Great Vietnam Resurrects Nguyễn-Era Fashion, One Traditional Costume at a Time
In the last four to five years, ancient Vietnamese costumes have gained more visibility, becoming a welcome sight among young locals thanks to the efforts to reproduce and promote historic fashion from a number of designers, brands, and interest groups that appreciate the country’s history and traditions.
In the Mekong Delta, Đồ Bộ Is Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
Despite its humble beginning as something worn just for convenience’s sake, đồ bộ has entered every minute of life in the Mekong Delta as a staple fashion choice that’s both flexible and colorful. Đồ bộ means “set outfit” in Vietnamese, a type of female casualwear made of soft, thin fabrics that often comes in a top and long bottom combo. They’re sometimes referred to as “Vietnamese pajamas,” but these comfortable sets can be worn at any time of the day and even outside, not just reserved for sleep like pajamas.
Nguyễn Đổng Chi's Classic Retelling of Vietnam's Fairy Tales, Now in English
Folklorist and anthropologist Nguyễn Đổng Chi dedicated decades to weaving a significant portion of Vietnam’s folklore tapestry. He collected, researched, and rewrote over 200 Vietnamese folktales from all corners of the country. His work, initially scattered across five volumes published individually and consecutively over 25 years, appeared as a complete anthology in 1982. Guided by a comprehensive treatise of Vietnamese folktale, Chi’s Kho tàng truyện cổ tích Việt Nam (Treasury of Vietnamese Folk Tales) might be daunting for readers drawn to Vietnamese folklore but disenchanted by rigorous academic discourse.
Kit Humphrey in Travel
In Thổ Hà Village, Rice Paper Spills Onto the Streets and Wraps Around Daily Life
A few hours after sunrise in the small village of Thổ Hà, Bắc Giang Province, alleyways morph into picturesque tunnels of drying rice paper, while ladies toast crackers over fire in the streets.
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.
Michael Tatarski in Music & Arts
Contemporary Asian Art Program Turns Its 'Eye' to Vietnam
In 2008, British contemporary art collector David Ciclitira and his wife Serenella, an art critic, visited South Korea. Though they were struck by the modern art scene there, the couple struggled to f...
[Video] Watch a Vietnamese Worker Singlehandedly Put This Excavator on the Back of a Truck
Vietnam does things a little differently than the rest of the world.
'Tokyo, Blind': Eerie, Black-and-White Images From a Saigon Photographer
In Tokyo, Blind, the first solo exhibition in Vietnam by Saigon-based photographer Ryan Neilan, men and women emerge as ghostly bodies, depicted either as a composite of fragmented shadows or as isola...
[Photos] VietJet Co-Pilots Get Married, Take Tarmac Wedding Photos
VietJet pilots Dang Tien Cuong and Nguyen Phuong Anh are probably the only couple to have snapped their wedding photos on the tarmac at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
[Video] Hanoian Vendors Get Fit With Market Aerobics
No one loves an office job. Sure, there are perks – the air-conditioning, the peaceful environment, the free corporate stuff – but at one point or another, every pencil-pusher has wished for a more ac...
New Rules Prohibit Swearing, Fighting or Loud Noise in Local Apartments: Ministry
If you feel the need to tell off your neighbor, let loose by turning your speakers up to 11 or just want to start an innocent fight club in your apartment, you better get to work, as none of these wil...
[Video] A Modern-Day Homage to 'Sai Gon Dep Lam'
First released around 1965, “Sai Gon Dep Lam” became an instant classic the moment it hit the airwaves. The iconic song is now considered a musical embodiment of old Saigon and has spawned dozens...
Dana Filek-Gibson in Arts & Culture
Urban Distortions: Contemporary Dance Comes to Saigon
It's mid-morning on a hot, humid Sunday in Saigon's Botanical Gardens, and the audience in front of the main stage represents an eclectic cross-section of Vietnamese society. Parents field phone conve...
[Video] Saigon Hyperlapse Takes You Through D1's Chaos in Under 3 Minutes
Saigon already runs at hyperspeed. From sunup to sundown, ours is a city constantly on the move.
Saigon Makeover Calls on Local Residents to Re-Imagine Their City
Global Shapers HCMC's Saigon Makeover competition is back and accepting innovative submissions from local designers until April 23.
Michael Tatarski in Arts & Culture
teamLab Unveils Digital Artwork in Singapore, Vietnam Next?
For many people, particularly from younger generations, art museums can seem a little stale. When there are so many digital entertainment outlets, standing in a room and silently contemplating a paint...
Film Adaptation of 'Miss Saigon' May Be Directed by Oscar Winner Danny Boyle
Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, the director behind Slumdog Millionaire and Steve Jobs, is allegedly in talks to direct the film adaptation of famed 1991 musical Miss Saigon.
[Photos] Exploring Saigon’s Sun-Deprived Hẻms
Saigon is full of interesting, undiscovered places. While many people have explored the alleys in their own neighborhoods, few are willing to brave the narrow, crumbling side roads that look a little ...
Q&A: Thai Artist Bends Reality With Kaleidoscopic Saigon Photo Collage
Saigon is the latest city to join the urban landscape photo collage series by Thai artist and graphic designer Pariwat A-nantachina, also known as Big. With drastic perspective compositions, rich deta...
A Tribe of Survivors: The Ethereal Jewelry of La Fiancée du Facteur
The new collection by Saigon-based jewelry designer La Fiancée du Facteur is an ode to human strength where the mystical and the mythological merge in wearable original art pieces.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Arts & Culture
Drawing Saigon: How One Artist Is Preserving the Downtown Skyline
Tawny brown, a few inches thick and secured with a cord, the leather binder lands on the bar with a thud. Midday sun beams into the pop-up whisky library atop Centec Tower, a room that could pass for ...
Local Designer Preserves Retro Saigon Font
Pass by any old building in the city and you're bound to stumble upon at least a few vintage typefaces from decades past. Saigon's old-school signage is a work of art in its own right, with everything...
Vietnamese Festival Criticized for Penis Plagiarism
This year, residents of Lang Son province celebrated their annual Na Nhem Festival with all the standard accoutrements of a countryside celebration: musical activities, games and a giant pink penis ma...
[Video] 100 Years of Vietnamese Fashion in 1 Minute
If you've ever spent any time wasting your life away on YouTube, you may have come across the “100 Years of Beauty” series, which documents the fashion and beauty trends of a particular culture t...
March Movies at Saigon’s Alternative Film Venues
Transporting a novel or news story from the page to the big screen does not always have to be disastrous, as Carol,Room, High Fidelity andSpotlighthave demonstrated. Saigon's March film program shows ...
