The Phung Hung mural street project was designed by Korean and Vietnamese artists, opened in February 2018. The street is over 200m long, displaying 17 works out of a total of 127 bridge arches, reminiscent of old Hanoi such as Bach Hoa Compository; Van Da; Hoan Kiem Da Thu...
Before the street was touched by art, it was a shabby, old road. The paintings have completely changed the face of this area, making it fresh and vibrant. curator Nguyen The Son shared: "From ancient times to the present, art has often been considered an addition to taste, to decorate, but its function is much greater. Especially when contemporary art appears, it can change the lives of a space.
Phung Hung mural street is like that, it is expanded, a connection point with Hang Luoc flower street and Dong Xuan market. Therefore, after a few years of being abandoned, we want to bring the beautiful atmosphere of a few years ago.
However, this project is only for upgrading and renovating, not enough budget to create a completely new space. I hope that this project will be licensed for official circulation, so that the maintenance work will also be better implemented".
With this comeback, curator Nguyen The Son hopes to awaken the space with art and wait for the harmonious interaction of the visitors.
He shared: "Many people who come to see it just want to take selfies. Thinking about yourself in a work, taking photos is beautiful. It is a very mechanical way of interacting, requiring touching, holding a hand. Not only that, the artists' installation works such as motorbikes with drops of gold needles, buckets of water, and vegetable stalls to express the life of the past were also thrown away by children.
The day the project was first released in 2018, I and some artists often went to Phung Hung, wanting to tell visitors stories about their creative journey, but many people were not interested, so we took them out to take photos. We are quite sad about that and hope that in the future there will be more tourists who love art".
From December 12, the paintings began to be renovated, and the sidewalks in this area began to be cleaned, no longer encroaching on motorbike parking. The mural street will soon return to its most adorable image.
