SISTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
Ambassador Ngo Quan Xuan, Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations; C. David Thomas, Director, Indochina Arts Partnership; Denise Karabinus, student Maine College of Art; Mr. Roger Gilmore, President, Maine College of Art; Mr. Peter Suchecki, Head of Printmaking Department, Maine College of Art. Miss Karabinus was selected as the first student from the Maine College of Art to study at the Hanoi Fine Arts University.
In a one world environment with rapid change in almost all sectors of our societies the world citizens need a common language which will enable us to speak to each other. The language needed to speak today is much more than the spoken or written word. It is the language of the arts. It is symbols, images, colors, sounds, feelings, and emotions. It is creativity, reflections and conclusions. It is this language which provides individuals with a unifying force to communicate across borders and cultures.

The arts are the common language of all cultures and are most often the first communication between different cultures. The arts are also often the first communication between cultures divided by political, ethnic, ideological and religious conflict.

The United States and Vietnam, although very different cultures, are linked by history and linked to the developments of a changing world. Communication, openness and friendship are essential to this development.
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Photo: Miss Vu Kim Thu, graduate of the Hanoi Fine Arts University, Hanoi Fine Arts University, Mr. Nguyen Thi Hieu Bac, Director, Hanoi Fine Arts University. Miss Thu was selected as the first student from Vietnam to participate in the sister school program. She is currently studying for her MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The first two schools to participate in this program are the Maine College of Art (MECA) in Portland, Maine, and the Hanoi Fine Arts University (HFAU) in Hanoi, Vietnam. The program began with the first exchange of students from both schools during the fall 1998 semester. Since then the program has expanded to include exhibition exchanges and additional student exchanges. Faculty and staff exchanges are expected soon.

Discussions were held in Providence, Portland and Boston between the Presidents of seven colleges in June 1999, after which a Letter of Agreement was signed by all seven Presidents laying the groundwork for the expansion of the Sister School Program to include these seven colleges. The colleges includes the Maine College of Art, Massachusetts College of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Fine Arts Colleges of Hue, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.
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Meeting held at Emmanuel College. Left to right: Sister Janet Eisner, President, Emmanuel College, Mr. Nguyen Long Hieu Back, President Hanoi Fine Arts University, Mr. Trung Be, President Hue College of Fine Arts, Mr. Nguyen Hoang, President Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts College, David Thomas, Director, Indochina Arts partnership, Miss Nguyen Duyen, Librarian, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association.
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In 2000, the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, joined the program. Since then two high level delegations from MassArt have traveled to Vietnam to prepare for exchanges between MassArt and the Ho Chi MInh City Fine Arts College. In March 2002, a group of students from MassArt will travel to Vietnam to work with students at the Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts College and visit historic sites.
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Left Photo: President Trung Be from the Hue Fine Arts College with President Roger Mandle, RISD. Center Photo: President Roger Gilmore with President Hieu Bach from the Hanoi Fine Arts College. Right Photo: President Katherine Sloan, Dr. Johanna Branson from the Massachusetts College of Art with President Nguyen Hoang from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts College
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During the spring of 2001, Ethan Berry, Chair of Printmaking at Montserrat College in Beverly, Massachusetts, spent one month at the Hanoi Fine Arts University working with students and faculty in printmaking studios and the computer lab.

In January 2002 the first delegation of artists from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts College/MassArt sister school program arrived in Boston to study at MassArt for the spring semester. Their names are: Miss Nguyen Thi Phuong Duyen, Director of Public Relations for the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts association, Mr. Nguyen Long, graphic designer and faculty member of the HCMCFAC, and Miss. Ngo Thai Uyen, one of Vietnam's leading fashion designers.

The IAP invites arts colleges and universities in the United States and Vietnam to participate and develop the Sister School Arts Program in cooperation with the IAP.

The program invites students and faculty members to participate in an exchange program linking colleges and universities in the United States and Vietnam. The idea is that one student or faculty member from one institution in the United States exchange with one student or faculty member from one institution in Vietnam.

The goal of the IAP is for the participating institutions to develop program guidelines for students and faculty as each institution assesses their own need and interest in the program. In general, for the success of the exchange program the IAP recommends that both students and faculty participants and involved in presentations of their national arts heritage , current developments in culture and arts development through workshops, exhibitions, class presentations, informational material and other types of events which bring students, faculty and the public together to enjoy the learning and understanding of the arts.

Admission to the program is on a selection basis. Initial selection of participants for the program will be made sending institutions with the final selection made by the IAP in consultation with the sending institutions. The exchanges will be on a one-to-one basis.

For additional information, please contact the IAP directly.
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