Contribute a little to reformed opera

SGGP June 4, 2023 15:08

Born in Kien Giang , since childhood, Vo Tuan Nam (25 years old, currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City) often listened to reformed opera with his grandmother.

Every Saturday and Sunday night, the two of them would sit in front of the TV, attentively watching plays like Ben Cau Det Lua, Doi Co Luu, La Dua Rieng, Thai Hau Duong Van Nga ... Nam grew up with Cai Luong plays through the soulful voices of artists of that time: Vu Linh, Le Thuy, Bach Tuyet...

Vo Tuan Nam, author of the artbook Cai Luong Tam Su

Loving cải lương, Võ Tuấn Nam also has another passion: drawing. Therefore, when taking the university entrance exam, Nam chose graphic design (Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts). However, cải lương has always been a pain in his heart. Therefore, at the end of 2021, when doing his graduation project, Nam turned to cải lương as a way to pay tribute to the national art that was associated with his childhood and his grandmother. Nam's graduation project is the artbook Cải lương tâm sử.

Tuan Nam said that while he was struggling to find a name for his project, he happened to see on People's Artist Bach Tuyet's YouTube channel a project called Cai Luong Tam Su, with the following words: "Cai Luong Tam Su was born from gratitude and appreciation for the golden generations who have preserved and passed on to artists a precious art form. As long as the Vietnamese language exists, the art of Cai Luong, along with the songs and voices of all artists, will always live forever in the hearts of the public."

Sympathizing with People's Artist Bach Tuyet's project, Tuan Nam borrowed the name Cai Luong Tam Su as the name of his project. "I understand that history here is the history of Cai Luong and is done with my heart. For People's Artist Bach Tuyet, it is the lyrics; and for a design student, I express it through images. I chose the PopArt style, hoping to bring an easier and closer approach to everyone," Nam shared.

Although it is just a project, the artbook Cai Luong Tam Su has a beautiful and unique appearance that is not inferior to the publications currently on the market, perhaps because Nam took care of it, created it meticulously with a lot of passion. His biggest wish at the moment is to have the opportunity to print it into a book so that Cai Luong can reach a large number of readers, especially young people.

“I have processed the images, colors, and words from a modern perspective to make it easier to reach young people. Because the reality is that many young people today no longer know or like cải lương, and cải lương is in danger of being lost,” Nam confided.

The artbook Cai Luong Tam Su consists of 3 chapters: The sound of copper wire, The golden age and Following the hundred years, containing the history of Cai Luong but summarized for everyone to see and read easily. Readers will meet there the composers (Truong Duy Toan, Nam Chau, Vien Chau, Tran Huu Trang...), the musician (Vien Chau, Van Vi, Nam Co, Van Gioi...), and the singers and actors (Bay Nam, Nam Phi, Phung Ha, Ut Bach Lan, Ut Tra On, Van Chung, Huu Phuoc...).

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/gop-chut-long-voi-cai-luong-post692324.html