Carol Kim Brings to Life Rare Performance of 'Tại Vắng Anh' Thanks to Saigon Jazz Revival
The rich, bluesy ‘Tại vắng anh,’ written by Tuấn Khanh, was performed by Carol Kim this past November at Saigon Jazz Revival's inaugural concert in New Orleans.
Cliché or Parody? Orientalist Readings of Nam Le’s ‘36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem’
One may be surprised to learn that Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning novel The Sympathizer was rejected by 13 out of 14 publishers before its eventual publication. He describes in an interview why he believes his novel was rejected by all but one publisher he submitted to: “I knew in writing the novel that I was deliberately not doing what I was supposed to do as an Asian American writer, which is [...that] you have to end on a note of Americanization. You have to end on an embrace of the American dream, explicitly or implicitly. And the novel does not do that.” He comments elsewhere along similar lines, “I refuse[d] to subscribe to dominant American narratives and mythologies that allow someone like me a very narrow space to speak.”
Pete Walls in Travel
Watching the Sunset From Lai Châu's Fansipan, the Roof of Indochina
Conquering Mount Fansipan’s 3,147 meters was once a feat reserved for those willing to take on the potential multi-day hike from Sapa to the summit and back.
Vietnam Arrests 7 Suspects Behind Streaming Site HiAnime on Piracy Charges
As part of the current crackdown on intellectual property infringement, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security recently took down a major network of websites providing illegal anime streaming.
Dropping the Disguise: The Evolution of Punk Band Cút Lộn Towards More Radicality
In recent years, CÚT LỘN has cemented themselves as one of the most recognizable hardcore punk bands to emerge from the Vietnamese underground scene.
From TikTok to Bars, a Group of Young Artists Brings Đờn Ca Tài Tử to Unexpected Venues
“If you happen to pass by Huỳnh Mẫn Đạt Street in Hồ Chí Minh City There’s a strange bar with a Mekong theme Where cải lươ...
Khôi Phạm in Culture
Home Is Where the Bum Gun Is
In the 2010s, my journey to study abroad took me to Singapore. Being a tiny person in an enormous city was a huge undertaking for a teenager, as I had to adapt to countless changes, from minute to major, at once: living in a different language, academic pressures, foreign customs and cuisines, and being away from my family. Gradually, things fell into place. The public transport worked well; the accent got more familiar; and I didn’t miss bánh mì and cơm tấm nearly as much as I thought I would; but there was one thing I never managed to entirely overcome — the bum gun-shaped void in my heart.
Review: From Czechia, ‘Trường Hè, 2001’ Bridges Family Divides, Both Onscreen and in Real Life
Summer School, 2001, directed by Czech-Vietnamese writer and director Dužan Duong, was first released last year and has received critical acclaim within the Czech Republic and Europe. Now, the film has come to Vietnam, where it is available in Galaxy, Cinestar, and Beta theaters across Saigon, Hanoi and Đà Nẵng.
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
5 Albums to Put on While Driving Home at 12am Pretending You're in an MV
It’s 12:03am in Saigon. You've just finished a movie at the last screening of the day. The asphalt in the parking lot is coated in a layer of golden light from the streetlight. You walk gingerly to yo...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
Examining the Role of Shame in Building a National Identity via Vietnam's Thinkers
“Shame, rather than pride, can be the basis for national identity… individuals may be motivated to move their country in a desirable direction when national shame outweighs pride.”
Xuân Phương in Culture
In Nam Định, a Village Goes All out in Festivities to Honor Their Holy Ancestor
Comprising a range of ceremonies and traditional activities reflective of Vietnam’s rice-growing culture, Keo Hành Thiện Pagoda’s annual festival is a momentous occasion for locals to pay respect to t...
Synths, Dreams, and French Culture: Inside Vietnamese Duo Coïncidence's 1st EP
“When we finally finished the project, I was just like ‘Yay, we’re done!’ Then I went to sleep to go to work tomorrow. I guess life just goes by like that,” recalled Thông, a member of Coïncidence, re...
Group Exhibition ‘In Absence, Presence’ Awakens Multi-Sensory Experience
Looking upward, downward, left and right, we follow an invisible yet powerful flow of energy in the dark, then carefully gaze at the artworks as if they are living entities. To enjoy this multi-sensor...
Văn Tân in Music & Arts
Tử Mộc Trà Nurtures Her Family Bond With Textile Into Installation Artworks
Tử Mộc Trà, whose real name is Phạm Thùy Dương, is a young artist born and raised in Hanoi. Her artistic pursuit was nurtured by an innate sense of creativity, family traditions, and her time spent on...
Paul Christiansen in Loạt Soạt
In 'Water: A Chronicle,' Nguyễn Ngọc Tư Wades Into the Mekong via Vignettes
“When you’ve lived to a certain age, you don’t ask whether or not something is true, you ask which truth it is.”
In Action Together During Traveling Art Week Nổ Cái Bùm 2024
Taking place in Đà Nẵng and Hội An earlier in August 2024, the traveling art week Nổ Cái Bùm 2024 became a platform for local artists to showcase artworks, and attracted the attention of many local an...
Explore the Realm of Sơn Mài Paintings via Nguyễn Xuân Việt’s New Solo Exhibition
What does it mean for an artist to preserve and continue the legacy of traditional Vietnamese lacquer across generations? Through this solo exhibition, Nguyễn Xuân Việt showcases his vast expertise an...
Xuân Phương in Culture
This Trung Thu, Learn How to Make Lion Heads From Huế's Lân Artisans
Often seen as the heart of Central Vietnam, Huế is the birthing ground for many traditional crafts. Artisan products from the ancient city often exude its inhabitants' elegance and rustic quality. Amo...
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Are We Living in the Final Days of Cô Mía?
They say a person dies twice: once when their heart stops beating and a second time when people stop mentioning their name. If we alter this phrase a bit to include the last time one’s image is seen, ...
Aprxel Builds Her Ethereal R&B Dreamscape With 2000s Nostalgia
“High school was when we all had lots of thoughts and reflections. And I felt like I didn’t fit in with the world around me at that time, so I turned to music as my companion,” Aprxel reflects on the ...
Vy Trịnh Takes Us 'On Da Dream' via Her Solo Exhibition at Galerie Quynh
Tough-looking, yet elegant metal ribbons spark, spill, move and occupy all corners of the empty space: up and down, left and right, and in countless directions. Through a new series of sculpture works...
Paul Christiansen in Culture
Via Webcomics About Sơn Đoòng, Hai Bà Trưng, a Link to Vietnam Across the Ocean
An enormous chim Lạc snatches Mai from her school library in the present day and lifts her high above Sa Pa more than 2,000 years ago.
On Grappling With the Problematic Legacy of 'Miss Saigon' in 2024
Having been abroad for more than a year, I was excited at the mere mention of Vietnam anywhere, so I was even more delighted when I learned of the popular musical Miss Saigon. Posters of it were plast...
Nam Cao's Radical Sympathy and Pursuit of Happiness Are Still Relevant Even Today
What messages would a young writer living in colonial times want to impart to the youth of the 21st century?
A World in Turmoil via Mahdi Abdullah’s Exhibition 'Memory and Body Mythology'
How does an artist turn haunting memories into powerful artworks that speak for himself and on behalf of countless lives? Mahdi Abdullah’s paintings serve as social commentary on the realities that th...
New Exhibition on Painter Lưu Công Nhân Is a Trip Through Time
The solo exhibition allows the audience to time travel to the world of the late painter Lưu Công Nhân. From watercolor sketches to large-scale paintings, old documents, and even a typewriter on displa...
Minh Thúy, Muse of 'Em Thúy' by Famed Painter Trần Văn Cẩn, Passes Away
Even though both the painting’s creator and muse have left us behind, a part of their life will live on with us in an important relic of Vietnam’s 20th century history.
Traces of Movement, Memory and Heritage in Duo Exhibition 'Entrusting to Emptiness'
An exhibition that brings the audience through the transition between day and night, and movements between dream and memories. There is no beginning and no end, and all elements above somehow reflect ...
