KVT – A great Dane

Throughout history, patronage of the arts by individuals or groups has enabled developing or stuggling artists a chance to hone their skills and produce art that often reverberated through history. Once this was the provenance of the nobility and the rich and it’s difficult to think of any influential European artist, composer- even writer- pre 1900 who didn’t owe part of their repute to a patron or sponsor…

…Even now it is difficult to imagine the arts thriving and growing in new, scintillating directions without input from generous donors and benefactors, especially in developing countries.

Over the past six years the Danes have played an enormous role as a major patron of the arts in Vietnam for emerging and established artists in almost all areas of the arts and, very impressively, in the arena of Vietnamese children’s art education and literature appreciation.

This has largely been due to the presence of the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, His Excellency, Mr Peter Lysholt Hansen.

Mr Hansen has been in Vietnam for the past six years and this August moves on to become his country’s chief representative in South Korea. However he insists that the new relocation will not mean the end of his association with the country he has grown to love. After retirement from a busy diplomatic career he will return to live in Hanoi- in his private residence in Gia Lam with his Vietnamese wife and their three children.

His father encouraged his involvement and interest in the arts, especially the necessity to give support at a local and developmental level, and it is in this essential area that Mr Hansen and the Danes have given future and present Vietnamese artists phenomenal and invaluable assistance and patronage.

In my travels throughout Vietnam I have always been impressed by the way the Danish development and assistance program DANIDA provides effective assistance to rural groups, aiming to promote sustainable development at a grass roots level. It is held in high regard by communities with which it has been associated.

It is with the same ethos that Mr Hansen has developed CDEF, the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund between Denmark and Vietnam.

CDEF promotes development, not showcasing, of the arts. The CDEF management board comprises five Vietnamese from Government and private spheres and four Danes, headed by Mr Hansen as Chairman. The initial funding program ends this year and the Danish Government has extended the program for another 5 years.

This extension will enable an educational project very dear to Mr Hansen to continue its progress and consolidation. The Children’s Art Program has enabled the implementation of a modern art curriculumn and teacher education program in collaboration with Danish art educators and the Ministry of Education and Training in Hanoi. Currently it is practised in six provinces with the aim of a gradual national implementation.

Now that’s grass roots assistance at it its most effective!

Another ongoing children’s project, and also a favorite of Mr Hansen’s-and his own children, is that where Danish professionals work in close association with the Kim Dong Publishing House, authors and illustrators to produce books that will appeal to Vietnamese children and foster an early love of reading.

Each year the CDEF receives applications for financial assistance from artists of all art practices and this has meant that a host of artists, mainly young, have been able to spread their wings in new directions, that thousands of Vietnamese have received expert tutoring and assistance in workshops and that a Vietnamese audience has the opportubity to take part in diverse and inexpensive cultural experiences.

A perusal of projects approved and implemented over the past five years indicates the broad scope of CDEF patronage.During 2009/10, for example, Vietnamese (and expats) have been able to see or participate in contemporary dance performances and workshops; contemporary art exhibitions by individual Vietnamese artists and groups of artists able to afford the time and materials to concentrate on professional development and experimentation; collaborations between foreign artists and Vietnamese practitioners; music events and workshops that ranged from classical choirs thru rock, jazz, hip hop, percussion, and environmental sound collaborations and performance; theatrical performances and workshops; environmental workshops; large scale community performances… the list goes on…..

When I asked Mr Hansen to name his personal favorites we realized that the scope and depth was too large so I ammended the question to the past twelve months and he finally nominated the Street Art Festival that ran for two days during the Danish Royal Family’s State Visit to Vietnam in 2009 and Dao Anh Khanh’s fabulous Convergence of Light. Both of these garnered huge audiences that ordinarily would not be exposed to non commercial culture.

Grass roots effectiveness again!

He cited The Emergency Room project as a very satisfying experiment to encourage cutting edge contemporary art thought amongst young artists. He instances this as part of his aim to encourage artists and audiences to think outside the box.

When I remember the experimental output of other fundees like Future Art I really appreciate the risks that Mr Hansen asked the CDEF board to take when allocating funding .

Hip hop and break dance are another of Mr Hansen’s favorites because they involves youth in an activity that blends in so well with contemporary dance and, as we have seen in succesful Danish collaborations, provides exciting performances. In countries like Vietnam with vibrantly young populations, the probabilities of new, raw art forms emerging and morphing are inevitable, given encouragement and funding, and you can sense that Mr Hansen is one of those people who know that art is an evolving process and that always trying and conform it to conventional ideas and practices could alienate it from future audiences and practitioners.

The 2010 Talent Prize for Painting which seeks to find original, unique and creative talent and promote innovativeness – which is sort of what CDEF is all about- should round off Mr Hansen’s time as a patron of Vietnamese arts beautifully, though his legacy will be long lasting.

Mr Hansen recognized that online publications like the Grapevine play a vital part in raising cultural awareness and public participation and his role in advocating that funding be available to the Grapevine so that it could achieve its aim to become a bi-lingual publication is yet another example of his commitment to the arts in Vietnam and to the Vietnamese.

As he prepares to leave Vietnam (temporarily) Mr Hansen will receive accolades for his, and his government’s support in developmental and environmental areas during his term of office. I wish that I could present him with a representational version of that gentle but massive canine, the great dane because as a patron of the arts and Vietnamese culture that’s what he has been, a truly GREAT DANE.