Exhibition "Home" 

24 May – 02 June 2024
Manzi Exhibition Space, 02 ngõ Hàng Bún, Ba Đình, Hà Nội

Home – we leave (to return), we return (only to leave again).

Home – some build it, others knock it down, and a few search for it indefinitely.

It’s a concept that everyone knows but may never touch. It’s an art exhibition not meant to be understood but to be felt. So how does one proceed?

Six artists peeled back every layer until they found “home” in its rawest form.

A mother laid her babies on the silk canvas soft as a lullaby. Another rubbed the gnawing sensation of loss on lacquer. One seeks out nostalgia in the act of gathering among humans and other living beings. A historian pores over ancient culture only to discover the lasting artifact that is maternal love. A friend finds that nurture & love aren’t necessarily fueled by blood relations. A nomad crisscrosses the earth only to realize home has accompanied them all along.

Here, every image, whether foreign or familiar, will awaken some deep corners of one’s subconscious. The sensation is akin to walking around & stumbling upon a memory of home.

Exhibition “Room/Ystafell/Phòng”

Exhibition launch and talk: 06 pm, Sat 18 May 2024
Exhibition: 19 – 24 May 2024
Goethe Institut Hanoi, 56 – 58 Nguyễn Thái Học, Ba Đình, Hà Nội

Following the publication of Room/Ystafell/Phòng six writers, three from Viet Nam and three from Wales come together to discuss their queer identities and how it has been shaped by the world around them. Featuring discussion transcripts, poetry, photography, collages and prose.

A man takes to the ballroom scene after months of lockdown in Há Nội, entranced by the vogue gods. An 81 year old lesbian artist writes to her ex-lovers daughter to explore her ten strange dreams. At 2am a young woman strides through Queen Street, Cardiff writing love notes to her cariad (Welsh word for ‘love’). Exploring sexuality, love and loss, language, cultural heritage, nature and joy this anthology sheds light on the queer experience in Wales and Việt Nam.

The writers are:
– Joshua Jones, UK
– Kai Nguyen, Viet Nam
– Leo Drayton, UK
– Lauren Morais, UK
– Maik Cây, Viet Nam
– Xuân Tùng, Viet Nam

Room/Ystafell/Phòng was published by Parthian Books, November 2023, in collaboration with the British Council as part of our UK/ Viet Nam Season.

The event is as part of European Literature Days, which initiated by EUNIC and European Embassies in Hanoi, with the aim of honouring and sharing cultural values from Europe to Vietnamese readers.

SOLO International Concert Series: Boris Giltburg Piano Recital

08 pm – 09:30 pm, Wed 22 May 2024
Grand Concert Hall, Vietnam National Academy of Music
77 Hào Nam, Chợ Dừa, Đống Đa, Hà Nội

We are extremely proud to introduce to the audience the first event of the SOLO International Concert Series: world-famous pianist Boris Giltburg will come to Vietnam to perform for the first time.

Born in 1984, Boris Giltburg is regarded as one of the most inspiring and compelling concert pianists of this generation. Since winning the Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition in 2013, he has performed in the most prestigious venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus and Southbank Centre. He has worked with many top orchestras and conductors across the world including with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Santa Cecilia di Roma, and at the BBC Proms.

Apart from live performances, Boris Giltburg continues to actively captivate musicians and non-musicians through his social media pages, and has attracted a large following of music lovers.

Boris Giltburg is an exclusive recording artist for Naxos and has also provided fingerings for several piano compositions published by G. Henle Verlag.

Exhibition “The Sun’s Reflection”

10 am – 07 pm, Tues – Sun, until 09 June 2024
Gate Gate Gallery, 55 Văn Miếu, Đống Đa, Hà Nội

Gate Gate Gallery will officially introduce the exhibition “The Sun’s Reflection”, introducing 12 latest works created in 2024 by artist Le Quynh Anh.

The works in this exhibition have the theme “The Sun’s Reflection”, with titles reminiscent of brilliant summers in the places the artist has lived and visited. Between the different formal frames, the audience may perceive the lines converging and bulging or fading according to the artist’s breathing and arm movements, adding unevenness and expression to the surface of works. Each work exudes the accumulation or condensation of time, sometimes patiently waiting for a spontaneous or self-conscious subtle streak of Quynh Anh.

Le Quynh Anh graduated with a Bachelor’s degree (2018) and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts (2020) from Vietnam University of Fine Arts. Though known for realism/ semi-realism paintings, since 2023, Le Quynh Anh has officially pursued abstract art as her prominent form of expression. Always trying many approaches, diversifying expression styles and above all, maintaining her purity in illuminating reflective memories, Le Quynh Anh received positive reviews from art experts domestically and internationally. Notable exhibitions include: The 58th Shutai Exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Japan, 2023), 3D virtual exhibition “”I AM AN ARTIST”” organized by Kita Kamakura Artisans (Japan & America, 2023), The 76th Fine Art Exhibition of the Women Artists Association at Tokyo Art Museum (Japan, 2023), Art on Loop London Exhibition (UK, 2023),… Currently, Le Quynh Anh lives and works in Hanoi.

The Oddball, the Reebel & the Maverick

10 am – 08 pm, Tues – Sun 07 May – 28 July 2024
The Outpost Art Organisation, Roman Plaza Tower B1 (Floor 2), To Huu, Hanoi

As a collaborative project between The Outpost (TO) and Nguyen Art Foundation (NAF), this exhibition underscores the resilience of artists amidst the challenging landscape from the 1980s to the 2000s – a period often defined by a serious lack of art infrastructure and support. Moreover, the exhibition seeks to invite reflection on the dynamics and interactions between art organisations in our current context. As individual artists continue to share resources and push boundaries, we must also consider how organisations can collaborate to support our local art scene. What would happen when two distinct art organisations such as TO and NAF intersect – one curating the other’s collection? What opportunities for mutual learning would arise from such engagement? How could these partnerships enhance the way we see and understand artworks?

The contextual materials presented in this exhibition are collected from various sources, including the “Studio Visit” series of Nguyen Art Foundation, online entries of the Asia Art Archive, excerpts from the book “Don’t call it art” edited by Veronika Radulovic and Annette Bhagwati, the personal archives of Suzanne Lecht, information from the Vietnam Contemporary Art Database and the Postividai Collection’s website.

Lạc Wine – burlesque duo

08 pm, Fri 10, 17 & 24 May 2024
06:30 pm, Sat 11, 18 & 25 May 2024
ATH Theatre, 102/47 Quang Khanh, Quang An, Tay Ho, Hanoi

This May at ATH Theatre, Lạc Wine burlesque duo will bring you into the love-hate story between ELLE and IL. Are they accomplices, enemies or lovers? Dead or alive? Enchanted or enraged? Come see the mystery unfold in musique, movements and more.

Mixing music and theatrical improvisation, Lạc Wine is an astonishing and intoxicating tribute to street theatre, musical comedy, cabaret and 20th century expressionism.

Only a list of songs is decided before the show. Each performance is unique thanks to the bonds created between two actor-musicians and the audience in the performance space. The relationship between these two characters is constantly renewed, you will never see a story twice.

This duo revisits a wide-ranging repertoire inspired by musicals from the 30s, 50s and 70s, film soundtracks, cartoons, vocal jazz, rock, opera… Their voices and guitar combine in harmonies that are angelic and disturbing at the same time, to draw the audience into a world that is both scathing and enchanting.

Created in 2017, Lạc Wine is a Franco-Vietnamese duo led by HUA Thanh Tu and Etienne ROUSSEAUX, musicians and actors based in Hanoi – Vietnam.

The Diaphanous Folk Songs

Exhibition: 10 am – 12 pm & 02 pm – 05 pm, until 19 May 2024
Eight Gallery, 357/2 Nguyễn Trọng Tuyển, Ward 1, Tân Bình district, HCMC

Eight Gallery proudly presents the solo exhibition “Hoang Minh Hang: The diaphanous folk songs”. Hoang Minh Hang’s most recent works of watercolour on silk and on Dó paper from this year will be displayed in the exhibition.

Inspired by landscape, nature and realest moments around her, with more than 50 years of experience in silk painting, the works of Hoang Minh Hang truly deliver the most gentle and peaceful feelings towards the audience.

Hoang Minh Hang majored in silk painting and graduated from the former Hanoi College of Fine Arts (now known as Vietnam University of Fine Arts) in 1972, with more than 50 years of experience in painting with silk and other materials.

The inspirations of her works often come from the surrounding natural landscapes: from plants, flowers, mountains and sea, and even landscapes that now live in her memory.

Without much complicated details and brushstrokes, Hoang Minh Hang’s works bring the audience into a vast space of tranquillity and nostalgia, all are included in each painting. The artist currently lives and works in Vung Tau.

“Fragment | Depiction”

Until 1 June 2024
Ô Cocktail & Art Bar, 292/15, Điện Biên Phủ, Ward 17, Bình Thạnh, HCMC

Limitless Contemporary is pleased to present “Fragment | Depiction”, a solo exhibition featuring the latest silk paintings by young artist Le Nguyen Minh Nhu.

Since 2021, Minh Nhu has written down fragments of disrupted dreams, viewing them as a window to the unconscious mind. For her, translating these enigmatic dreams into paintings is an imperative driven by raw emotion—a means of self-interpretation.

While silk paintings are mainly integrated with traditional themes in Vietnam’s art history, Minh Nhu’s artworks offer a lens to themes of the young’s disconnection, loss of belongingness, and existential crisis in the contemporary societal chaos.

Workshop Series Sóng Sóng: Sound Exploration for Creative Practice

02 pm – 04 pm, every Sunday 05 May – 23 June 2024
APD Center, Creative Square, No 1, Luong Yen Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi

Contemporary art forms contain sonic elements either as conscious acts directed by the artist, or as consequences of processes or movements within a piece. Sound is also a pre-existing condition of any physical space so that even a stationary image, object, or installation can be said to have a sound element as part of its overall experience.

This understanding is the root of the involvement of musicians in visually-focused artistic activity since its inception. While these collaborations are welcomed and valued, artists who aren’t well-versed in sound can gain a lot by becoming more familiar with sound as a discipline in order to take a more direct part in creating their own soundworks, or simply to increase their awareness of the sonic realm. This can also lead to improved communication with sound practitioners – performers, composers, technicians – and more creative results.

The idea of this workshop is to facilitate exploration into sound as a medium of artistic expression using accessible resources. Artists are invited to deepen their understanding of sound as a natural phenomenon and an expressive channel. We will take initial steps towards experimenting with sound as a medium to be considered and applied to art practice. This will provide the foundations for a more direct and personal connection with sound from the perspective of a listener and creator.

An Open Studio by Hà Đào

Open Studio: 11 am – 07 pm, Tues – Sun until 19 May 2024
Manzi Exhibition Space, 02 Ngõ Hàng Bún, Hà Nội

Manzi is pleased to present an open studio by Ha Dao, a photographer, writer and programme coordinator at Matca.

The open studio session introduces works grounded in real tragedies learned through the press and social media. As media sensations, both stories feature a female outlaw as the protagonist. Amassing two uncommon fates, this open studio session deals with romance, heartbreak and crime in Vietnam’s recent past. Entrenched are the artist’s ongoing inquiries into the creative and ethical implications of the camera, or more specifically, of appropriating stories not of one’s own.

Juggling with a variety of visual information (photographs, audio recordings, video footage, found and reconstructed materials), in this open studio, Hà proposes a narrative context in which the pure function endowed in the photography almost proved futile: the large volume of visual statement is exposed, the voice of knowledge is clear and directly perceived without any filter, vivid details constitute the very raw material of ‘that-has-been’ yet at the same time can very well say nothing at all as what represented can be immediately yielded to our perception but extremely elusive once one aims to process them to grasp the whole story.

Fading Clouds of Recollection

Exhibition: 09:30 am – 06 pm, until 19 May 2024
Work Room Four, 31 Alley 67 Tô Ngọc Vân, Quảng An, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội

‘Fading Clouds of Recollection’ is a mesmerising collection of contemporary relics created from dissipating fragments of historical recollections. Tracing the identity of the past through treasured memories and objects collected by the artist; treasures, faces, historical remnants, antiques, and anonymous artefacts which are no longer fully intact.

Tuyền assembles these remembrances and objects into new compositions broken and clouded – suspended in time – creating artworks which venerate the ancient through modern conception.

Tuyền revives objects and their memories by creating composite reconstructions of impressions of artefacts from the past. Once the reconstructed object has been created in painstaking detail, Tuyền again destroys it, shattering into pieces only to reassemble and encase it in epoxy resin. A perfect incomplete memory of something that is an imagined version of what once existed. Floating in permanent interruption within the artist’s own reality the valuable effects – these people and places – are within layers of space that appear uncertain, chaotic and complex with an ambiguous illusory quality.

The process is a painstaking journey of careful creation and destruction, leaving behind work that is both complete and yet purposefully unresolved. Tuyền creates a reality and then systematically distorts and destroys it to make a new actuality.

He creates new buried realms of memories still smouldering alive, unable to fade away. Through the slow and laboured process of each artwork creation he connects himself with the past and slows the intensity of the pace of contemporary life. Tuyền feels a deep intangible connection between his mind and the core values of ancient and profound traditional culture these perfect new relics seek to honour this connection and allows us to see them as if through is mind’s eye, shrouded underneath shapeless multicoloured layers of clouds, displayed in beautiful majesty and preserved in incredible imperfect splendour.

Born in 1982 in Thái Bình, a North eastern province in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam, Lưu Tuyền is currently living and working in Hanoi. He graduated from the Hanoi University of Industrial Arts and is now a member of the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association. Already and exceptionally accomplished and celebrated painter Tuyền discovered epoxy resin in 2013 while working on sculptures, most of Tuyền’s recent work combines painting with resin finishing techniques now. One of Vietnam’s most bold and distinctive contemporary artists, Tuyền continues to push boundaries beyond the ordinary with his unique style and perspective.

Notable exhibitions include: “Perfect heaven” – Six senses space, Hà Nội, Việt Nam – 2023, “Spring Paintings & Sculptures” – Hanoi Studio Gallery, Hanoi – 2019; “Perfect Reality” – Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, Hanoi – 2018; “Vietnam Spring” – Berlin, Germany – 2018; “Realism+” – Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Museum, HCMC – 2018; “Annual China Kunming International Oil Painting Exhibition” – Yunnan Art Museum, China – 2017; “Today” – Hanoi Creative City, Hanoi – 2016; “Asia Silklink International Art Exhibition (ASIAE)” – Guangzhou, China – 2016.

Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province- Outdoor display of antique artifacts

Until the end of 2024,
Pleiku City

An outdoor exhibition entitled “Tay Nguyen – Gia Lai Paradise” displaying antique artifacts of local ethnic people.

Highlights of the exhibition are a white elephant bone chair dating back 700 years and a collection of elephant hunting tools dating back more than 100 years of the M'Nong ethnic group.

On display are thousands of antique artifacts of collector Dang Minh Tam, including musical instruments, hunting and weaving tools, ceremonial objects, jewelry items and other items in the life of ethnic groups in the five Central Highlands provinces.

Humming at the End of a Dream

Exhibition: until 09 Jun 2024
Sàn Art, Units B0616 & B0617, 6th Floor, Block B Office, Millennium Masteri, Ward 6, District 4, HCMC (enter via Nguyen Huu Hao street)

‘Humming at the End of a Dream’, a solo exhibition by Nghia Dang, investigates the artist’s continuing interest in the construction of the psyche and the mind’s capacity for image-making. The title alludes to the elusive and indescribable feeling left behind upon awakening from these states of sleep. The vague recollections, the uncertainty of sensations and feelings, the remaining traces of these symbols as we regain consciousness. A feeling of being close to unmasking these secrets but never quite putting our finger on it with certainty, an experience akin to hearing someone humming a melody — could this be …? We may never know but we are getting closer. Nghia Dang’s artistic journey has also been a consistent evolution of these questions, the writings of the psychoanalysts Lacan and Jung creating a framework for his practice. The artist does not simply create in an impulsive or cathartic manner but, by considering himself as the primary subject of his art, is able to understand and dissect the connections behind his mind and work.

A Necromancy Paintings

Exhibition: Until June 29, 09 am – 06 pm, Mon – Sat, 
22 Gallery, 22 Pham Cu Luong, Ward 2, Tan Binh District,

The solo exhibition “Hoạ Chiêu Hồn – Necromancy Painting” by artist Pham Tran Viet Nam embarks on an artistic journey that vividly portrays the human experience in all its complexities: trapped, yearning, or tormented souls of both the living and the departed.

Drawing inspiration from war, local historical narratives, global dilemmas, and haunted memories, Pham Tran Viet Nam creates “Họa Chiêu Hồn.” The collection comprises 17 artworks that transcend the boundaries of reality and illusion, reflecting the tumultuous emotions, precariousness, and agony of the contemporary world.

Pham Tran Viet Nam’s works, created between 2017 and 2024, are currently on display at 22 Gallery. This presentation not only introduces a fresh viewpoint on art to its audience but also acts as a reflection on life, an effort to heal and soothe restless souls.

In Stranger Lands: Cacaos Journeys to Asia

Exhibition: until July 2024
10 am – 04 pm, Wed, Fri & Sat
EMASI Nam Long
147 Street No. 8, Nam Long Residential Area, District 7, HCMC
10 am – 04 pm, Tues, Thurs & Sat
EMASI Vạn Phúc
2 Street No. 5, Vạn Phúc Residential Area, Thủ Đức, HCMC

Nguyen Art Foundation (NAF) proudly invites you to the opening reception of In Stranger Lands: Cocoa’s Journeys To Asia, a two-part exhibition curated by Caroline Ha Thuc, featuring 17 newly commissioned artworks from established artists working across Asia, including Ravi Agarwal (India), Timoteus Anggawan Kusno (Indonesia), Antariksa (Indonesia), Agung Firmanto Budiharto (Indonesia), Bui Cong Khanh (Vietnam), Cian Dayrit (Philippines), Cyril Delettre (Hong Kong), Veronica Emery (Hong Kong), Jiandyn Collective (Thailand), Jason Lim (Singapore), Pan Lu and Bo Wang (Hong Kong/Netherlands), Arin Rungjang (Thailand), Erika Tan (Singapore), Rodel Tapaya (Philippines), Ting Chaong-Wen (Taiwan), Robert Zhao Renhui (Singapore) and Zheng Mahler (Hong Kong). The exhibition will take place simultaneously across the campuses of EMASI Nam Long (District 7) and EMASI Van Phuc (Thu Duc City) from March to July 2024.

For many of us, the taste of chocolate evokes childhood memories, sweetness, and the warmth of family. In Asia, chocolates were often brought back from visits to faraway countries and received as gifts with excitement and pleasure.

Today, chocolate is no longer considered an “exotic” luxury item. In addition to Western brands, many Asian countries have developed their own chocolate industries, incorporating flavors and ingredients that resonate with Asian palates. However, what lies behind the chocolate bars that we see daily on supermarket shelves remains, for many, unknown territory.

Is cocoa produced in Asia? Why has chocolate been absent for so long from the Asian culinary landscape, and can local producers meet today’s growing demand? Who are the farmers cultivating cocoa in the region, and what are the challenges they face when asked to scale up production in a sustainable way?

Conceived as a collective and creative research project, this exhibition invites us to delve into these issues, aiming to shed light on the many untold stories of Asian cocoa and chocolate through an array of embodied, emotional, imaginative, and conceptual artistic expressions. From the cocoa tree’s unique characteristics and its colonial history to the ecological challenges surrounding its current production and the intricate processes involved in turning beans into chocolate, the artistic diversity showcased in this exhibition unveils the extensive breadth, potential, and complexity of what is often perceived merely as a foreign delicacy.