The Korea Foundation carried out its Art for a Better Community project in Tam Ky City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam from May 9 to 30, 2018. As part of its cultural and public diplomacy activities to make global contributions through arts and culture, the Korea Foundation implemented a project to turn Tam Thanh in Tam Ky City into a village of murals in 2016, and painted more murals and completed the project this year.

Having being reborn as a mural village in 2016, Tam Thanh emerged as a popular tourist attraction, drawing about 500 visitors on weekdays and close to 2,000 during the weekend. The village also grabbed headlines in Korea when First Lady Kim Jung-sook visited in November 2017. Following the transformation, some of Tam Thanh’s children have even started to learn the Korean language. Encouraged by the many positive changes in Tam Thanh, the Tam Ky City People’s Committee informed the Korea Foundation of its plan to enlarge and complete the mural village this year, and asked for the Foundation’s cooperation in this regard once again.

Responding to this request, the Korea Foundation commissioned the Lee Gang Jun Institute of Public Design to plan and design the additional murals and undertook the project with support from Noroo Paint & Coatings. For the completion of the murals, five Korean artists, five Korean university student volunteers, about 20 local art teachers, five Vietnamese artists, and local villages toiled under the hot summer sun beaming down upon the fishing village. Through their efforts, about 30 new pieces were completed, including six large-sized murals, decorating the walls of close to 50 houses. In addition, the participants installed photo-zone bench and sculptures to further enhance the experience of visitors to the village.

To consolidate this work, the Korea Foundation organized three separate workshops for local artists, art teachers, and Tam Thanh People’s Committee members to transfer mural project knowhow, thereby enabling them to conserve and repair the murals in the years ahead.

It is hoped that Tam Thanh will further develop and long be remembered as a symbol of the friendship between Vietnam and Korea.