French sculptor realizes dream in Vietnam

The sculpture The Space Between is seen at Flamingo Dai Lai Resort.

(Photo courtesy of the artist)

Moscovici was in born 1956 in Bucharest, Romania. Now France-based, his work has been the subject of exhibits and installations in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Working in Vietnam was like a dream come true, he said, adding that there were no obstacles in terms of time to work or price of materials, allowing Moscovici to do exactly what he wanted thanks to the support from the organiser, fellow artists and co-workers.
“Before coming to the symposium I didn't have much knowledge about contemporary art scene in Vietnam. Through the AIF project, I found an incredible group of artists with a great purity and energy,” said Moscovici.
Now Moscovici has many Vietnamese friends who are artists with passion, something he didn't think would be possible without speaking the language.
“The first one I met is Nguyen who made me surprised by his beautiful coloured paintings. Then I became close with sculptors Dam Dang Lai and Le Lang Luong. I also admire other painters of the project, Cong Kim Hoa, Ly Truc Son and Le Thua Tien.
“Their works are done in a traditional way using the lacquer paint but with a new spirit, it gave me a new image and way of expression, a continuity between past and future,” he said.
During the project, he was impressed by art exhibitions in containers. He said it was a contemporary art space with inner light and transparency that no other technique can achieve.
Moscovici came to Vietnam about five years ago as a tourist and visited museums of HCM City and Hanoi. He was impressed by old sculptures in wood and bronze.
“Truly I feel I need to learn more about Vietnamese culture,” he said.
Moscovici said he was inspired a lot by the landscapes and the nature at Dai Lai Lake, where he was free to think only about art.

French sculptor Ariel Moscovici works on his sculpture in the frame work of

the Art in the Forest project. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

“In Dai Lai, my mind was refreshed from the daily problems of life and it gave a nice opportunity to make drawings in the nature and think a lot, I am sure there will be some new forms in my work to come,” he said.
“I also came to the most well-known places like Ha Long Bay, Hoi An town and Da Lat city, however one of the best souvenirs is from the old ruins of My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam province, the buildings there reminded me of some of my sculptures. I think that I was quite influenced by the relics in my works after.”
Moscovici has a strong connection to Vietnam as his wife, artist Sylvie Rivillon, has Vietnamese origin. The couple intend to return Vietnam together in the near future and stay longer to visit and explore more.

Source: VNA