Paul Christiansen in Music & Arts
Art Project ‘The Lottery of Forgotten Dreams’ Is a Wild Alchemy of Vé Số and Photography
Vé số ticket number 984430 yields a magenta fish contorting atop a ghostly image of an apartment high-rise in Tân Phú in “The Lottery of Forgotten Dreams – Topographies of the Unseen,” an art project by photographer Christian Berg. The experimental project, available to view in full online, employs computer technology to combine photography, numerology, and mythology and playfully reimagine how one visualizes Saigon.
In MARG1N, a Resolute Return to Print Media That Dissects Southeast Asian Cinema
The joy of reading, for most of my life, had been primarily grounded in the joy of learning, feeling, and thinking through words, independent of medium. That is, until college, when I found myself repeatedly longing for Thursday mornings, when the week’s freshly printed student newspaper would arrive neatly folded and stacked, ready to be spread over the dining-hall table like wrapping paper. I came to realize then that the joy of reading was not simply about words; it was also about the tactile touch of paper and of the inexplicable satisfaction of flipping through pages bigger than my hands could reasonably manage.
By Preserving Tradition, Honoring Creativity and Showcasing Sustainability, Young Vietnamese Chefs Excel at Ngon Challenge by Marriott International
The glossy menus, sleek decor, and iconic logos of international hotel restaurants often obscure the human stories behind each dish. While catering to global guests, these restaurants often serve meals with origins in family kitchens and regional culinary traditions. Young, local chefs balance nostalgic associations with contemporary techniques and creative expression to create these menus. Returning for its second year this past September, Ngon Challenge continued to celebrate and nurture Vietnamese culinary talent across Marriott International’s hotels and resorts in Vietnam.
Review: ‘Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell’ Is a Soul-Searching Mission in the Lâm Đồng Mist
On the pastures of slow cinema where Andrei Tarkovsky, Tsai Ming-liang and Theo Angelopoulos reside, Phạm Thiên Ân's debut feature, Bên Trong Vỏ Kén Vàng (Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell), has made its mark as a notable entry for its distinctly Vietnamese vistas, tones and essence.
The Search for Vietnam's Largest Lacquer Artwork, Nguyễn Thế Khang’s 36 Old Streets of Hanoi
The story begins in 1996. Before leaving for a month-long journey to Vietnam with 30 other Norwegian teachers, I had searched through books and online sources for hidden stories and overlooked places, an interest born from my experiences teaching Vietnamese refugees in Norway in the late 1970s and 1980s. One name caught my attention: the artist Nguyễn Thế Khang, who had conceived an ambitious plan to recreate Hanoi’s 36 Old Streets in a monumental lacquer work. The day after I arrived in Hanoi, I was welcomed into his home at 47 Triệu Việt Vương.
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
Review: In Lope Dope's Debut Album, a Summery Fictional World Powered by City Pop
“Tình ca thành phố vịnh,” the first album by Hanoian indie group Lope Dope, might come out at the end of summer in August, but its wealth of city pop exuberance and tropical cheer is enough to power any listener through the dreary rainy season and upcoming winter.
Heartfelt, Queer and Wickedly Witty: How Poetry Collection 'Come Clean' Sparks Joy
Joshua Nguyen lists himself as many things on his Instagram bio — a writer, a PhD student, a boba snob. He received h...
On Searching for Rươi Vendor Street Calls, Hanoi's Harbinger of Autumn
Embedded in the street call of rươi vendors is the conjuring of autumn, when delectable cuisines from across the land of...
'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 ...
[Photos] Vietnamese Students Edit Their Textbooks With Hilarious Results
Normally reserved for the creative and perpetually bored, the art of doodling in textbooks has been around for as long as students have been forced to read dry, painfully dull tomes on their least fav...
Wowy Goes LIVE!: Saigon Rapper Aims to Raise 50k for New Show
There are a few things you should know about Wowy.
