The annual art exhibition "April Story" 2026 with the theme "Vietnamese Journey from Material to Identity" organized by SenTia Inter-level School took place on the afternoon of April 10 as an art experience space rich in education. Not simply an exhibition activity, the exhibition shows a different approach to art teaching and learning, where students play a central role in the creative and cultural interpretation process.
The noteworthy point of the exhibition lies in the journey of forming the work. Instead of just practicing techniques, students participate throughout the process from learning about traditional materials, researching regional culture to developing personal ideas. Familiar materials such as Do paper, images of Hanoi Old Quarter, Hoi An Lantern Street or landscapes of the Central and Southwest regions appear in many works, but do not repeat in an illustrative way.
According to Ms. Nguyen Cam Van - Vice Principal of SenTia Primary School, the exhibition does not aim to create "beautiful" products according to standards, but aims to form the ability to feel and express for students.
Students are encouraged to experience, experiment and build their own voice through each creative stage. From approaching materials to completing works, each step contributes to helping students understand more deeply about culture, history and how to retell those stories in artistic language" - she said.
The theme "From material to identity" therefore does not only have a formal meaning. It reflects a process: when students directly touch the material, observe cultural life and create themselves, they gradually realize their personal identity as well as their own way of expressing it. "This is clearly shown through the diversity in the work - some students tend to tell stories, some focus on emotions, and some try new image structures" - Ms. Van shared.
From a professional perspective, artist Nguyen The Son - Lecturer at the School of Interdisciplinary Science and Arts (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) highly appreciates the school's approach when bringing art into the program with a role that does not only stop at aptitude subjects.
According to teacher Nguyen The Son, the core of this approach is to arouse creative thinking in students. "Through the process of observing, feeling and expressing in artistic language, students not only develop aesthetic abilities but also can access other subjects more flexibly and deeply" - teacher Son assessed.
Sharing with PV, Nguyen Luong Ngoc Ly - a 12A student at SenTia School - said that she was inspired by Hanoi's Old Quarter, recreating personal memories through color patches and lines not in order, in order to evoke the feeling of layers of memories overlapping.
Through the process of making the work, I realized that letting emotions lead helps the picture become deeper. For me, this activity is not just drawing but also a way to better understand emotions and how to express them through art" - Ly expressed.
