changing Vietnam. We’ll meet the myriad of people in his life, people who love, revere, hate and, at times, are jealous
of Viet; old lovers, children, monks, and fellow artists. We’ll speak with Le Quoc Viet private art collectors and museums around the world. We will
learn why Viet is considered so unique. We will see him work, create, interact with musicians, poets, government officials, the Goethe Institute,
teachers, college professors and critics; supporters and detractors alike.
There will be warts; there will be tension, friction, frustration, discord and there will be inspiration, discovery and beauty. We will explore the conflicts
of modern Vietnam and why Viet’s art resonates in the global community, beyond his cultural frame. While Viet’s painting of Nom images have
been contrasted to Motherwell’s abstract expressionism, Viet’s work goes well beyond merely challenging the status quo of the artistic world of
the day. The basis of his art and his mission is to preserve a dying history hidden in the Nom language and to remain modern in the process.
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
David Thomas
John Balaban
Gerard Cognie
Dr. Nora Taylor
Ngô Thanh Nhàn
Phan Cam Thoung
Suzanne Lecht
Artists
Culture
But Thap Pagodas
Han Nom
National Library
History
Vietnamese Values
Chua Long Cam
Chùa Thắng Nghiêm
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WHY PEOPLE WILL WANT TO SEE THIS FILM
As the world continues to shrink our cultural identities are
merging. Much is lost in this process. Le Quoc Viet is an artist
who is obsessed with his struggle to maintain Vietnam’s
history, customs and distinct culture all the while remaining
modern.
Le Quoc Viet’s artistic themes are of the Vietnamese amidst
the swirl of global issues that the world faces today: loss of
original language, traditional customs and culture, changes
in the physical landscape of the country and the social
dilemma of lost communities. Le Quoc Viet maintains that
these issues lead to a “soulless” way of living.
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WHO WILL WANT TO SEE THIS FILM?
Museum Collections of Le Quoc Viet
American Museum of Natural History, New York City
National Art Gallery Singapore
Asian Civilization Museum, Singapore
British Museum of London, England
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne Australia
Private collectors
Le Quoc Viet’s work can be found in some of the most
prestigious private galleries of collectors in New York, Paris
Buenos Aries, Montreal, Melbourne, Hong Kong,
Amsterdam, Bermuda, London, Zurich and Geneva
Special Thanks
Gerard Cognie
Dora Foundation
Vietnam Nom Preservation Society
Indochina Arts Partnership
Art Vietnam
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Nora Taylor, Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian
Art History, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Dr. Taylor was one of the very first scholars to appear in
Vietnam in 1993. Researching extensively, she was one of
the first active promoters of the works of the Vietnamese
artists.
Dr. Taylor has taught at Arizona State University, University of
California, Los Angeles and the National University of
Singapore. Having lived and researched in Vietnam for 20
years, she speaks fluent Vietnamese and writes extensively
on both modern and contemporary Vietnamese art. She is
the author of Painters in Hanoi: An Ethnography of
Vietnamese Art and editor of Studies in Southeast Asian Art:
Essays in Honor of Stanley O’Connor, as well as numerous
articles and essays. She has curated various exhibitions
including Changing Identity: Recent Work by Women Artists
from Vietnam (traveling 2007-2009) and Blue Memory: Tran
Trong Vu (2004, ASU Art Museum).
Dr. Taylor continues her research and teaching and
regularly lectures abroad and in Vietnam on SE Asian art.
Considered a foremost authority on SE Asian Art, Dr. Taylor is
an authentic voice on the development of Vietnamese art.
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
“Le Quoc Viet eludes easy categorization. As an artist he
is both a modernist and a traditionalist. As a person he is
both an anachronism and a product of his time. To simply
call him a Vietnamese artist does not begin to do justice to
the complexity and originality of his work. And yet, in
many ways, he encapsulates what makes Vietnamese art
itself so difficult to categorize and so unique at the same
time. He can easily serve as a lens through which one can
understand the entire history of Vietnamese art from its
pre-colonial past to its post-modern avant-garde
manifestation. Le Quoc Viet is a calligrapher in an era
when Chinese ink painting is no longer in vogue. Like an
abstract expressionist or action painter, he performs his
Chinese ink painting with a large brush applied to a piece
of cloth carefully laid down on the ground. He also paints
his writings on robes and lanterns to be worn and
paraded in an outdoor procession. Through his
calligraphic modernist abstraction, he muses on the
significance of Buddhism in contemporary daily life.”
Nora Taylor
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
“ Documentation about Vietnamese modern and contemporary art is scarce. Aside from exhibition catalogues and a few scholarly
publications, there is generally a lack of understanding among the general public about Vietnamese art outside of Vietnam. Le Quoc
Viet provides a perfect window onto contemporary art for a viewer who may know nothing about art from that part of the world. His
life story, from his childhood in a Buddhist pagoda, to his forays in calligraphic performance and avant-garde neo-traditionalist
practices speaks to audiences worldwide about artistic adaptations to present-day circumstances.
A film about Le Quoc Viet would offer audiences a chance to understand how an individual artist lives and works in an environment
like Vietnam. Viet provides an example of an "authentic artist," in that his life and art are completely intertwined. He supplies an
example of an art that constantly shifts between traditionalism and modernism. His gentle personality and Buddhist philosophy may
appear at odds with the fast paced life of Hanoi and yet, audiences would get a chance to understand some of the deeper layers of
Vietnamese society and history through Viet's biography.”
Nora Taylor PHD, Professor of Southeast Asia Studies, Art Institute of Chicago
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
David Thomas, artist, founder of the Indochina Arts Partnership
David Thomas is an artist and Vietnam veteran. One of the first
Americans to return to Vietnam in1988, David has worked
tirelessly to create a bridge of understanding between Vietnam
and America. Founded by Thomas in 1988 to foster cultural
understanding through shared art, the non-profit IAP has
produced two widely traveled exhibitions of modern work by
Vietnamese and American artists. In addition, the Partnership
has sponsored residencies in America for more than one
hundred Vietnamese visual artists, writers, teachers and leaders
of national cultural institutions; and has arranged working
journeys to Vietnam for dozens of American counterparts.
Originating in Boston as a volunteer organization with nominal
funding under the direction of C. David Thomas, a practicing
printmaker, Professor of Art, and Vietnam veteran, the IAP has
gained a wide reputation in the United States and in Vietnam as
a cost-effective collaborative producer of diverse cultural
exchange initiatives. http://www.iapone.org.
The IAP has supported two residencies for Le Quoc Viet in
Boston, the most recent being Viet’s installation and
performance The Secret Mantra performed in Cambridge Mass.
in 2010. The IAP is now traveling this show and has booked
various museums and art institutions for the next two years.
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David Thomas, artist, founder of the Indochina Arts Partnership
“Le Quoc Viet is truly a Renaissance man. He is an artist and
scholar of the highest quality who defies any simple description.
His intense eyes and startling yet gentle smile with his shiny
black teeth give little hint to the depth and strength of his
commitment to telling the story of Vietnam's long and rich history
through his stunning artwork. He is equally comfortable working
on silk, paper, woodcuts or ceramics. He is without question one
of the most important artists working in Vietnam or any other
country on this planet.”
David Thomas
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
Bill Perna, Founder of Perna Content
Bill Perna began his career in marketing and advertising after graduating from the University of New Mexico and New York
University, where he studied film. His 20 years in the ad industry included stints at Grey Advertising, Wells Rich Greene, and
Doyle Dane Bernbach. Bill then spent 10 years in Los Angeles building one of advertising’s most successful commercial
production companies, Smillie Films. While serving as president and executive producer at Smillie Films, Bill worked on
accounts such as Apple, Coca Cola, IBM, Nike and Anhueser Busch among countless others. All of these engagements
gave Bill valuable experience in the planning, directing, and production of commercial film. He has now returned to
documentary work, his first calling, to make use of this acquired knowledge.
After two terms as president of the Association of Commercial Producers / West Coast and one term as national president,
Bill then joined with partner Bob Giraldi to create one of advertising’s first hybrid agencies, Artustry Partnership. This agency
had full creative and production capabilities so as to work with clients on a project basis. Following his passion, Bill began
working with documentarian Albert Maysles, the noted filmmaker, and for two years created and developed the Branded
Content division for Maysles Films.
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If you would like to join us in helping to complete this film
we are be pleased to offer supporters:
$15,000
Executive Producer film credit, Original
Le Quoc Viet painting.
$5000
Producer Film Credit, Le Quoc Viet
limited edition Woodcut print.
$2500
Edition print of Le Quoc Viet.
$1000
Calligraphic work of Le Quoc Viet.
(BudgetavailableuponRequest)
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com
PO BOX 736, south freeport, me 04078 www.pernacontent.com