A selection of noteworthy artistic and cultural events that will take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

HANOI

PERFORMANCE

Traditional Music & Beatbox Concert “Nam Nhi”

8pm, June 30

Institut Français de Hanoi – L’Espace

24 Trang Tien Street, Hanoi

You are invited to a traditional music and beatboxing concert, “Nam Nhi” (rough translation: Macho), with artist Ngo Hong Quang and beatboxer Trung Bao, accompanied by a string quintet.

The concert is a unique combination of the musical pieces written by Ngo Hong Quang for traditional instruments and some of the quan họ (a type of Vietnamese folk music) tracks from his latest album. Performing solo, as a duet and with a string quintet (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello, and 1 contrabass), Ngo Hong Quang, in collaboration with the talented beatboxer Trung Bao, and the string quintet, will enthral the audience with a purely Vietnamese musical trance – familiar yet strange, old yet new, spanning from the mountainous northern region to the Red River Delta.

Tickets
A-class: VND 600,000
B-class: VND 500,000
Price for members & students: VND 300,000

EXHIBITION

Solo Exhibition “The Mien” by Le Minh Duc

VICAS ART STUDIO

32 Hao Nam Street, Hanoi

The exhibition features 60 art works of artist Le Minh Duc.

30 portraits feature in the exhibition presenting the artist’s artistic view.

Exhibition “Summer” by Bui Trong Du

Lotte Center Hanoi

54 Lieu Giai Street, Ba Dinh District

You are invited to the exhibition “Mua Ha” (Summer) by Bui Trong Du – the artist behind many impressive oil-on-canvas works of delicate simplicity with a strong identity of Vietnamese folk art.

With a theme of “Summer”, the exhibition will shape a unique experience for each visitor through the artist’s passion for lotus flowers.

Free entry

Sculpture Exhibition “Season of Flowers and Birds”

3rd floor, Savina building

No. 1, Dinh Le Street, Hoan Kiem district

The exhibition showcases two sculpture collections: “Mua Hoa” (Season of Flowers) by Tran An, and “Chim” (Birds) by Thai Nhat Minh.

Tran An’s “Season of Flowers” comprises of sculptures made of an unusual material – welded iron. Inspired by nature, the artist has used welding techniques to master the industrial medium, creating tree trunks, sprouts, and flower buds – full of life yet tough and strong.

“Birds” by Thai Nhat Minh borrows the images of mythical birds only seen in folklores, fairy tales and fables to represent the artist’s emotions, reminisce about the past and express his own take on the four-season cycle. Using papier-mâché (“chewed paper”), he has created strong and sturdy, yet natural, figures.

Free entry

HO CHI MINH CITY

PERFORMANCE

Teh Dar: Vietnamese Tribal Culture

6:00 pm, June 21, 22 and 23

Ho Chi Minh City Opera House

7 Cong Truong Lam Son, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1

‘Teh Dar: Vietnamese Tribal Culture’ features a vibrant display of circus arts, aerial acrobatics, and tribal music, within an hour-long performance.

The show highlights the lives of tribal families from the southwest highlands of Vietnam, using UNESCO-listed percussion instruments, such as Vietnamese gongs and buffalo horns, as well as vibrant costumes, and a stunning bamboo cirque depicting various landscapes and creatures from tribal folklores.

Price range: VND630,000 - VND1,470,000

EXHIBITION

Exhibition “9th Anniversary Show”

Craig Thomas Gallery

27i Tran Nhat Duat Street, Tan Dinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

The ninth iteration of the annual gallery anniversary group exhibition of Vietnamese artists will open at the gallery on 29 June from 6-9pm.

Free admission

Exhibition “Oration for Ten Types of Sentient Beings”

The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre

15 Nguyen U Di, Thao Dien, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City

You are invited to the exhibition ‘Oration for Ten Types of Sentient Beings’ – a solo exhibition by artist Pham Tran Viet Nam, curated by Tran Luong.

Inspired by the literature of the great Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du (1766-1820), the title of the exhibition reflects Nam’s frustration with an unjust world where humans are trapped in the cycle of life and death.

Tickets:

For adults: VND 35,000

For students: VND 25,000 (with appropriate student ID)

For children under 16: free (with appropriate ID)

Exhibition “Between Fragmentation and Wholeness”

Galerie Quynh

118 Nguyen Van Thu Street, Dakao ward, District 1

You are invited to “Between Fragmentation and Wholeness” – an exhibition of new works by Truong Cong Tung. Curated by Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran, this is Truong’s first solo exhibition at the gallery and the first comprehensive show of his work in almost a decade.

The exhibition invites viewers to enter Truong Cong Tung’s multidimensional reality through three main axes in the gallery space: vertically – with the ruptures in urban planning and propagated doctrine; horizontally – with mystical human-altered landscapes in agrarian territories; and diagonally – with a mirage of blazing images extracted from the virtual domain.

Nhan Dan/Hanoigrapevines