Back Tag

Paul Christiansen

in Travel

Art, Flowers Bloom at Huế’s Hidden Museum, Lebadang Memory Space

People often think that art is distant and difficult to appreciate, but a garden is different; everyone knows how to admire a flower.

in Music & Arts

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...

in Music & Arts

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...

in Food Culture

This Charming Northern-Style Country House Is Made Entirely of Mooncake

Another Trung Thu season is just around the corner, and bakeries across Vietnam are busy at work churning out thousands of mooncakes to be given out as gifts or relish at home with family and friends....

in Music & Arts

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...

in Music & Arts

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.

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

Get to Know the Dynamic Local Art Scene Alongside 'Saigon Art Journey'

“This is not a tour, remove that word from your minds. This is an interacting and exploring journey,” explained Angeline Gong, an experienced art host known by Saigon’s artists and galleries as Z-Gong...

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

At Bùi Chát's Painting Exhibition, a Freedom to Feel Without Preconceptions

Contemporary art can intimidate viewers. People often think they need familiarity with certain histories, theories, philosophies and biographies to appreciate a painting. I have friends who do not hav...

in Music & Arts

Galuocad's Artworks Create a Universe of Very-Vietnamese Whimsy

Staying in one place for an extended period can lead to what's known as the "boiled frog effect."

in Music & Arts

Nam Jam Festival Returns to Đà Nẵng With Week of Mural Arts

The Nam Jam Festival from March 4 to 10 invites more than 50 local and international street artists to create massive works of street art in Đà Nẵng. 

in Culture

The Artist Preserving Saigon's Cultural Tapestry Through Hand-Painted Signs

"In the early 2000s, the market experienced an exodus of painters due to the shift to digital; it was difficult to retain customers otherwise. I didn't want my craft to be forgotten, so I started ever...

in Music & Arts

Trần Trung Lĩnh's Latest Art Collection Is an Homage to Saigon and Van Gogh

Van Gogh’s distinctive palette is perhaps one of the most recognizable personal styles in the art world, and viewers of Vietnamese artist Trần Trung Lĩnh’s artworks are sure to be amused to see these ...

in Music & Arts

How Young Artists Are Bringing Mural Arts to Schools in Rural Vietnam

On their fifth journey off the beaten paths, Tô Đậm is heading to the highland of Ma Bó, Lâm Đồng Province for a new season of lessons, stories, and adventures previously unfolded.

in Music & Arts

Local Photographer Recreates Mai Trung Thứ Paintings in Fashion Shoot

In hopes of recreating the paintings of silk master Mai Trung Thứ, photographer Minh Sơn and his collaborators have done something extraordinary with this photo collection. The resulting works bear st...

in Music & Arts

A Mythic Vietnam Through the Brushstrokes of Architecture and History

“A steady country is one with a wealth of history and a steady generation is one that can understand and respect the heritage that their forefathers left behind,” Vũ says of his exhibition “Kỳ Ẩn Việt...

in Music & Arts

A Vietnamese French Artist Reunites With His Own Roots Through Painting

On display at Thảo Điền’s Ngõ Art Gallery last year, the watercolor painting exhibition “Dream” is the conclusion of a decades-long artistic journey that has led a French national to learn more about ...

in Music & Arts

Graffiti Artist Nguyễn Tấn Lực Is Serious About Changing Public Opinion of Street Art

As an art form deeply rooted in the streets, graffiti embodies the liberation of creativity from strict societal framing. But like other street creations, it’s never free from public scrutiny due to i...

in Music & Arts

The Timeless Beauty of Vietnamese Women in Mai Trung Thứ’s Legacy

Mai Trung Thứ, who lived from 1906 to 1980, was a remarkable Vietnamese artist who graduated from the Indochina Fine Arts College.

in Arts & Culture

[Illustrations] 20th Century Vietnam by Thang Trần Phềnh

Time for a bit of history.

in Arts & Culture

14-year-old Vietnamese Painter Earns $23K from NFT Painting

 Xèo Chu, a 14-year-old Vietnamese artist, recently auctioned his first non-fungible token (NFT) painting on the platform Binance with the winning bid of US$22,899.

in Music & Arts

Missing Saigon? Live Vicariously Through These Tender Illustrations by a Filipino Artist.

Having lived and worked in Saigon for two and a half years, Daniel Ansel Tingcungco, a Filipino artist, created a collection of paintings illustrating 100 beloved views of the city. The project, title...

in Music & Arts

Saigon Artist Đoàn Quốc Takes Watercolor Paintings to Whole New Heights

As one of the few Vietnamese nationals to have been granted the title of International Watercolor Master, young artist Đoàn Quốc is constantly pushing the frontiers of his creativity to paint a new pa...

in Music & Arts

Art That Outlives Us: The Paintings of Vietnamese American Artist Ann Phong

There are two things that disconcert older-generation Vietnamese Americans in Little Saigon from those around them: fusion food and the arts; both of which evoke nothing but strangeness. Intolerable s...

Khoi Pham

in Music & Arts

A Halcyon Hanoi in the Art of Joseph Inguimberty, the Professor Who Taught Lê Phổ

In 1925, Joseph Inguimberty stepped into the tropical humidity of Hanoi for the first time. Despite having been to Italy, Greece and even Egypt, the 29-year-old art professor probably couldn’t imagine...

in Music & Arts

Meet Tô Đậm, the Young Artists Bringing Mural Arts to Schools in Rural Vietnam

Tô Đậm is a non-profit organization founded by artists who share one thing in common: they all love to paint and travel. Their collective works cannot be found at any galleries or museums, even if you...

in Asia

Vintage Illustrations From 1931 Showcase Native Birds of Indochina

Somebody definitely paid attention in art class.

in Music & Arts

Over 130 Artworks by Mai Trung Thứ Will Be on Display in France in June

It will be the first time many of Mai Trung Thứ's oil on canvas, paintings on silk, drawings, photographs, and lithographs will be available for public viewing. 

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

Pull up a Plastic Stool, Break out the Watercolor, We're Painting Saigon

What is worthy of being painted?

Paul Christiansen

in Music & Arts

The Unquenchable Spirit of Artist Lê Triều Điển

“Điển is like a flower; there is no question of growing or not growing.”

in Music & Arts

The Unwavering Creative Gusto of Artist Mộng Bích

As she approaches her 90th spring, artist Mộng Bích continues to paint with insatiable gusto and infectious calm in preparation for her solo show at the French Institute of Hanoi opening on ...

in Music & Arts

The Wildlife Artist Who Paints the Beauty of Vietnam’s Endangered Nature

Dao Van Hoang, a self-taught painter, welcomed us into his studio at Le Petit Musée in Thao Dien. Surrounded by watercolors of exotic plants and paintings of wild animals, he shared with us his life s...

in Arts & Culture

[Photos] The Alluring Life and Art of Lê Phổ

The art of Lê Phổ, one of Vietnam's most celebrated painters, evolved significantly during his career.

in Vietnam

[Illustrations] This Set of Gouache Paintings Showcases Rural Life in 1890 Nam Dinh

Step into the life of a Nam Dinh resident in 1890 through this series of vintage paintings.

in Saigon

[Photos] The Retro Artistry of Vietnam's Hand-Drawn Song Sheet Covers

Does a song have a color?

in Music & Arts

In Tình Đầu Exhibition Space, a Home for Hanoi's Bohemian Young Artists

Nestled deep within labyrinthine alleyways in Hanoi’s Ba Đình District, Tình Đầu (first love), a studio-gallery run by a collective of Vietnamese artists, is growing a reputation as a home for the cap...

in Postcards

Saigon Postcard No. 21: The Year of the Rat Wedding

They say it's bad to get married during your year on the Lunar Calendar. 

in Music & Arts

[Illustrations] An Emptier Side of Tokyo in Naoki Tomita's Oil Paintings

One thing that can safely be said about Tokyo is that it is not under-represented visually.

in Culture

This Set of Rare 20th-Century Đông Hồ Paintings Depicts a Society in Flux

The well-known woodcut folk paintings have always offered unique insights into the times during which they were produced.

Michael Tatarski

in Music & Arts

Here's a Thiên Long Ballpoint Pen, Now Make Art With It

Nomer Adona has lived in Vietnam since 1994, a 25-year journey (so far) that has taken him from working as an architect with the Malaysian government to the halls of international schools.

in Music & Arts

[Illustrations] A Halcyon Hanoi Through Artist Pham Anh's Ultra-Realistic Oil Paintings

Living in the same neighborhood for an extended period of time can lead one to take it for granted. But it only requires the perspective of an artistically inclined outsider to make you fall in love w...

in Arts & Culture

[Illustrations] Local Artist Turns Saigon Street Snapshots Into Wholesome Postcards

If you’ve been fond of our Saigon Postcard series, you’ll come to love these wholesome illustrations by a local comic artist.

Brian Letwin

in Vietnam

Vietnamese Painting Fetches Record Price at Christie’s

Nguyen Phan Chanh’s painting, entitled “La Marchand de Riz,” set a new record for Vietnamese art at Christie’s International in Hong Kong this past Saturday. Originally valued at $75 due to a case of...