Trung Thanh village is located by the seashore facing the poetic Truong Giang river in Tam Thanh commune. The elders in the village said that Tam Thanh was established a long time ago. During the wartime, it was an area with a strong revolutionary tradition; hundreds of men from the area laid down their lives for national independence and freedom.

Today, most of Tam Thanh’s residents are involved in fishing, shrimp farming and seafood processing because the natural land is not favourable for agricultural production. The local fishermen catch around 3,5000 tonnes of seafood of various types each year, helping the commune earn an annual income per capita of VND 25 million (US$1,120).

However, the locality’s development has not yet met its full potential. Despite boasting a long coastline and beautiful beaches with crystal clear water, the commune’s tourism sector has not yet made full use of these available advantages.

According to Chairman of Tam Ky City People’s Committee Van Anh Tuan, in recent years, local authorities have devised policies on facilitating socio-economic development in the city’s south region, including Tam Thanh commune.

In mid May this year, the three-star Tam Thanh Beach Resort was inaugurated in Ha Thanh hamlet, Tam Thanh commune, providing visitors with unique accommodation and entertainment services.

In the same effort to boost Tam Thanh tourism, one month later, the Korea Foundation in co-ordination with the UN-Habitat Vietnam launched an arts project, which would cover 100 houses in the commune with murals.

The project was also part of the Korea Foundation Community Art Exchange Programme that targets improved living conditions for locals and brings fine arts closer to the public.

Over three weeks, walls and fences of the selected house were covered with lively and bright pictures featuring the daily lives of the locals, such as children playing, fishing boats heading to the sea, rural markets, and smiling people.

According to Korean Foundation Vice President Keum-jin Yoon, the mural village of Trung Thanh, the first of its kind in Vietnam, is based on popular mural villages in her country.

The project, which gathered five Korean artists and 12 volunteers from both Vietnam the RoK, aimed to promote arts exchange between the two countries, bring a new look tothe village, develop the locality’s tourism and raise public awareness of community development.

More importantly, it is a symbol of Vietnam-RoK friendship, she added.

The village now is filled with a blaze of colours, bringing joy to not only visitors, but also villagers.

70-year-old Truong Thi Lam had a sparkle in her eyes when she said that she was happy to see the outcome of her hometown’s exterior renovation.

Standing in front of his house, which had a makeover thanks to the project, Bui Tan Buu said that the community fine arts project brought a total fresh appearance to his fishing village. It also offered an opportunity for locals to enjoy the arts while improving incomes by developing tourism activities, he added.

Vice Chairman of Tam Thanh commune People’s Committee, Le Ngoc Ty said that the local authorities and people were excited to hear that their commune was selected for the project.

Now that the project is complete, the local authorities have taken measures to raise public awareness in protecting the art works and encouraging new tourist products and services in the village.

In the coming time, Tam Ky’s authorities will make further investments in improving traffic infrastructure and beaches, as well as design regulations and guidelines for locals to promote the project’s efficiency, making Trung Thanh village a spotlight in ecological tourism of the city, affirmed Nguyen Minh Nam, Vice Chairman of the city People’s Committee.

Selected photos at the village: