From Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City: New and Now
Rodney Dickson
Tran Luong, On The Banks Of The Red River, 2001. Photo – courtesy of the artist
War is usually the first thing Americans think of when we hear the word Vietnam. This year, Vietnam will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the end of that war, and life there has changed quite a bit since 1975. The economy has developed in recent years, and this period of relative stability and peace has allowed the society to progress into modern times. Contemporary Art is also coming to Vietnam, and although it is still in its formative period, the seed has been sown.
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly called Saigon until the end of the war) is the economic hub, and the most modern city of Vietnam; but it has been the more traditional capital city, Hanoi, that has been leading the way in contemporary art. This non-traditional art has been initiated by one artist primarily: Tran Luong. Able to speak English before most of the other artists of his generation in Hanoi, with his charisma and charm, he soon became a favorite of the few foreigner visitors to Vietnam during the early 90s. In a way, Luong became the unofficial cultural ambassador of Vietnam. He was invited to travel to the west on many occasions to make presentations on Vietnamese contemporary art. This gave him the opportunity to network, and bring back knowledge to share with the younger artists in Hanoi. Along with his life long friend Nguyen Manh Duc, they opened the first experimental art space called Nha San in 1990. It is located in a remote corner of Hanoi, but it was here that they were able to put on exhibitions that had no chance of commercial success. Over the next few years, they built up a following among the general public, and Nha San became the meeting place were young artists would hang out and discuss their ideas for making this “new form of art.” Nha San still continues to operate, but now one of the young artists that developed his ideas and interest during his formative years there, has opened his own gallery called Ryllega. There he continues to run a similar exhibition program in a more high profile location.
Today, Ho Chi Minh City is a fast paced business center, but the advancement of a Contemporary Art scene has been slow. Since Contemporary Art has no easy commercial value, and is therefore at odds with the money-driven urban culture, it has struggled to gain relevance among the local artists. Most recently, something has begun to happen, and this has been in large part, due to the work of Do Mai, owner and director of Mai’s Gallery. Mai is a successful businesswoman with no background in art. However, a few years ago she visited New York on a business trip, where she became fascinated by contemporary art. Since then, she has worked to develop her understanding of art, and two years ago, she opened her first gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, which is currently one of the most compelling galleries in Vietnam. Mai is continuing to develop her gallery, and to encourage young Vietnamese artists. This year, she will realize her ambition to put on a large international contemporary art exhibition in HCMC. Under the name of Saigon Interface, and with Hou Hanru as the main curator and Sue Hadju as exhibition director, the exhibition will be in the form of a biennial, and will be the biggest exhibition of its kind in Vietnam to date.
Contemporary Art in Vietnam has now arrived, and is developing fast, but it still has a long way to go to reach the international standard. However, with the encouragement of Tran Luong and Miss Mai, and the input of successful Vietnamese American artists now living in HCMC, Jun Nguyen Hatsushiba and Dinh Q. Le, artists in Vietnam will continue to reinvent and reshape the definition of Contemporary Art.
