More news from Hanoi.

CPAG Projects on display in large digital format.

Hi all,

It’s a little repetitive to say we’ve seen more of a beautiful country… and we have. An overnight trip to Ha Long Bay brought us into an archipelago of island forms that make it the current frontrunner on a UNESCO site that seeks votes for Seven Wonders of the World. Being good Chicagoans, O and I have voted early and often, though we have no delusions that our votes have put Ha Long Bay into its current lead. What an incredible place.

We’ve also been exceedingly busy lately. Many of our responsibilities are culminating tomorrow, Saturday, with the seminar of public art practices that was the impetus for Olivia and I being invited here. Tonight we attended an outdoor exhibition of images of public art projects from around the world, including Chicago.

Go figure, Chicago Public Art Group looked great in this context! CPAG images are richly varied by style, content, materials, etc. The exhibition included about 26 large format digital prints that were graphically redesigned by a UIC student located by Olivia. Also in the exhibition was work from Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program and some from other agencies and countries around the world. I can easily and appreciatively say, “CPAG looked great!”

Among other varied and appreciative supporters were the Ford Foundation, the New Hanoi People’s Committee, and the Vietnam Fine Arts Association: a cross section of agencies not easily matched in any one gathering in the US.

Vietnam is a culture and country that is rushing into modernism. They consider themselves to have been recently “backward”. It is actually a little hard to imagine where they will be in another 10-20 years of activity. Among the capacities being developed here is a “modern” mosaic process that produces tight grout lines using sheets of wet clay! Can you figure the production issues that make this work and reduce costs per square foot?

More to come.

Jon