Over 60 Indonesian glass paintings are being showcased at an exhibit that opened on Saturday in Hanoi, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism reported Monday on its website.

The exhibition is taking place at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, located on Nguyen Van Huyen Street in Cau Giay District.

On display are 68 paintings – Indonesia’s unique art form – which feature a wide variety of topic matters including history, religion, folk culture, and entertainment.

The collection was presented to the museum in 2006 by an Indonesian couple – O’ong Maryono and his wife Rosalia Sciortino.

The richly colored paintings are a vivid reflection of Indonesian history, culture, and society.

The tales depicted in the paintings are also indicative of the striking similarities between Vietnamese and Indonesian culture.

According to the Vietnamese culture ministry, the art of crafting glass paintings stems from Europe and was first introduced to Indonesia in the early 20th century by Dutch people.

The art thrived in the country during the 1930s, making it one of those boasting the most diverse glass painting collections.

Indonesian glass paintings are mostly inspired by everyday subject matters, including folk art, rituals, festivals, Islam, and epics.

According to local newswire VietNamNet, O’ong Maryono and Rosalia Sciortino began collecting their first glass paintings in Yogyakarta in 1986 and Java in 1989.

Most of their collections were assembled between 1993 and 2001, when they visited a number of villages in Indonesia and stumbled upon the time-honored paintings.

To make a glass painting, the artist paints on the inner surface of transparent glass for the viewers to see from outside the glass.

Glass paintings first appeared in Vietnam under the reign of King Minh Mang and Thieu Tri of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) – the country’s last.

In the beginning of the 20th century, glass painting shops blossomed in the Cho Lon area (District 5 nowadays) of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).

After 1920, the art started to flourish in such southern provinces as Tien Giang, An Giang, and Tra Vinh.

An exhibition held in Ho Chi Minh City in August last year showcased around 100 Vietnamese glass paintings, including those for ancestral worship, decoration, and extolling gods, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.

It took place 56 years after the most recent glass painting exhibition was organized in the city by Truong Cung Vinh, also known as artist Van Hue, in 1957.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!