Astein is one of three Norwegian sculptors who have been working with six Vietnamese artists in a traditional stone-making village outside Da Nang under a project sponsored by Nordic Assistance for Viet Nam.
The group provided US$775,000 for the first stage, from 2002 to 2004, and the Norwegian Agency for Development funded the second stage from 2004 to 2006.
The artists gathered on the bank of the Han River in Da Nang on Tuesday for a two-week Viet Nam-Norway stone sculpture symposium.
The Da Nang Sculpture Project, directed by Oyvin Storbaekken, gives both Norwegian and local artists a chance to refine their skills in an inspiring setting.
"The nine Norwegian and Vietnamese artists have created these works for the love of art and this beautiful coastal city, not for money," Storbaekken said.
Norwegian sculptor Gunn Harbitz says she created Eternity, a linga with simple but sophisticated features, so the light would change with the statue. "I want to say with this work that love is eternal."
During the sculpture camp, Pham Van Hang, a native of the central province of Quang Nam, produced a 30-tonne work featuring early 20th century patriot Phan Chau Trinh.

Rushmore de Milo: Sculptor Oyvin Storbaekken’s Vietnamese Girls. — VNS Photo Ngoc Tuan

The double-sided work features the face of Trinh and a list of his famous statements that called for higher educational and moral standards in Viet Nam.
"I created this work to pay a debt of gratitude to my native country," Hang said.
Begun three months ago, Vietnamese girls by Storbaekken depicts females from the northern, central and southern regions.
All of the works will be presented to Da Nang and placed in a statue park near the Han River, said sculptor Pham Hong, secretary of the Da Nang Fine Arts Association.
Storbaekken said Oslo, the capital of Norway, takes pride in Vingeland, a statue park that has been popular with tourists since 1930.
A former lecturer at the University of Architecture and University of Fine Arts in Oslo, Storbaekken, 59, worked six years in Italy as a sculptor.
In 2001, he visited Da Nang and sought assistance for the Da Nang Sculpture Project, saying that he wanted to combine eastern traditions and modern arts in Non Nuoc Village outside Da Nang, which supplies many of the materials for sculptors.
Hong said by the end of 2006, the project will shift to the city, which will fund the building of a Da Nang Sculpture Centre on 5,700sq.m in Non Nuoc Village.
Classes for Vietnamese orphans and other children will be offered as well as courses for local and international sculptors.
For the symposium, Da Nang authorities paid for air tickets, food and accommodation while the Norwegian side paid for equipment, assistant artisans who helped the sculptors, and materials for the symposium