Page 55 - Tạp chí bonsai BCI Q12011

far left: Visiting the Movie
director Mr Bui Duc Tam
stone collection. From left:
Laura Estival Magrina Spain;
Kathy Coffman US; Chiara
Padrini and Mr Bui Duc Tam
left: One room of Mr Bui Duc
Tam’s stone collection

far left: Sedimentary rock
displayed as a leaf in
Ho Chi Minh City

left: Pattern Stone in
Ho Chi Minh City

national celebrations for the 1000 year anniversary of the
founding of Hanoi. This timing allowed us to visit big
exhibitions of Bonsai and Suiseki prepared for the occa-
sion, both in Ho Chi Minh City and in the capital Hanoi.
In the Western countries we are familiar with the Viet-
namese art of miniature landscapes called Hon Non Bô.
These arrangements are described in the book Moun- Abstract Shape Stone:
tains in the Sea published by Timber Press Inc., and are (Length x Height x Width)
compositions of rocks and trees that can be compared 25cm x 32cm x 14.50cm.
with Chinese Penjing, rather than with viewing stones. Collected in Dai Binh River,
Typically here the viewing stones are collected in rivers Bao Loc District, Lam Dong
Province, 2002.
or near the sea, but also in the mountains, especially on
the border with China. They are generally a hard stone,
with a round shape valued for the colors and designs on
the surface, although we also saw more descriptive stones
of landscapes, animals and human beings.
We all visited a Bonsai and stone exhibition in Ho Chi
Minh City organized by the Vietnamese Bonsai Asso-
ciation. In the afternoon I was invited to a private visit
at the house of the Vietnamese movie director Mr. Tam
Bùi Dù’c. He is a great lover and collector of stones, not
only those from his country, but also stones from China
and Japan. He was so gracious to receive me and two
pupils of mine participating in the tour. Many remark-
able stones were displayed in his three-storey house,
but many others remained unseen, as these were still
packed in boxes, having returned from a recent show.
He told us that before 1975, few people knew this art in

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