The Ho Chi Minh City Young Artist Grants Program, an initiative of the City of Melbourne in cooperation with the Australian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, is an example of the successful collaboration that occurs between Australia and Vietnam, an Aussie envoy said Wednesday.
“This program builds on the already strong people-to-people links between Australia and Vietnam – an important relationship built over 37 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries,” Australian Consul General Graeme Swift said at a get-together he hosted for the grantees at his residence Wednesday.
“The relationship between our two countries is further enhanced by generous grants programs, such as the one were are all here to celebrate tonight.”
Mr. Swift also launched VIET NOW, a book on the program, which has awarded grants to 31 visual artists since 2006.
The grantees exhibited their works at an exhibition in Melbourne during October. The exhibition received widespread interest with many of the works sold, said Ms. Michelle Ely, manager of the program, which was initiated to support young emerging visual artists living and working in Ho Chi Minh.
The Australian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City said the get-together was also aimed at celebrating the success of the VIET NOW exhibition.
“Firstly, I’d like to thank the City of Melbourne for bringing this special program to Ho Chi Minh City,” he said. “This program has had a dual benefit: not only has it supported young artists in Vietnam, it has made a broader contribution to the development of the local arts community.”
Young artist Tran Minh Duc, on behalf of the grantees, expressed deep thanks to those who brought the program here and the Australian Consulate General.
“The program has become of the few arts grants in this city and affects the young artists directly,” he said.
“Together with the grants and exhibitions of the artworks in both Ho Chi Minh City and Australia, the program has linked the young artists and their works to the general public, and it develops a connection out of the borders.”
