In the 1954-1975 period: In northern Viet Nam, many buildings followed Soviet-styled architecture, i.e. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Friendship Cultural Palace, etc. In the south, American architectural style is noticeable, notably General Science Library of Ho Chi Minh City and Independence Palace (now Dinh Thong Nhat – Reunification Hall).
In Doi Moi period: There have been a lot of big, modern construction works in various styles, such as hotels and office buildings (Horizon, Hanoi Tower, Sofitel Plaza, New World, Phu My Hung, Ciputra, etc). Like in many other countries, the current architecture in Viet Nam generally consists of four main components: interior design, architectural design, urban planning design, environmental design and area planning.
Painting and sculpture
Folk painting: There are two kinds of folk paintings: New-year paintings and Worshipping paintings. Folk paintings are closely connected to religious belief of worshipping for forefathers and deities. For mass production, folk paintings were executed through woodblock printing. They became quite popular in the 16th century, and developed steadily at a high level in the 18th and 19th centuries. Given their artistic styles, printing and drawing techniques and materials, folk paintings could be classified into some different brands.
Today, however, folk paintings are almost obsolete. Amongst the few existing brands of folk paintings under preservation, Dong Ho paintings still develop and can be found in many countries such as Japan, France and the US... Dong Ho is the name of a small village lying along the southern bank of Duong River in Bac Ninh province. Dong Ho paintings are made in an original way, technically and aesthetically, in every aspect from pattern design, carving, paper production (dzo (poonah) paper is hand-made, coated with white powder made from baked shell), color mixture (made from natural materials) to picture drawing and printing.
Modern painting: The founding of The Fine Arts College of Indochina in 1924 marked a milestone in the development of contemporary plastic arts in Viet Nam. The first generation of artists graduating from the Fine Arts College of Indochina and their works are now known in the world. Most prominent are “Hanoi’s Old Streets" by Bui Xuan Phai, “Game of Squares” by Nguyen Phan Chanh, “Little Thuy” by Tran Van Can, “Young Lady and the lilies” by To Ngoc Van, “On the bank of Sword Lake” by Nguyen Gia Tri, and “See a student off to the exam” by To Ngoc Van. These paintings are invaluable masterpieces in Viet Nam’s cultural treasury. In succession to the former generations, current artists, on one hand, pay regard to capturing the quintessence of the world art, and on the other hand explore new styles of Vietnamese paintings on oil, lacquer and silk… This generation of artists has become popular with their works particularly those by Luu Cong Nhan, Pham Cong Thanh, Nguyen Thu, Dang Xuan Hoa and Thanh Chuong, etc.
Ancient sculpture: In the traditional artistic heritage, sculpture experienced continuous development and provided typical images of the Vietnamese in various parts of the country and at each period, whether in the form of deities or earthly human beings. The ancient Vietnamese sculpture was very diverse, but mostly in the following existence: Prehistoric sculpture with sculptured images on stones, in caves, on bronze drums and household utensils; sculpture of Phu Nam and Chan Lap Kingdoms in the Southern part; Cham-pa sculpture in the Southern Central part; Great Vietnamese Sculpture in the Northern part and sepulchre sculpture by aborigines in the Central Highlands. Despite long time of warfare, many regions across Viet Nam still manage to preserve a lot of villages’ common houses, pagodas and temples with a variety of Buddha statues.
Traditional fine-art handicraft
Traditional Vietnamese handicraft has a long history and a diverse range of products, which have become well-known at home and abroad. Vietnamese products of ceramics, lacquer, silk, rattan and bamboo… have made their popular presence in many countries. Today, some handicraft industries are still preserved and developed, offering jobs and incomes to many laborers and contributing to exports, like ceramics, silk weaving, lacquer making, rattan & bamboo weaving, conical hat making, bronzecasting and woodworking etc.
Amongst traditional crafts, the most salient is ceramics which provides a variety of products to meet both civil and industrial demands. Ceramic products are made in many localities across Viet Nam, for example in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Quang Binh, Dong Nai, Dong Thap provinces and Bat Trang village in Hanoi, and there is also Cham ceramics. Silk weaving came into beings very early throughout Viet Nam, yet today the most well-known silk-weaving villages are Van Phuc (in Ha Dong, Ha Tay) and Phuong Tanh – Truc Ninh (in Nam Dinh). As early as the 15th century, Vietnamese silk made its appearance to the world through merchants.