Beyond surface landscapes, the exhibition Crimson Hornbill Dream approaches Da Lat as a layered cultural space shaped by memory, symbols, rituals, and long-standing community experience. Here, painting becomes a way of entering cultural depth rather than simply depicting scenery.
Folk beliefs, sacred bird imagery, and echoes of rituals once carried through the highland forests reappear through visual language, recalling a time when people lived in close spiritual harmony with nature.
Painter Truong The Linh works intuitively with raw materials such as soil, charcoal, and plants, allowing them to speak in their own voices.
The depth of the exhibition also grows from the artists’ time living and working in Da Lat with the companionship of Memories+84 Gallery.
Painter Tran Kien Quoc presents introspective works exploring the relationship between humans and nature, encouraging reflection on environmental responsibility.
Through encounters with local people and the quiet exploration of cultural memories preserved beneath everyday life, each painting reflects not only observation but also experience, discovery, and reflection.
In Nguyen An’s Crimson Hornbill Dream, the sacred hornbill emerges as a spiritual symbol of harmony between humans and the natural world.
Painter Tran The Vinh transforms lived experiences into emotional expression through oil painting.
Around it appear layered fragments of pine forests, horses, old maps, and peach blossoms - suggesting both memory and transformation as urban change gradually reshapes the soul of the mountain city.
Across 43 works by five artists, the exhibition opens a thoughtful dialogue between past and present, reminding viewers that cultural identity continues to live quietly within the land and within human memory.
Translated by DO HUONG
VNQD