The exhibition is the result of a charity art project initiated by Taiwanese student Kuo Yen Wei, who is pursuing his PhD degree in Vietnamese Studies at Hanoi National University.
The idea for the project came to Wei in 2013, when he travelled to Ha Giang to research the culture in the remote mountainous area.
"During that trip I realised that local ethnic people maintained their traditional customs very well. However, many people still have to struggle for their daily life and they ignore the importance of preserving tradition. Moreover, the modern world is encroaching on their traditional way of life, especially affecting children, who will have to deal with this more and more as they grow up," Wei said.
The idea for the project came to Wei in 2013, when he travelled to Ha Giang to research the culture in the remote mountainous area.
"During that trip I realised that local ethnic people maintained their traditional customs very well. However, many people still have to struggle for their daily life and they ignore the importance of preserving tradition. Moreover, the modern world is encroaching on their traditional way of life, especially affecting children, who will have to deal with this more and more as they grow up," Wei said.
He also noticed that most of the children displayed a lack of self-confidence.
Wei, who is also an art curator, and his fellow travellers decided to develop a fine art teaching programme that would raise the cultural awareness of children in Ha Giang and help them build self-esteem.
The project kicked off in July at three schools in Ha Giang's Quan Ba District.
Three hundred children aged 8-11 attended classes taught by professional artists and participated in other traditional activities like paper folding and folk games.
They also learned more about their ethnic culture and origin through storytelling sessions by village elders.
The volunteer lecturers and project coordinators also visited the houses of underprivileged pupils and offered them practical gifts.
Student Phan Thi Mai Quyen came to Hanoi for the first time to attend the exhibition opening on October 25, wearing her traditional Pu Y dress.
Her classmate Nguyen Thi Minh Thu said she cancelled a trip to visit her grandparents to join the art class.
Visitor Tran Quang Minh said he appreciated the social meaning of the project and was also impressed by the vivid drawings.
For project initiator Wei, the exhibition is just the beginning of a long road. With financial support from sponsors, the project will hold a fundraising auction featuring the children's drawings as well as paintings by the volunteer painters.
The exhibition is open until October 29 at Heritage Space, Dolphin Plaza Tower, 28 Tran Binh Street, Tu Liem District. It will also be brought to Ha Giang and Kaohsiung, Taiwan (China).
