What is an artists-in-residence program? This simple question arose repeatedly when Saigoneer explained to friends and peers that we would spend three weeks traveling throughout Vietnam, visiting the nine local art residencies taking part in the Go Sea program.
While groups and activities similar to art residency programs emerged alongside art academies in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, the concept solidified and gained popularity in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in the west. Broadly understood as an arrangement where a host institution provides an artist with time, space, and resources to pursue their work in a new environment, they have a range of aims, including supporting artists with professional development and the creation of new or ongoing work, as well as fostering cultural exchange and community enrichment. During our trip, we learned that residencies can prioritize and approach these goals in drastically different ways while catering to unique types of artists in diverse contexts.
Rare Sea: a central hub plugged into Saigon’s energy and history
“I've identified needs in the community and opportunities for exchange. And ultimately, although a gallery would be cool, having an arts organization made more sense,” explained Luke Schneider of the motivations to found Rare Sea with Nguyễn Trà My earlier this year. While Rare Sea has gallery space to hold exhibitions, it has room for much more. The ogranization hosts exhibitions, public programming, workshops, professional development events, and an international residency program in a classic tube house on Đặng Thị Nhu Street, just two blocks from the Fine Arts Museum.
"the forest lives as unfinished film reels" works, from left to right, by Aliansyah Caniago, Hoàng Vũ and Rab.
Saigoneer readers may be familiar with Rare Sea thanks to its first exhibition, ”the forest lives as unfinished film reels.” Once we’d passed through Aliansyah Caniago’s first-floor installation, which includes a haunting dwelling constructed with 35mm reels, and stopped on the second floor to see Rab's ink on silk maps depicting the dissaperance of tigers and listen to Hoàng Vũ’s soundscapes that incorporate the noise recorded during the construction of the building’s facade, the Rare Sea team showed us around the rest of the building, which includes shared studio space overlooking the city.
“The studio space is not only where they [the artists in residence] practice making art, but also where they meet people and shape how they move around in the residency,” explained Lại Minh Ngọc, the residency’s coordinator. Movement is a key component of the Rare Sea residency program, as artists working across all mediums are expected to get out and engage with Saigon and its many layers of history, culture, and communities. “It's very important for them to have a starting point and then when they are done exploring, we have a space that they come back to and then reflect on their research and their practice,” she said.
>Rare Sea's studio space (left) and a portion of the second floor that can be used for additional studio space or for exhibitions and events.
Rare Sea’s strong connection with the local art scene and wealth of research knowledge enables the curatorial and technical teams to guide artists who are self-motivated and arrive with project goals that are open to the transformative influence of Saigon and its inhabitants. Rare Sea arranges field trips, studio visits, and events. While there are no expectations regarding final outcomes for residency, Rare Sea anticipates collaborative works, co-curated events, exhibitions, film screenings, readings, and workshops that reveal the invention, reflection, and discovery each artist underwent. The program emphasizes introducing international artists to Vietnam while raising the visibility and opportunities for Vietnamese artists. Such cross-cultural exchange, Luke explained, “can be quite beneficial for the artist in the sense that it's a stepping stone and a learning experience … that puts them in a position to then go on and do something else.”
Phố Bên Đồi achieves art through institutional collaboration in Đà Lạt
After visiting Rare Sea, we traded Saigon’s sprawling snarls of traffic and a vibrant international art scene typified by themes of departure and return, loss, recollection, and reinvention for Đà Lạt’s peaceful, pine-covered hills and somber, solitary vibe that calls to mind Khánh Ly’s romantic renditions of Trịnh Công Sơn songs. There, we met with Nguyễn Trung Hiền, the founder of Phố Bên Đồi Creative Studio. Having been born and raised in the city, he has watched with concern as it expands beyond its infrastructure limits at the expense of its small-town charm and inspiring serenity.
Greenhouses, farms and windmills comprise the outskirts of Đà Lạt
“Đà Lạt has long been known as a city of education, research, and leisure, with a cool climate year-round and a rich, diverse agricultural landscape. Its population includes migrants and indigenous communities, creating a culturally diverse environment,” Hiền explained. “Today, creativity has become central to Đà Lạt’s sustainable development, creating opportunities for artists and experts to come together and contribute to the city’s future.” This future, Hiền believes, can best be achieved through local and international partnerships. Since its founding ten years ago, Phố Bên Đồi has worked with the British Council, UNESCO, L'Institut français, and Goethe-Institut, as well as the city’s People’s Committee, and various corporate sponsors to create a wide range of public programs across music, visual arts, and architecture, including one of our most beloved public mural projects.
Nguyễn Như Bảo Khánh, Phố Bên Đồi’s manager, helps conduct a youth orchestra (left) and Phố Bên Đồi’s founder Nguyễn Trung Hiền (right)
Their recently launched artist residency program aligns well with Phố Bên Đồi’s goals and resources. They are situated in a more than 600 square meter physical location that includes event and working spaces, studios, an art gallery, a live music venue, a ceramics workshop, a STEAM experience space, a library, and a cafe with an art shop. This gives artists who want to engage with the community opportunities to lead and participate in research, performances, discussion panels, workshops, and development programs with a particular emphasis on connecting with young people and university students. Because Đà Lạt was officially recognised by UNESCO as a Creative City in the field of music in 2023, Phố Bên Đồi is particularly interested in hosting musicians, music educators, and music researchers. Residency outcome goals are flexible, but collaboration is key. “When talking about the outcomes of a residency,” explained Phố Bên Đồi manager, Nguyễn Như Bảo Khánh, “what we value most is the connection between artists and the community. That is the core idea behind our motto, ‘Art Connects Us.’”
From left to right: Phố Bên Đồi's co-working space, a parterning ceramics studio, cafe, and multipurpose space.
Rigorous art achievement amidst Cù Rú’s creative chaos
Just down the road from Phố Bên Đồi stands its aesthetic opposite. Cù Rú occupies a former plot of agricultural land that has been repurposed as a bar, partially contained in an old greenhouse. Visitors are met with sensory overload as a cavalcade of oddities occupies every direction: paier-mâché head with glowing LED, single golden sandal, windchimes hanging from a broken fan, busts of military figures, traditional glass paintings, plastic bus station benches, stone statues, birds nest filled with ping pong balls, a disco ball transformed into a helmet, literary magazines, knockoff Disney toys, and countless paintings, sculptures and ceramics. Behind the bar are rows of jugs and bottles filled with rượu and local fruits and herbs. The back garden ungoverns itself into a tangle of weeds in the distance. Many know of Cù Rú, rightfully so, as a quirky bar essential for quixotic folk in search of acceptance and good times. It’s also home to a thriving artist residency program.
Art is always on display at Cù Rú as well as found objects and in-house distilled rượu. Works in the center by Karina Kristina titled MULTIFACED
Cù Rú opened in Saigon because members of the Sao La artist collective decided it was more fun to turn their apartment into a bar and invite friends over than it was to go out. “Cù Rú is a space where friends, artists, and people who love art can come to meet and have fun. It’s a place to find joy,” said Nguyễn Kim Tố Lan, a multidisciplinary artist and Sao La cofounder. The move to Đà Lạt in 2020 gave Cù Rú more space to host events and distill alcohols, while providing the Sao La Collective with additional space to create art and invite artists to join meaningful conversations while uncovering inspiration in the city's cultural, material, ecological, and social fabric.
At all hours of the day, Cù Rú exudes a calm, accepting vibe.
Artists from a wide range of disciplines, backgrounds, and goals typically work for a month or two in one of Cù Rú’s three private studios. Access to lacquer, ceramics, and wood-metal workshops allows them to experiment, exchange, and develop projects in the fresh air of a nature-oriented environment. Casual meetings with local artists and shared meals, as well as planned workshops, talks, and presentations, deepen their connections with the location and its communities. “The idea here is that during your stay, you don’t need to feel pressured to produce a finished work immediately. What you gain are new experiences and perspectives that are different from your home environment,” Lan summarized.
Artwork on display in one of the three studios byNguyễn Kim Tố Lan (left) and Dương Văn Tốn (right).
Such a laid-back ethos and embrace of casual hours doesn’t mean Cù Rú isn’t rigorous, however. Canvas streaked with stunning acrylics, delicate ceramics comprised of carefully collected sediment samples, silk paintings, and mixed media works on display from past and current residents are testaments to the level of skill and dedication the space attracts. The works were bathed in shifting lights and splashed with music on the night of our visit. Lan sat on the floor for her first-ever DJ set as part of a scheduled music night. Guests danced, bartenders poured rượu cocktails with ingredients like fermented tobacco and mountain plum, and resident artists showed off their work to new friends in the background. The entire scene exemplified what Lan had told us earlier: “If artists come here with flexibility, a sense of humor, and an open mind, they will fit in well … This place is open to everyone, as long as you come with a friendly and positive spirit.”
Cù Rú and Sao La co-founder Nguyễn Kim Tố Lan is an artist across many genres including laquer, acrylic, ceramics, and in this case, live music.
The southern leg of Saigoneer’s exploration of Vietnam’s artist residencies revealed how diverse they can be in terms of vibes, resources and structure. Visiting residencies in the central area expands on these observations: part 2 coming soon.
