Meritorious Artist Duc Hung: 10 years behind the brilliance of Tao Quan
Meritorious Artist Duc Hung born in 1968 into a wealthy family in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. At the age of 9, he began to be exposed to the art of puppetry, but it was not until he was 18 that he officially became a puppeteer of the Hanoi Puppetry Troupe (now the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre).
While Doan was temporarily laid off (due to excess staff), he was inspired to pursue a career in fashion design and achieved much success in this field. He was affectionately nicknamed “the wizard of color” by many people for having more than 30 years of continuous creativity and innovation with designs and fashion collections as a designer.
Meritorious Artist Duc Hung is very close to Miss Ha Kieu Anh. Photo: FBNV
Sharing with Dan Viet, Meritorious Artist Duc Hung said that he had been involved in fashion design since 1988 but not many people knew about it. In 1992, when he was still a student, because he admired the talent and beauty of the beauty Vi Thi Dong in the 1992 Miss Vietnam contest, he decided to design free costumes for this contestant.
The costume of the beauty Vi Thi Dong that year was inspired by Meritorious Artist Duc Hung from the noble dresses of European ladies with a very unique 60cm long bow. The costume that Vi Thi Dong wore in the final night of the Miss Vietnam contest that year became a fashion phenomenon loved by many girls, bringing Duc Hung’s name to a new height. Later, he also worked with the Miss Vietnam contest for many years as a costume designer for Misses Nguyen Dieu Hoa, Ha Kieu Anh, Nguyen Thu Thuy, Nguyen Thien Nga…
For Meritorious Artist Duc Hung, each costume is the crystallization of sophistication, meticulousness, and refinement in material selection, color coordination, and tailoring techniques. He always brings his own perspectives to his costumes, both modern and imbued with traditional identity. Meritorious Artist Duc Hung has made his mark with many impressive ao dai collections, performed at major cultural programs of national and international stature.
Meritorious Artist Duc Hung takes care of each costume for the Taos in the Tao Quan programs. Photo: FBNV
For the past 10 years, Meritorious Artist Duc Hung has accompanied the program Meeting at the end of the year – Tao Quan. In the role of designer, he has brought the Tao and the characters of Tao Quan colorful costumes, elaborate in every detail. The male artist said that during many years of working with the program’s crew, he considered the artists as brothers, very fond and respectful. That is what has created creative inspiration for Meritorious Artist. Duc Hung when it comes to designing costumes.
Every Tao Quan season, I usually prepare the fabric to make the costumes a year in advance, and start designing the designs and embroidering and embellishing a few months later. But the difference and appeal of Tao Quan lies in its up-to-date nature, so the most work is done right before the show and many new designs are created according to the script,” Meritorious Artist Duc Hung shared.
With nearly 10 years as the “boss” of Tao Quan costumes, Meritorious Artist Duc Hung always understands what kind of costume is suitable for the stage, what kind of costume an actor needs to support their performance, and what message the director needs to convey through the costume. Stage costumes, more specifically costumes for the Tao Quan program, must blend aesthetic elements, character personality, and current events. Therefore, Meritorious Artist Hung is always meticulous to every detail to create a satisfactory costume.
Meritorious Artist Duc Hung also said that among the characters of Tao Quan, he was always impressed with the character “Miss Dau” played by People’s Artist Cong Ly. This character has rich and diverse changes every year and it is those changes that attract him. He himself also participated in a few small roles in Tao Quan 2018, 2023.
U60 still passionate about the profession, doing many roles at the same time
According to Meritorious Artist Duc Hung, at first, he intended to pursue medicine because he liked “curiosity and discovery”. However, his parents wanted to direct their only son to the arts because they were afraid of hardship. At the age of 9, he walked every day to attend the drama class at the Hanoi Children’s Palace and developed a passion for art. At the age of 16, his eldest sister took him to the Hanoi Art School (now the Hanoi College of Art) for an audition.
The happy family of Meritorious Artist Duc Hung. Photo: FBNV
At that time, puppetry in Vietnam was still very primitive and only superficial. While many students of drama and reformed opera had already had outstanding careers, Meritorious Artist Duc Hung’s puppetry class was still a subject that did not attract attention. Although many people “criticized” it, Duc Hung still decided on his choice. The more he studied, the more he loved it because puppetry is an art form with a very high level of convention and allows actors to freely create, transform into animals, and speak lines for non-human characters.
“I love puppetry so much that no matter how cold the weather is, I can still soak in the water for hours to perform for the audience. I consider it my career. I am happy when I get to work. Sometimes work can be so busy that I don’t have time for myself or my family, but it is work that has “nourished” my artistic emotions a lot. Many jobs help me realize that I am very necessary for this life and need to make more efforts to do more meaningful things,” Meritorious Artist Duc Hung shared with Dan Viet.
“I think, artist There is no age. Even if I am 60, 70 or 80 and still have the strength to work and can do my job well, I will still be “greedy” like that. And I also hope everyone will be “greedy” like me because that way they will contribute a lot to art. To me, that is a lovely, admirable greed. I like an artist who is passionately in love and lives and dies for the career he has followed.
I entered the art scene at the age of 16 and now, at the age of 50, I still love my acting career passionately. That means the me of 40 years ago and the me of today have not changed at all. I am still full of enthusiasm and burning with artistic spirit. I think the previous generation of artists need to be dedicated, passionate, and thirsty… only then can they pass on the “fire” to the young artists who come after them,” added artist Duc Hung.