Noteworthy arts and culture events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from December 15-21:

Hanoi

Exhibition “Beautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, Japan” in Hanoi and HCMC

HCMC:

Opening: Fri 31 Oct 2014, 9 am

Exhibition: 31 Oct – 10 Nov 2014, 9 am – 6 pm

The Exhibition Hall (Ho Chi Minh City Museum)

—

Hanoi:

Opening: Fri 12 Dec 2014, 6 pm

Exhibition: 12 – 22 Dec 2014, 8.30 am – 4.45 pm

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, in cooperation with Consulate-General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, proudly present a travelling exhibition “Beautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, Japan” from 31 October – 22 December in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Supervised by curator Ryuichi Matsubara “Beautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, Japan” is an exhibition planned to mark the March 11 anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. The Tohoku region, known for its beautiful mountains and seascapes as well as its rich local culture and history, suffered damage and destruction of unprecedented proportions. Much was lost, and manufacturing and handicraft culture were hard hit. People in local areas affected by the disaster, however, have been working closely together to rebuild, intent on restoring peace and normality to their lives as soon as possible.

The displays present works of mingei members included Kanjiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada, Keisuke Serizawa and Shiko Munakata with various genres—ceramics, lacquerware, textiles, metalwork, wood and bamboo crafts, etc.—allowing visitors to enjoy the diverse and exquisite world of Tohoku traditions.

The works included in the exhibit present an opportunity to discover anew the high level of traditional craft techniques nurtured in the Tohoku region and the functional beauty of daily implements used since ancient times in Japan. The art and craftsmanship of these works also help us to better appreciate the folk wisdom derived from lives lived close to nature and the manual skills and dexterity cultivated out of that wisdom.

It is our hope that viewers will enjoy the undeniable beauty and the highly developed handicraft techniques of Tohoku craftsmanship products.

This exhibition will travel to Ho Chi Minh City from 31 October – 10 November at Exhibition Hall (92 Le Thanh Ton, District 1), and Hanoi from 12-22 December at Vietnam Fine Arts Museum (66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh).

Free admission.

Exhibition “Nguyen Cam 20 Year Retrospective Imprints of Origin”

Opening: Sat 13 Dec 2014, 6 pm

Exhibition: 13 Dec 2014 – 13 Jan 2015

Art Vietnam Gallery

24 Ly Quoc Su (2nd Floor), Hanoi

20 years of celebration of art and life in Vietnam – Artist Nguyen Cam and Art Vietnam Gallerist Suzanne Lecht mark an honoring of the past, an embracing of the present and a look to the future.

One a stranger in his homeland, one a stranger in a land of strangers, Nguyen Cam and Suzanne Lecht are celebrating 20 years of art and life in Vietnam, each possessing a rich memory full of longing for a life lost and a well of happiness for a life regained.

Born in Haiphong in 1944 Nguyen Cam returned to Vietnam in 1994 after being exiled with his family in 1954. A period of living in Laos, raising singularly his 5 siblings at the tender age of 17 was followed by a move to Paris in 1969. An autodidact, Cam had opened a gallery in Vientiane and had some local repute as an artist of talent and passion. Fueled with ambition and dreams, Cam moved to Paris to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux Arts to verify perhaps to himself alone that he was in truth a “real artist.”

In 1994, a tribute to Cam as an artist and as a man, the Vietnamese government invited Cam to come back to his country to exhibit and to teach at the national fine art universities. Reunited with his homeland after a 50 year absence was a powerful, moving experience for the seasoned artist. His memories of Vietnam were those of a child, an innocent trapped in the turmoil of his country with forces beyond his control. Moving through the halls of memory, traces of the past began to appear in his work. Old used rice sacks, votive paper offerings, small patches of silver leaf applied lovingly as one might adorn a Buddhist sculpture, began to emerge in his work. Fragments of the past and a reverence for the present appeared as adornments marking his reconciliation with his history and with his heart.

A freedom hard won emerged, walls collapsed and the alluvial soil ebbed and flowed as the wellspring of his hopes and joys were finally released from the stricture of time.

The works became a progression of free canvas tarpaulins covered with torn rice sacks; Roots, Traces of the Past 1997, slashes of injury held together by a thread of hope, dangling ropes of tenuous connection emphasizing a man struggling to mend the fractures of his soul, Against Wind and Tide 1999. Slowly the works evolved into more peaceful ruminations of his past and the life surrounding him, a reconciliation with memory. More joyous works appeared, Memory of Spring 1999 depicting rays of light and hope, a flow of energy renewed and a feeling of calm and peace began to prevail, Music of Infinity 2004. A sense of the wonder of the world, our small place in it and the transient nature of life sprung forth onto the canvases as the artist eased into the autumn years of his life, The Milky Way 2004.

For the last 20 years Cam has been coming to Vietnam to paint, exhibit and to visit with friends and family, restoring ties to his homeland and memory. His current works show a man at peace in the world with a renewed energy to express the majesty of life with all its joys and sorrows.

His recent paintings, Beginning of Winter 2012, Ginkgo Sun 2012, Imprints 5 2011, Summer Sun 2012 are all joyous works full of wonder and life, a life reconciled. The artist and man has returned to himself and is at one with the world.

The 20 Year Anniversary of Suzanne Lecht in Vietnam, her journey discovering the heart of the hidden world of contemporary art in Vietnam

Suzanne Lecht, an American, widowed at the age of 44, left her past and sorrow tying her to Tokyo and in 1994 was compelled to move to Vietnam, a mysterious land with a tragic past entwined with her own. A Cathay Pacific in flight magazine with its images of the works of the pioneering group of artists, the “Gang of Five”, captured her heart and a decision was made. She would create her new life in this enigmatic, mysterious country with the hopes of becoming a small bridge of reconciliation between the two countries bound by the beauty of the spirit, not by the devastation of war.

A chance encounter on her very first day in Hanoi led her to the studio of Pham Quang Vinh, one of the Gang of Five. A deep friendship ensued as Suzanne began immersing herself in the arts and culture of Vietnam. In 1997 Suzanne met Nguyen Cam at the Nam Son Gallery where she purchased one of the first major works of her collection, Roots, Traces of the Past 1997. Cam and Suzanne’s friendship flourished as they both were immersing themselves in a land at once familiar and at the same time alien, each healing the wounds of the past.

In 1998 Suzanne exhibited Cam in a solo exhibition at the Arts of Pacific Asia in New York City and many years of presenting his work internationally followed in Paris, San Francisco, Sante Fe, Art Asia New York, Art Asia Miami, and a special solo exhibition in 2003 at the Robert Mondavi Winery in celebration of Robert Mondavi’s 90th birthday.

In 2005 Suzanne opened the Fielding Lecht Gallery in Austin, Texas with the solo exhibition of Nguyen Cam. A deep friendship has been forged over the years bound by the appreciation of the beauty and the power of art to transform and to reconcile with history.

2014 marks Suzanne Lecht’s 20th year of living and working in Vietnam, a journey of self discovery, of deep appreciation of a culture not her own, but one adopted by her heart.

Film Screening “The Stirring of a Thousand Bells”

Tue Mon 15 Dec 2014, 8 pm

Manzi Art Space

14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi

MOON GRAMOPHONE proudly presents the Vietnam premiere of THE STIRRING OF A THOUSAND BELLS, an ethnomusicological documentary on gamelan traditions in the island of Java, Indonesia.

THE STIRRING OF A THOUSAND BELLS (2014)

Screening + Skype Q&A with director Matt Dunning

FILM SYNOPSIS

Gamelan is one of the ancient music traditions of the world. In Solo, it’s still a part of everyday life, and an important cultural custom. A complex wonder of human invention, it comes from a timeless world of aural tradition, contemplation, and relaxed living.

These films capture the essence of the gamelan tradition, in the context of the changing modern world. Come and experience Java through my eyes and ears. Feel what it’s like to be lost in a world of history.

THE STIRRING OF A THOUSAND BELLS consists of 2 short films:

1. SEKATEN – 35’15” – Experience Javas most cosmic music festival where the old world and the new are colliding, creating captivating images and sound. It attempts to put the viewer in the perspective of someone experiencing the Sekaten festival for the first time, leaving a sense of curiosity, and desire to learn more about Javanese culture.

2. SRIMPI MUNCAR – 15’20” – Enchanting melodies and meditative dance from Mangkunegaran Palace, with arresting images from throughout Java.

Entry by donation on the door (all donations will go to the filmmaker)

Photo Exhibition “Focus On Vietnam”

Opening: Wed 03 Dec 2014, 6 pm

Film Screening: Wed 03 Dec 2014, 7.30 pm

Exhibition: 03 – 31 Dec 2014

L’Espace

24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội

You are invited to the photo exhibition titled “Focus on Vietnam” which presents photographs from the collection by the French School of the Far East (presented in Cernuschi Museum in Paris from 13 Mar – 29 Jun 2014). This event would take the viewers on a trip through Vietnamese traditions and prestigious historic sites.

In addition, the documentary film “The Adventure of Baphuon” directed by Didier Fascio – an initiative by French School of the Far East in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture – tells the restoring process of one of the largest temples in Angkor, Baphuon.

The exhibition will be available in two places: l’Espace and the National Museum of Vietnamese History.

Free admission.

Launch of Sustainable Fashion Line “Seeds” at manzi

Launch event: Fri 12 Dec 2014, 8 pm

Textile installation: 12 – 30 Dec 2014

Manzi Art Space

14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi

You are invited to the launch of sustainable fashion line and textile installation called SEEDS at Manzi. This new line uses traditional textiles and techniques to create a contemporary and elegant mens and womens collection.

To produce SEEDS Kilomet 109 worked with local artisans from Vietnam’s remote Northern highlands to incorporate, and thus help preserve, endangered methods of fabric dyeing, weaving and embroidery. By doing so we strive to reimagine the boundaries between cultural preservation and reinvention. The result is an exciting contribution to Vietnam’s fashion scene.

The idea behind SEEDS was born from the close relationship between the raw materials used to create the textiles, to the process of weaving, dyeing, beezwax printing, and all the way to the creation of the design sample and the 3D prototype.

The installation portion of the SEEDS exhibition is reconstructed in a three dimensional format, integrating all of the raw materials and techniques that were used in the garment design. Next to this will be displayed illustrations that lay out the recipe and the ingredients used to create the pigments and dyes.

The SEEDS collection is heavily influenced by a European sensibility regarding garment structure combined with the versatile functionality of streetwear. Most of the detailed finishing and decoration, however, has been adopted from the traditional dress of the people of Vietnam. Some of these details include the buttons taken from the neckline of the Thai women’s blouse, contours and slopes of the Nung men’s shirt, beezwax prints of the Dao Tien dress , the dense array of color coordination borrowed from the Lo Lo people , and the thin line button loops with transparent glass buttons inspired by the Trang An ao dai. But these traditional elements are designed to be ambiguous , or are even hidden somewhere in the design to create a special connection between the wearer and the piece, between functionality and decoration, and between the traditional and the contemporary.

Showcase of Muong Ceramics

Opening: Fri 12 Dec 2014, 5.30 pm

Exhibition: 12 – 18 Dec 2014

Module 7

83 Xuan Dieu Str, Tay Ho, Hanoi

The Muong’s Cultural Museum, Muong Studio and Module 7 cordily invite you to the Showcase of Muong Ceramic.

Since Ly – Tran Dynasty (from the 11th to 12th century), Vietnam has been well-known for its tradition of ceramics with many products of white, celenon, brown, and blue salt glaze. Nowadays, ceramics is an arts language and material to some artists. Their recent works have gone beyond the traditional design, performances, and senses.

Muong Ceramics is named after experimental pottery, and this is the result of hard work by two artists with the same name of Hieu. Traditional materials like clay, water, glaze, ash, and hand-building techniques are used to create Vietnamese ceramics works.

Muong Ceramics is a product of Muong Studio of Ceramics, an Arts Centre at the Muong’s Culture Museum. In collaboration with Module 7, these works will be exhibited with interior products, that are designed and made in traditional craft villages and held long-standing cultural values of traditional artisanal know-how with a resonance of modernity.

Muong Studio of Ceramics was opened in September 2014 for Vietnamese and international artists participating in the artist-in-residency program. Muong Ceramics with initial pottery works, is an prerequisite for a huge Workshop of Artistic Ceramics in 2015. The workshop will gather many international artists from Asian Ceramic Network to collaborate with Vietnamese artists at Mường Studio.

This event is made possible with the generous support from Module 7.

The Rose of Autumn Concert

8.30 pm, December 20

The Black Box

56 Nguyen Khuyen, Hanoi

Ticket price: VND 200,000

Christmas Concert with Hanoi Ensemble

8pm, December 20

Manzi Art Space

14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi

Price for 1st drink: VND 250,000

Exhibition “Townscapes”

Dong Phong Art Gallery

3 Ly Dao Thanh Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi

“Townscapes” is a solo exhibition by the accomplished artist Do Minh Tam held in the small Dong Phong Gallery, known to art lovers for several successful art shows earlier this year. The exhibition will display the most recent of Do Minh Tam’s extraordinary paintings, showing new talents of an artist who is already well known for his brilliant abstract motives. Being the festive season, these paintings could be wonderful Christmas and/or New Year gifts for lovers of Vietnamese fine arts.

Showcase of Muong Ceramics

MODULE 7

83 Xuan Dieu Street, Tay Ho, Hanoi

Muong Ceramics is a product of Muong Studio of Ceramics, an Arts Centre at the Muong’s Culture Museum. In collaboration with Module 7, these works will be exhibited with interior products designed and made in traditional craft villages and holding long-standing cultural values of traditional artisanal know-how with a resonance of modernity.

Exhibition “Beautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, Japan”

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

The displays present works of mingei members included Kanjiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada, Keisuke Serizawa and Shiko Munakata in various mediums—ceramics, lacquerware, textiles, metalwork, wood and bamboo crafts, etc.—allowing visitors to enjoy the diverse and exquisite world of Tohoku traditions.

HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City International Dance Festival 2014

December 7-16

Gem Center and HCMC Opera House

The festival in 2014 will present three shows and a series of workshops and talks, featuring renown contemporary dancers and choreographers from France, Italy, Korea, Japan, Israel, Norway/Sweden, Taiwan, and 2 companies from Vietnam (Arabesque Dance Company and The Ballet and Symphony Orchestra of Hochiminh City).

Exhibition “The Cosmos and The Sea”

Galerie Quynh

Level 2, 151/3 Dong Khoi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Come to “The Cosmos and The Sea” – a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Christine Nguyen. A noted artist known for works that draw upon the imageries of science and nature, Christine Nguyen will present a collection of new and recent photo-based work ranging from intimate c-prints to ambitious mural-size work.

Exhibition “Phuong Quoc Tri 2014″

Craig Thomas Gallery

27i Tran Nhat Duat, Tan Dinh ward, District 1

The oil paintings on display focus on the issues of birth, childhood and parenthood, and animating the artist’s life at the moment.

Exhibition “Dying after Afternoon”

Tu Do Gallery

53 Ho Tung Mau Street, District 1

You are invited to the exhibition titled “Dying after Afternoon” which features 21 artworks of HCMC-based painter Trinh Thanh Tung.

Hanoigrapevines/Nhan Dan/VNN