The Unesco World Heritage town of Hoi An in central Vietnam is a kaleidoscope of vivid colours, street life and architectural styles. It was the base for a painting holiday with Peter Brown in 2017.
Hoi An is a busy riverside town with a huge variety of painting material to suit al styles. Emerald green rice paddies, girls in traditional dress and wearing palm-leaf conical hats, fishermen in small wooden rafts, children riding buffalos, markets full of exotic fruits and vegetables, ram-shackled tailor shops, Chinese temples with brightly coloured demonic-looking deities and dragons, a Japanese covered bridge, former merchants houses and old tea warehouses, alleyways decorated with lanterns, scooters, bicycles, a full moon festival and so much more…. If this isn’t enough to satisfy your palette then there are the nearby idyllic Cham Islands, the ancient temple ruins of My Son and a pristine coastline lined with casuarina and pandan trees.
Historic and gently Hoi An is small and easy to walk around. The streets and waterside full of life and colour and perfect painting subjects. There are street markets with exotic fruits and vegetables, ram-shackled shops, Chinese temples with brightly coloured demonic-looking deities and dragons, a 400-year old Japanese covered bridge, former merchant’s houses and old trading warehouses, alleyways decorated with lanterns, colourful fishing boats bobbing on the Thu Bon River, women wearing colourful full length dresses and palm-leaf conical hats, children playing in the narrow alleyways, old men sitting on doorsteps and young men riding around on scooters and bicycles. Street food is an important part of the local culture.
Painting with Peter Brown is from dawn to dusk
Venture a little further afield and you’ll discover much more to paint…. Across the Thu Bon River is the An Hoi Peninsular where you’ll find life has changed little. Hoi An is surrounded by emerald green fields where the rice is handpicked and bullocks are used to pull ploughs.
Two day trips were organised for the students to paint the ancient Cham ruins of My Son (Beautiful Mountain), which was the most important city in the Champa Kingdom and is one of the most important Hindu Temple sites in Southeast Asia. The other was to a fishing village on the breathtakingly beautiful granite Cham Islands with their pristine coastline lined with casuarina and pandan trees.
The programme culminated with a special full moon festival in Hoi An when traditional songs and dances were performed in the lantern-lit streets.
Find out more about Peter Brown
This painting holiday was an exclusive corporate event operated on behalf of TALP (The Artist and Leisure Painter magazines) and Painters-online.