Stone sculptures donated to Đà Nẵng

Posted on: November 11, 2021 Posted by: info@danangsculpture.org Comments: 0
Stone sculptures donated to Đà Nẵng

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12:59 10/11/2021 – Author: Tran Ngoc

http://baovannghe.com.vn/lang-nghe-loi-bien-hat-song-ru-24030.html 

The statue  “Sea Waves” is located at the beginning of Vo Nguyen Giap – Vo Van Kiet route, Da Nang,  not far from the sea, enough for day and night, the statue can still hear the sea singing and lullabying about the story “Vietnam, Da Nang in my heart – A citizen in the far region of Northern Europe”.
Listening the sea to sing, the waves to lullaby
The statue of “Sea Waves” carries the overwhelming emotions that its spiritual father Norwegian sculptor, Mr. Oyvin Storbaekken has sent.

Sculptor Oyvin offers the “Sea Waves” statue before his leaving Danang and Vietnam.

– Photo: Tran Ngoc

“It is difficult to express in words how much I love this city. And I put a lot of my emotions into every grain of stone. The work “Sea waves” is evoked from the vast space of the sea. The sea surrounds this place, like a mother when she caress and protects the people of Da Nang – my close friend since the 2000s. The “Sea Waves” is stylized into the image of a woman’s arm. For many generations, the sea and the people of Da Nang have been closely attached …” – Sculptor Oyvin expressed on the day of the ceremony to award the statue “Sea Waves” (April 2, 2018).
Sculptor Oyvin’s memorabilia before leaving Da Nang is the stagnation and absorption of many memories deeply engraved in him, about the place where he has come and worked hard for the past 16 years. Due to his age and health, he had to say goodbye “My love for stone is always full, but my arms and legs have weakened”.
In 2021, the person who has devoted a deep love to the sculpture of Vietnam has been 74 years old.
 “When I heard that Sculptor Oyvin put all his heart and creativity into the work, personally carved and presented to Da Nang the statue of “Sea Waves”; I and many colleagues, colleagues were in deep emotion. Sculptor Oyvin, until the last moment working in Da Nang, was still like a silkworm draining its intestines and giving up its life. Our Culture Department immediately surveyed the field, discussed and then proposed placing the statue in a solemn position. It is one of the largest and most beautiful routes of Da Nang, right on the tourist belt along the East Coast. We tried to do the best we could, to express our gratitude to the Artist Oyvin Storbaekken …” – People’s Artist Huynh Van Hung, Former Director of Danang Department of Culture and Sports.
The beginnings of the story of the heart
Artist Oyvin Storbaekken – the author of the “Sea Waves” statue – is also the one who initatived the establishment of the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation – the first non-profit art foundation in Vietnam working for the development of sculpture art.
The Foundation has been established with the goal of prioritizing the development of sculpture in Da Nang, contributing to the development of the local and national sculpture industry. The Foundation is also the “midwife” of sponsoring and rewarding the creation, research and development of sculpture art… An activity that has no precedent!
In 2002, with the close friend – Painter Dang Van Ty – after meeting (at the National Institute of Art in Oslo-Norway), and then becoming an acquaintance, sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken had his first journey to Vietnam. He came to attend his friend’s first exhibition in Hanoi.
An article in the Norwegian art magazine “Kunst for alle-Art for everyone” recounted that, during that trip, Oyvin Storbaekken told his companion (artist Dang Van Ty): “ Going to a place where there’s nothing to do, I don’t like it.” Unexpectedly, he was invited to participate in a Sculpture Camp and Exhibition in Hanoi. During 6 months, he was supported with accommodation and a place to work with wood carvers right on the streets of Hanoi.
“Despite being needy and poor, Vietnamese people were still full of goodwill and hospitality. That made me decide to do something in return,” he added.
Having to use wood as a main material for composition, for Oyvin, is quite sensitive. Timber harvested from the forest was not advisable. He decided to switch to stone, and that was also his forte. He decided to find a new place to produce large stone sculptures in Vietnam. And Oyvin Storbaekken went to the south of Da Nang to learn about the environment of stone carving in the famous craft village for a long time.
“In Da Nang, I met Mr. Hong (sculptor Pham Hong, then the Chairman of the Danang Fine Arts Association). We both thought it was quite interesting to train carvers so that they would be qualified to fulfill the demands of Western sculptors. The East and the West had completely different approaches both in terms of form and anatomy,” Oyvin told the “Kunst for alle”.
Stopping at Non Nuoc stone carving village, Mr. Oyvin observed carefully and did not forget to ask about the workers here. His feeling was that in order to live with sculpture, these local workers needed to work harder. They also needed to be trained, improve their skills, to make more difficult, higher quality works.
“Oyvin shared that he wanted to make sculpture develop into a true art, not just with the concept of a craft, producing commercialize products. A sculptor had to do two tasks at the same time: creating commercial products for a living and creating works of art,” said Ms. Phan Quynh Huong, Director of Da Nang Sculpture Foundation.
Leaving Da Nang that time, Sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken was troubled with a project that he had just thought of and wanted to implement immediately. It is to support to improve the skills of carvers in this local stone village, helping them to have sufficient professional capacity, to comply with the requirements of the Western sculpture market.
Artist Oyvin’s passionate proposal was submitted to the Norwegian Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And after much deliberation, at the end of November 2002, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) agreed to finance the entire cost. Later, the project also received partial support from the Nordic Organization for Aid to Vietnam (NAV).
Established in 2003 under the sponsorship of NORAD (from 2003 to 2006) and from NAV (from 2007 to June 2009), the project has received an aid of about VND 16.5 billion. In particular, with Norad, this is an exception, because NORAD has a rule that never sponsors individuals.
Sculptor Pham Hong recalled and said: With his wife Marit, in March 2003, he returned to Da Nang, to “start the project”. With support from friends at the Da Nang Fine Arts Association, he rented land and built the first square meter for the factory of the “Da Nang Sculpture Project”. He ordered both equipment and tools for the professional stone carving made in Germany and Italy, to shipped to Danang.
Also with the help of the Da Nang Fine Arts Association, he completed the establishment of the Da Nang Sculpture Project, with a duration of 4 years to submit to the City People’s Committee…

Sea Wave, a white marble sculpture by Norway’s Oyvin Storbaekken is installed near Mỹ Khê beach in Đà Nẵng. — VNS Photo Công Thành
“Many carvers, mostly residents of Non Nuoc stone village, were very passionate about their craft, have basically mastered the work of stone carving, and were recruited to attend the training process… This was also the first training course, imparting European sculptural techniques and styles combining traditional sculptural techniques and styles of the local fine art stone village.
Day by day, with the guidance of Mr. Oyvin and Mr. Pham Hong, the young craftsmen of Non Nuoc Stone Handicraft Village were guided in anatomy, basic drawing, and practiced to layout shapes accurately to millimeters through the process of molding clay statues, or casting plaster statues. Every week, the trainees had 3 English lessons for convenience in absorbing lectures as well as guiding and exchanging with Mr. Oyvin and experts” – Artist Mr. Van Sinh, Former Vice President of Union of Associations City Literature – Art, the current Chairman of the Foundation said.
Mr. Oyvin’s enthusiasm quickly appeared in reality, not as an idea in thought.
 “The handicraft of Non Nuoc Stone Village in Da Nang has been “registered” as an intangible cultural heritage. The profession is inherited from father to son, the next generation inherits the previous life’s career, working hard, preserving the profession. In addition to his love for the job, the stone carvers at the foot of Ngu Hanh mountain also cherish their creative ideas and has artistic works. However, to reach the professional art level, diversity in creative style, there are many other factors that the loal stone carvers must learn and reach out.
Sculptor Oyvind Storbaekken and Artist Pham Hong have been diligently doing the master’s work for many years without asking for anything. Because both masters want Da Nang sculpture art to reach out to the world, the carvers must be more professional and have a more modern method of composition,” – People’s Artist Huynh Van Hung acknowledged.
From heart to heart, from soul to sould
“The period from 2006 to 2009 was a period of transition. The application for the establishment of the Sculpture Foundation (at that time), encountered some legal problems. NAV took over the project management, extending the operation time. The operating budget at thas time was mainly from sculpturing services” – Ms. Phan Quynh Huong (then officially working at the project) shared.
With the first generation of trainees being trained for 3 years in prototyping, reproducting statues, statuettes, and Western stone carving techniques, the workshop began to practice with a new mindset: With their high level of craftsmanship, the team of carvers here could fully undertake orders with high requirements for artworks.
“We have moved into the “promotion of sculpturing business” phase and have offered products at reasonable and competitive prices. We also have a wonderful “godfather” Mr. Oyvin Storbaekken. Advertising and marketing budget is too small, we have to rely entirely on building credibility through the customers’ satisfaction. And the word-of-mouth marketing is very effective. More and more people visit our website (www.danangsculpture.com) to order” – Quynh Huong, continued.
From heart to heart, from soul to soul, Da Nang Sculpture Project continues to be inherited and promote its achievements with Decision No. 4781/QD-UBND dated June 25, 2009 of the City People’s Committee. Da Nang (The decision is also the license to establish the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation, recognizing the Foundation’s Charter). Artist Oyvin, Ms. Phan Quynh Huong and NAV were also the ones who cooked up the idea of ​​establishing this Sculpture Foundation. Sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken, later, became the Foundation’s Senior Advisor.
It is worth mentioning first, that since its establishment, the Foundation has been completely self-financed, and its revenue has been gradually improved. In 2015, the Foundation and the Danang Fine Arts Association organized and awarded the sculpture campaign with the theme “For the beloved homeland’s sea and islands”. Every 2 years, the Foundation has sponsored many creative activities of the Da Nang Fine Arts Association.
Today, when coming to the workshop of the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation (2,600 m2), many people can’t help but be surprised at a superficial property. Right at the entrance is a classical statue garden, enough for guests to admire the sophistication. Stop and admire, each work has a spirit and a soul. Going deep inside is the factory. The Foundation Executive Board also works here. For the convenience of international sculptors coming to work at the workshop, a rest room was built on the premises. This facility is funded and built by the Board of Directors and the Executive Board of the Foundation.
Looking back at the beginning, to this day, from the “Da Nang Sculpture Project” born by Mr. Oyvin; to the determination to maintain the project and the birth of the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation (co-founded by the Union of Literary and Art Associations and the Fine Arts Association of Da Nang City), whatever model, the activities of the project and the Foundation also aim to promote cultural exchange and sculpture art between Danang, Vietnam and the world.
So far, more than 100 sculptors from Sweden, Canada, USA, France, Germany, Israel, UK, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands, Singapore… have come and directly worked at the Foundation’s workshop, participating in artistic activities. Particularly, there were time when 14 sculptors and architects from Sweden came and worked together. The echo of the Foundation also invited many delegations of students (specializing in sculpture and visual art) to Da Nang. Most recently, a group of 23 Singaporean students came to the place to learn about the work of sculpture.
Echo of the bells hitting the land of foreign people
In June 2009, after 6 years of operation, Mr. Oyvin’s training and production project had fully completed its mission. It was sculptor Oyvin who brought new life, inspiration, passion and enthusiasm for the profession to young carvers in Non Nuoc stone craft village.
“These young carvers have been taught and trained according to a very methodical process. For the first time, they were taught the technique of projection using pantographs and compasses. Besides, there ware new techniques in stone carving, performing traditional sculptures (such as Cham statues)” – Painter Ho Dinh Nam Kha – Chairman of Danang Fine Arts Association, Vice President of the Foundation said.
With the unique technique of projection, after being taught by Master Oyvin, the Foundation’s carvers have skillfully applied it to create many successful artworks, including the art work “The magic of distance”.

Norwegian female sculptor, Mrs. Hilde Mæhlum, was the one who sent her model to the Foundation to make the commission. From her model of only bout 20cm, the carvers of the Foundation enlarged it 10 times bigger in stone. The finished “The Magic of Distance” – over 2m high was crafted from white marble. The uniqueness and also the difficulty of this work is negatively sculpting (carving deeply into the stone), requiring the craftsman to have high skills to make it exactly as required.

In 2004, 12 carvers of the workshop had the opportunity to visit the town of Tolga – also the hometown of Mr. Oyvin. The destination was Hedmark county and Innovation Norway to carve 6 granite statues. In just a month and a half working in Nord-Oesterdalen (Norway), the job was completed perfectly. The first trip to “bring the bell to ring in an abroad country” of the stone carvers of Ngu Hanh Son, Da Nang, quickly resonated.

In 2006, Vietnam and Norway officially celebrated the 35th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. One of the many activities that the Norwegians earnestly want to do and make their mark on this anniversary is to design and build a bridge over a small stream in Mr. Oyvin’s hometown of Tolga… Granite from Norway was carefully selected, ready to ship.

And 7 of the 12 carvers who had been to Norway last time had the opportunity to return to Tolga with 10 containers of red Vietnamese granite. This stone volume was initially crafted by the craftsmen at the Da Nang Sculpture Project. After 60 days of hard work, they completed the assembly (with a total weight of up to 120 tons), creating an existing span (10m long, 2.5m wide, 6m arch) from two sources of stone materials of Vietnam and Norway. On July 24, 2006, the Tolga Friendship Bridge was inaugurated and became the Tolga-Da Nang friendship bridge in the minds of many people!

One of the workers who was present at the Tolga Friendship Bridge project was Mr. Le Cong Dung. And among the first trainees of the project, Mr. Le Cong Dung and Mr. Tran Huu Hoa later grew up in their careers and were admitted to the Danang Fine Arts Association and the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.

According to Mr. Le Cong Dung, the training courses of the Da Nang Sculpture Project that he participated in: “For me, it is a great school of fine arts, which gives me inspiration and passion for creativity. “.

There have been more than 120 artistic sculptures, religious and commercial sculptures made at the Foundation’s workshop appearing in public areas of Vietnam, Norway, England, Poland, USA, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Malaysia…

From 2015 to 2018, the Foundation was selected to perform most of the stone sculptures for the biggest Cathedral in Poland. The workload was very large: 20 stone reliefs about the life of Jesus in white marble (165 x 165cm), 4 reliefs of Mary (4.2 x 2.8m), Jesus statue, angel statue, altars, baptisteries, etc. Appreciating the Foundation’s contribution to the church construction, the Polish side invited a group of 5 members of the Foundation to attend the inauguration ceremony (from 14-24 May 2016). On this occasion, more than 20,000 people, who were Poles and people from many countries around the world (including about 600 monks), and even representatives of the Vatican, came here to attend the ceremony.

“This is an important event, contributing and fostering the friendship between Da Nang, Vietnam and Torun, Poland in the field of sculpture and cultural exchange. In particular, it will become a good opportunity to promote Da Nang’s sculpturing level to the world”, added Artist Mr. Van Sinh.

After this, the Foundation continued to fulfill the orders from a cathedral in the United States.

Stone-Ideas.com, a global magazine on architecture, art and design with natural stone, recognized these successes through a special article “Da Nang Sculpture Fund uses expertise in the stone industry to promote the development of Vietnam…”

The Foundation’s President, Artist Mr. Van Sinh said, “In 2021, for a very long time, when the city is in social distance and locked down, all jobs are almost stagnant, the Foundation’s factory still have regular orders. Except for the locked down days, as soon as the city has a policy to allow limited production, we have taken full advantage.

An order of nearly 1,000 Buddha statues have been exported to the United States for shopping and home decoration on Christmas, New Year’s Eve 2022… We are pleased that the Foundation’s products can reach high-end markets. Especially, despite the epidemic, we try to maintain a good supply chain for customers who have trusted and ordered.”

Continue to write new chapters of the story

Master Oyvin Storbaekken once shared with his trainees that: “If you just do simple composing work according to available sketches, or copy art models available from abroad, nothing is difficult.” Now, with a series of sculptures ranging from “difficult to extremey difficult” demands ordered by customers “who are always cautious and also very fastidious”, the Danang Sculpture Foundation did not disappoint its founder.

The stone carvers were capable of making high-quality artworks, carrying bells to ring abroad.

“You guys at Da Nang Sculpture Foundation have done an excellent job. Thank you. The Elephant (260 x 135 x 120 cm, black granite, located in Drammen, Norway), has been installed outdoors and looks great. Sometimes you can even see water flowing around the statue. This is a playground for children, they love this statue very much. I’m very satisfied !” – The famous Norwegian sculptor, Mr. Istvan Lisztes, expressed his joy.

And the famous Singaporean sculptor, Mr. Chong Fah Cheong (settled in Canada) excitedly said, “You have participated in the biggest project I’ve ever done…”. It is the artwork “Joy” (2m high, black granite material, displayed in the hometown of artist Chong). He confided: “…To be honest, to complete two projects in Singapore, I was extremely busy. But at the end, the installation of two granite blocks (of “Joy”) at the site was completed. I am very satisfied with the work. My great thanks to the whole team of Da Nang Sculpture Foundation”.

It is known that after 18 years of operation, from the Da Nang Sculpture Project (2003-2009) to the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation (2009-2021), the Foundation currently keeps a series of high-value sketches and models in the art of sculpture. The Board of Management has discussed and is about to re-arrange the Foundation’s workshop, dedicating a place to display the most typical models, as a proof of the skill level and capacity of the Foundation. The Foundation’s expertise in performing artworks that require sophistication “from the language of stone”.

“We will also rearrange and create an independent workspace for international sculptors and architects to work at the Foundation. In the future, when the situation returns to normal operation, we would like to connect and organize a tour for tourists, students, students, people of Da Nang, etc. Surely, viewers will be very interested when witnessing this special artifact work.

According to People’s Artist Huynh Van Hung, one of the unfinished wishes of Sculptor Oyvin was to open a large-scale sculpture camp right in Da Nang, bringing famous international sculptors of the world come here to work together. The remaining results after the Sculpture Camp are artworks that will be saved for eternity.

“I remember, Artist Oyvin had this idea in the 2000s. At that time, in the new context of opening up after renovation, we were still cautious. Now that Vietnam is a friend of all countries, with the trend of opening and multilateral relations, it is an opportunity to invest in organizing an international Sculpture Camp right in Da Nang” – Mr. Hung said more.

“We will coordinate with the Cultural Department, propose the City People’s Committee to sponsor, calling for more funding to organize a Sculpture Camp. Under epidemic conditions, the travel of international sculptors is still very limited. Artist Oyvin is always willing to introduce and connect the world’s talented sculptors to the Camp. Maybe initially, we will open the Camp on a domestic scale. The works of the Sculpture Camp will be donated to the city of Da Nang” – Foundation President, Artist Ong Van Sinh said.

According to the Foundation’s plan, when the conditions are not met to organize the Sculpture Camp, the Foundation will still make efforts to implement and donate some sculptures of high artistic value for the city. On April 2, 2018, in addition to the statue of “Sea Waves” by the Norwegian sculptor, Mr. Oyvin, the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation also donated to the city the statue of “Mother’s Milk” by the Sculptor Pham Hong.

One day soon, Da Nang will be the city with the most sculptures placed in parks or major roads. Among them, there are works born from the sculpture project of Oyvin Storbaekken, Tolga – Da Nang.

The lyrics of the sea, the lullaby will last forever… whisperingly tells the story from heart to heart, from soul to soul, which Sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken is also the one who wrote the first lines, as well as the fascinating later chapters of the story.

“I will be one of the teachers of the training program. Hopefully, they will have more motivation to confidently integrate and in the future, with a stable job, they can be independent in life. With the Foundation’s enthusiasm, the Foundation’s wholehearted participation and support, we will form a new class of carvers, keeping the carving profession from disappearing”. Continuing the training program, Painter Ho Dinh Nam Kha – Chairman of the City Fine Arts Association, Vice President of the Foundation said that in the coming year, the Foundation and the Danang Association for the Support of People with Disabilities & Orphans will coordinate to select some children with artistic talent (being raised at the Centers of the Association), to organize the training for them to become stone carvers.

Author: Tran Ngoc

http://baovannghe.com.vn/lang-nghe-loi-bien-hat-song-ru-24030.html