Nguyen Thien Thuat Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, is best known for its wide array of music stores. But it is not just the stores that make the street popular. There is an aura of good old sound here that makes it all so alluring. The tones of string instruments echo along […]
Attendees at a national workshop held in Hanoi on Wednesday to discuss the multitude of issues plaguing the Vietnamese film and literature industries were not shy about voicing disdain for the current state of literary and cinematic art in Vietnam. Nearly two decades after the Vietnamese government launched a program aimed at exposing a larger
Gloomy outlook for Vietnamese cinema, literature scene: workshop (via Tuoi Tre News) Read More »
The third edition of Da Lat’s annual Pho Ben Doi art exhibition will feature more than 125 artworks by nearly 50 young, well-known Vietnamese and international artists and experts in archeology, architecture, and music from December 8, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Pho Ben Doi, or “The City On Hill,” is an inter- and multidisciplinary
Pho Ben Doi art exhibition returns to Da Lat in December Read More »
The idea for Moving Reels: A Social Dialog formed in 2016 as the result of a dialogue between Dr. Shweta Kishore, a scholar, documentary filmmaker, film and media lecturer at RMIT University, and Zoe Butt, a director and curator at The Factory Contemporary Arts Center. The program is a series of workshops that includes screenings of films
Examining Vietnam’s Modernity Through the Lens of South Asian Independent Documentaries Read More »
Vietnam transitioned to a market economy like an old train lurching to life: momentous shakes and shudders, steam bursting out busted gaskets, disheveled cargo tumbling from luggage racks, sparks shooting off wheels screeching across warped rails and a whistle ripping into the placid sky. As the government enacted new policies, tossing aside the institutions to
Saigoneer Bookshelf: A Touch of Magical Realism in ‘The Cemetery of Chua Village’ Read More »
Nestled above inpages in Thao Dien, a new print studio is offering artists and other creatives a new way to express their ideas and visions. Kho Muc is the brainchild of a team including Long Dang and Simon Phan, who have been responsible for other creative endeavors such as Saigon Artbook. The name of the studio
Once chiefly employed in the decoration of wooden objects, son mai, or lacquer painting, has grown over the last century into a freestanding art form in Vietnam, to a point where it is now widely considered to be the country’s national painting technique. The traditional Vietnamese lacquer used in son mai is made by mixing the resin
‘Son mai’ – the painstaking Vietnamese art of lacquer painting (via Tuoi Tre News) Read More »
An EDM (electronic dance music) festival scheduled to take place just outside Hanoi from November 23 to 25 was asked to cancel only hours before its opening, despite sold tickets and foreign and local artists and volunteers already heading to the venue. Artists and visitors on dozens of buses traveling some 40 kilometers from central
Organizers decry last-minute cancelation of Hanoi EDM festival (via Tuoi Tre News) Read More »
A critically acclaimed documentary about a member of Vietnam’s trans community will finally see an official premiere in Vietnam next month. Finding Phong, or Di Tim Phong in Vietnamese, tells the story of the titular character, a trans woman named Le Anh Phong who documented the journey from when she decided to undergo sex reassignment surgery to
Vietnam’s Award-Winning Documentary About a Trans Woman (via Saigoneer) Read More »
Starting from November, filmmakers will need to carefully deliberate their decision to include smoking in their works or risk the ire of the culture ministry. As Tuoi Tre reports, from November 15 this year, Circular 25 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on smoking in theatrical works will officially take effect, tightening the ministry’s control
Vietnam to Ban Gratuitous Smoking in Movies, Stage Productions (via Saigoneer) Read More »
The directorial debut from Nguyen Phuong Anh, also known as Ash Mayfair, won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award at last week’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The Third Wife tells the story of a 14-year-old girl in northern Vietnam who becomes the third wife of a wealthy 19th-century landowner and must learn the
Vietnamese director’s debut feature The Third Wife wins award at Toronto Film Festival Read More »
Back in 2014, amid the weekly cycle of news, a particular image was more striking than most: Doctor and Professor Ngo Bao Chau stood in the middle of a makeshift classroom in a rural village in Thai Nguyen Province while teaching local kids. Chau is a Vietnamese-French mathematician who’s currently based at the University of Chicago, USA,
How Dép Tổ Ong Goes From Timeless Family Keepsake to Millennial Icon (via Saigoneer) Read More »
Some may say that modern performance art in Vietnam looks the way it does thanks to the works of Tuan Le and his colleagues. Almost two decades into a series of smashing theatrical successes across the country, Le invites Saigoneer into the creative power behind AO, Teh Dar, and Lang Toi. About 17 years ago, Le decided to turn his
NDO – The Vietnamese Culture Week opened at Chaktomuk theatre, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on September 11. The opening ceremony was attended by the Cambodian Minister of Cults and Religion Him Chhem, Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia
Vietnamese Cultural Week opens in Cambodia (via Nhân Dân) Read More »
In a dark room, two suspended video screens play images of rice paddies and derelict schoolrooms in rural Vietnam. Where one might expect to see adults, there are only children: working in the fields, resting in their dormitory, or studying soberly in the classroom. At times, children’s bodies are strewn across the agricultural landscape, leaving
Vietnamese artist wins prestigious Signature Art Prize (via SEA Globe) Read More »
Thousands of dancing fans gathered before an enormous digital cube covered in screens displaying memes, video game cutscenes, clips of endorphin-addled cartoon cats and random flashings of screensaver-esque visualizations while synthesizer strings slithered across a thumping bassline punctuated with warped blurts distorted to the point of warbling. This overwhelming performance was all controlled by the
An art installation in Hai Phong has become the butt of jokes online. You’ve probably seen them by now on your newsfeed: a set of 12 stone statues, each taking the form of one of Vietnam’s astrological sign animals. While the statues retain the heads of an animal in the local zodiac – from pig
The Curious Case of Hai Phong’s Nude Zodiac Sculptures (via Saigoneer) Read More »
Vietnamese singer and political activist Mai Khoi was detained for eight hours in a move that Human Rights Watch says points to intensified government efforts to stifle political opposition Vietnamese singer and pro-democracy activist Mai Khoi was detained for eight hours by authorities at Hanoi airport yesterday morning as part of an ongoing government crackdown
Good Southeast Asian literature and its related commentary can be hard to find for some of the people living in this region’s – however, it is possible. One such gem is the Mekong Review, a quarterly literary journal that aims to bring the region’s literary and intellectual life to a broader audience. Publishing fiction, essays, reviews
Mekong Review, The Accidental Southeast Asian Literary Journal (via Eksentrika) Read More »
In an example of cruel irony, October 20 is when we celebrate annual Vietnam Women’s Day, and also the anniversary of the passing of Mai Nga (commonly known as Nga Nhi), the lead singer of Go Lim – a Hanoi-based female post-punk band that, albeit short-lived, struck a blow for women’s representation in rock and
Hanoi: Mai Khoi Do Nguyen has long been described as Vietnam’s Lady Gaga. In more recent years, as her political activism has come to the fore, her expressions of rude dissent, she has also been compared to Russia’s infamous protest band, Pussy Riot. Both comparisons hold true, and yet neither do. Mai Khoi is both a serious
Vietnam’s answer to Pussy Riot furiously dissents (via The Sydney Morning Herald) Read More »
The Asia Europe Foundation’s Culture360 and ArtsEquator present a series of 5 co-commissioned articles that look at arts groups, artists and performances in Southeast Asia that are comprised of or address artists with disabilities. In this fifth and final article in the series, Ha Dao meets with Nem, 11, a prolific young artist in Vietnam with autism,
Art, autism and love: the world of Nem Read More »
“We arrive at Dan Sinh market in Ho Chi Minh City on a sweltering afternoon. The monsoon season is just starting. After parking our scooters, we dive into the stands, which sell everything from army apparel to fruit and vegetables. A middle-aged man directs us to an antique stall. Immediately I spot discs inside a
Yellow Music (via Mekong Review) Read More »
“In an historical decision, Taiwan’s top court has ruled in favour of gay marriage. The May 26 verdict raised the hopes of many LGBT activists throughout the region, especially in China and Vietnam. As is all too common worldwide, homophobia causes suffering in Vietnam, where until 2000 it was illegal for gay couples to live
The pioneering queer artists who opened Vietnam to gay culture [Vietnam] Read More »
By Clara Cheong (470 words, 5-minute read) A Present Retrospective, an exhibition showcasing archival prints of propaganda artworks created between 1969 and 1972, by the late and widely renowned Cuban graphic artist René Mederos, is on show at Work Room Four, alongside works by five other established contemporary Vietnamese artists in response to the series. Felix
From Cuba to Vietnam: “A Present Retrospective” Read More »
“President Tran Dai Quang has asked artists and writers to show stronger performance in implementing the Party and State’s orientations in building literature and art in the new period as well as developing the culture and people of Vietnam to suit the requirements of the country’s sustainable development. The President made the request while addressing
Artists, writers urged to promote culture, people development [Vietnam] Read More »
There is no magic wand that can help the cultural institutions to work smoothly and force the audience to flock to theatres with just one touch. The cultural sector of Vietnam needs decades to mature and develop. The development of a country is measured not only by the number of luxury cars, the skyscrapers, shopping
The cultural sector and the 4Ps [Vietnam] Read More »
“Two Vietnamese directors — Pham Ngoc Lan with the film project “Culi Never Cries” and Le Bao with “Taste” — are amongst the 16 directors that have made their way to the L’Atelier supporting programme for young filmmakers, organised by the film foundation Cinéfondation of the Cannes Film Festival. The sixteen directors whose projects have
Two Vietnamese Film Projects Gain Support from Cannes Festival [Vietnam] Read More »
“Over the past year and a half, May Tran (writer, student and professional procrastinator of Vietnamese descent) has been inundated with PR for two professional and sixteen-hundred amateur productions of Miss Saigon. The following piece has been cobbled together from segments of the largely incomprehensible fury essays she wrote during her frequent and violent rage
#not pho your entertainment [Vietnam] Read More »
“Growing up, my dad always told me, “Every Vietnamese family has a remarkable story.” I was raised in Orange County, Calif., the home of Disneyland, the Angels baseball team, and Little Saigon—the largest population of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. It means that we were surrounded by people who were refugees, veterans, war survivors—people who were forced
I Am Miss Saigon, and I Hate It [Vietnam] Read More »
