Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural, or Hanoi Ceramic Road ( vi, Con đường Gốm sứ), is a

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

along the walls of the Red River

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

system in the city of

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. With a length of about , the 'Ceramic Road' is one of the major projects that were developed on the occasion of the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi.

History

The Hanoi Ceramic Road originated with the journalist Nguyễn Thu Thủy, who won a prize in the Hanoi architecture contest for her idea of transforming the dike system around Hanoi into a ceramic

. The work of decoration began in 2007 for the dike wall of about 6.000m in length and 0.95m in height which runs along the road of Âu Cơ, Nghi Tàm, Yên Phụ, Trần Nhật Duật, Trần Quang Khải, Trần Khánh Dư and terminates at the pier of the

Long Biên Bridge Long Biên Bridge ( vi, Cầu Long Biên) is a historic cantilever bridge across the Red River that connects two districts, Hoàn Kiếm and Long Biên of the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. It was originally called ''Paul Doumer Bridge''. History ...

. She was supported by the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, which funded the first of the wall; and the planning, training, and infrastructure needed to complete the project. The Ceramic Road was planned to be finished in 2010 to commemorate the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi in October 2010. Participating in the work of decoration are not only Vietnamese artists but also foreign embassies and culture centres in Hanoi such as the Goethe-Institut,

Alliance française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

L'espace,

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Società Dante Alighieri The Dante Alighieri Society (Italian: ''Società Dante Alighieri'') is a society that promotes Italian culture and language around the world. Today this society is present in more than 60 countries. It was formed in Italy in July 1889. The so ...

Dalte Centre, and other cultural centres of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Description

The mosaic wall mural is made from

tessera A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae The oldest known tesserae ...

e which are product of Bát Tràng, a nearby village famous for its Bát Tràng porcelain. The content of the mosaic represents the decorative pattern from different periods in the

history of Vietnam The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around 20,000 years ago, as the first modern humans arrived and settled on this land, known as the Hoabinhians, which can be traced to modern-day Negritos. Archaeological findings from 1965, which are ...

Phùng Nguyên culture The Phùng Nguyên culture of Vietnam (c. 2,000 – 1,500 BC) is a name given to a culture of the Bronze Age in Vietnam which takes its name from an archeological site in Phùng Nguyên, east of Việt Trì discovered in 1958. It was during this p ...

;

Đông Sơn culture The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...

; Lý dynasty;

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, ( Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thá ...

; Lê dynasty and Nguyễn dynasty. Also incorporated on the wall are modern art works, paintings of Hanoi, and children's drawings.

Guinness World Record

Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy said the project will strive to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the 'World's largest ceramic mosaic' by 2010. On 5 October 2010, Guinness World Records adjudicator, Beatriz Fernandez, undertook an official review of the Hanoi ceramic mosaic to confirm its dimensions and ensure the strict guidelines relating to the record had been followed. Ms Fernandez confirmed that at 3,850 linear meters (6,950m²) of the Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural was the world's largest ceramic mosaic and awarded a Guinness World Records certificate. Chilean artist Alexandro Mono Gonzalez completed a new segment of the Mural on 18 September 2017. Another segment about Sri Lanka was sponsored by the Sri Lankan Embassy and completed on 22 January 2019. A newly built segment of the concrete dike is expected to have murals on it as well, as the 900-meter-long stretch is currently left plain and attacked by graffiti.

Gallery

File:Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural (14770543373).jpg, Along Hanoi Ceramic Road File:ConDuongGomSu22102015.jpg, Mural restoration in 2015 File:Con đường gốm sứ ven sông Hồng 021020091714-New.jpg, Honoring Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi in 2010 File:2014-06 vietnam 21 (14748767664).jpg, View across Hanoi Ceramic Road

References

External links