The painters at the event include not only well-known ones like Thanh Ngoc and Vu Giang Huong but also young students from the Hanoi Fine Arts College.

They have successfully inherited the traditional techniques characterized by the black and brown colours while trying to apply new styles with bright tones, sometimes with a sharp contrast.

The Vietnamese modern art of silk paintings appeared in the 1930s with painter Nguyen Phan Chanh considered its first pioneer.

Silk paintings are an age-old art popular in Vietnam, China and Japan.

The exhibition, held at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, will last till January 5, 2008.