For those not intimately familiar with what's real and what's not, the Vietnamese art market can be a minefield.
“Many people are frightened of buying without being sure that it is an original,” says Art Vietnam's Lecht. “There is no governmental body that can provide a certificate of authenticity.”
Despite the plagiarism and the heavy hand of state censorship — Vietnamese artists still need state permits to mount exhibitions — not all is gloomy.
A new generation of more edgy artists is emerging in Hanoi, and increasingly in the bustling southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, eager to adapt their styles to depict the rapidly changing society around them.
The surrealist works of one rising star, Hanoi's Nguyen Manh Hung, touch on the country's bloody history without being overtly political, using images such as military jets pulling carts filled with rice stalks.
Another newcomer creating a buzz is 32-year-old painter and video artist Hoang Duong Cam, whose bold and vibrant exhibition Filename.disan (heritage) has been shown at Ho Chi Minh City's avant-garde Galerie Quynh.
Described as a comment on technology and culture, and the blurring of East and West, the abstract works mix traditional and modern images, such as the ao dai girl and modern bras, under layers of bold color.
“When I was at university, we were supposed to paint buffalo, ethnic minority people and ao dai girls to get high marks,” says Cam. “As for art movements, we were taught only French impressionism and socialist realism.
“My generation had little access to information for a long time. Now young artists look on the Internet or ask foreign friends to send art magazines to discover what is happening abroad.”
In his works, Cam explains, he tries to depict “the Vietnam of today — between tradition and consumer society”.
Cam, who previously made ends meet as a graphic designer, says proudly, “I am at last a full-time artist.
But he has sympathy for those who primarily paint to pay the bills. “There are many who have to earn their living another way.”
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