Vietnamese Revolutionary War (1945 -1976)
In the long struggle for independence (1945-1976), art had served as both a historical witness and an ideological weapon. Shedding colonialist pedagogies, a new language forged in the spirit of national resistance emerged through socialist realism - one that embraced “the national, scientific, massive spirit” over feudal or romantic ideals.
In 1943, the Party issued the Outline on Vietnamese Culture, laying the foundation for revolutionary cultural theory and later affirming the idea that “culture lights the way for the nation”. With its profound humanity, culture gradually assumed its role in the cause of national construction and salvation, with artists becoming the vanguard of patriotic emulation movements. Under colonial rule when a painting, book, or poem could lead to imprisonment, today, those very works are studied, printed in books and newspapers, exhibited and distributed across the world.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and Reunification of Vietnam (30/4/1975), this exhibition retraces the legacy of the artist-soldiers who navigated the fine line between propaganda and individual agency. Spanning from the First Indochina War (1945-1954), the Resistance War against America (1955-1975) leading to the final assault on Saigon, these works capture the intertwined roles of artists as active combatants and silent chroniclers. Simple and profound, their drawings move beyond the tragedies and stand as acts of survival, solidarity and resistance, serving as the corner-stone of a new culture, independent and democratic.
