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Bengal

Taste of Vietnamese art at 40th International Kolkata book fair

With Vietnam being the Special Guest of Honour country at the 40th International Kolkata Book Fair, six contemporary Vietnamese artists got off to showcasing their art at the Milan Mela grounds on Wednesday, giving Kolkata a glimpse of Vietnam's contemporary artistic scene.

The exhibition was inaugurated by veteran artist from Bengal and Trinamool Congress MP, Jogen Choudhury. 

Indian and Vietnamese art share the common feature of being influenced by the European school of art from the 19th century onwards, due to their common experience of colonisation.

Many of Vietnam and Bengal's most celebrated artists have also spent time in Paris before looking eastwards and creating something uniquely their own. 

The Vietnamese liberation war was supported by India and especially, Kolkata. Recently, Vietnam also saw the 150 th birth anniversary of their leader, Ho Chi Minh. 

There will be a number of events in honour of Indo-Vietnamese ties this time around,” Sudhangshu Dey, Director of the 40th International Kolkata Book fair told Millennium Post.

In fact, Alliance Française du Bengale has been instrumental in bringing the artists over to the city of joy, as director Stéphane Amalir’s first overseas posting was in Vietnam.  Also supporting the exhibition is Geetesh Sharma of the Indo-Vietnam Solidarity Committee. 

In fact, Indo-Vietnamese relations date back to the first century. More recently, political ties were cemented by contemporaries Nehru and Ho Chi Minh, both striving to free their nations from colonisation and both men living to be the leaders that steered their nations into independence.

On this occasion, UNICEF has invited talented young students to participate in a three-day workshop led by the Vietnamese painters with the objective of creating a new exhibition to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this UN organisation.

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