ABOUT THE ARTIST

Vi Kien Thanh is an ethnic Nung painter, born in 1963 in Hanoi, into an artistic family. He was once the youngest director in the history of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. His father, painter Vi Kien Minh, was formerly the Head of the Fine Arts Department at the Viet Bac College of Culture and Arts, later serving as Deputy Director of the Cultural Publishing House. In 1965, he evacuated with his family to Thai Nguyen. Since the second grade, he began learning to draw, simultaneously attending the Viet Bac College of Culture and Arts while completing his secondary education. Upon finishing high school, he returned to Hanoi to study at the Faculty of Fine Arts Design at the Hanoi University of Theater and Cinema. After graduation, he joined the Fine Arts, Photography, and Exhibition Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. During his tenure, he received the First Prize at the Capital Fine Arts Exhibition in 1992 and 1997, the National Fine Arts Exhibition Award in 1995, the ASEAN Fine Arts Award of Honor in 1998, and the Second Prize at the Ethnic and Highland Theme Exhibition in 2000. In 1995, he held a solo exhibition of his paintings in Hanoi, some of which are now preserved at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. Most of his paintings depict life, people, and landscapes of the Northwest region.