Guilt, Mortality, and Hope in 'Khát Vọng Cho Con' by Poet Du Tử Lê
“We are like fruits forcefully ripened, a generation of premature adults, a generation of misery.”— Du Tử Lê.
Vietnam's Central Highlands Imagined in ‘Angin Cloud’ at National Gallery Singapore
Amidst shifting social currents, industrialized landscapes, and a fast-paced world, how does a community preserve its heritage, rewrite histories, and confront colonial legacies? In this long-term collaboration with the Jrai community, ‘Angin Cloud’ by Art Labor explores these questions through a multi-floor installation at National Gallery Singapore that poetically intertwines Gia Rai (Jrai) beliefs, traditions, and environmental change.
Music Is My Release: Behind the Anger That Fuels the Fiercely Indie Group COCC
“I don’t make happy songs,” says Phúc, the lead singer and guitarist of Saigonese rock group COCC. He and I are sitting in the middle of the band’s “cave” — a homemade recording studio they began putting together ten years ago. “I dreamed about it for a long time,” Phúc says of the studio. “In 2015, when I finished this house, the vision came true. We invest in it all the time, buy a little bit here, buy a little bit there. We’re still adding and improving the system and the equipment.”
Paul Christiansen in Culture
The Harrowing History of Vietnam's Rubber Plantations
"Oh it’s easy to go to the rubber and hard to return, / Men leave their corpses, women depart as ghosts."
How Thoughtful Design Boosts Educational Outcomes: Australian International School Undergoes Multi-Million-Dollar Renovations
According to a 2018 study by the University of Salford in Manchester, carefully considered classroom environments can impr...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
Korean Culture Has Stolen Vietnam's Hearts. What About Korean Literature?
If you were a book publisher and saw a sudden spike in sales for a book published years ago, how would you explain it?
'I Wander Alone' and 'Your Shirt Button,' Two Poems by Nguyễn Quang Thân
“You told me not to look at you, it’s silly / Yet I want to gnaw you the way I gnaw bread ... the pack of ravenous dogs looked at me with night sea eyes / I wish they could gnaw me piece by piece.”
Đờn Ca Tài Tử Captures the Soul of Southern Vietnam in Every Melody, Every Word
“It’s not something unfamiliar, but it’s been a few years since I last heard it. Stumbling upon this beautiful bucolic scene now has made me fall in love with the Mekong Delta’s đờn ca tài tử melodies again.”
[Photos] Saigon's Convenience Craze: How Corporate Chains Are Creating New Space for Civic Life
In little more than a few years, convenience store chains have taken the city by storm. You can now find a Circle K, Vin Mart, Family Mart, B’s Mart or Mini-Stop on almost every street in the city pac...
Doing Nothing Is Now a Sport in South Korea
Are you an expert at doing nothing? If so, time to make a beeline straight to South Korea,where looking off into space has become a sport.
[Video] Inside Saigon's Chicano-Style Barbershop
Liem, a young Saigon resident, runs a barbershop in District 3 along with his cohort of tattoo-clad employees. Decked out in Chicano-inspired decor, both the shop and its workers pay ho...
Sichuan Cuisine Facing an Identity Crisis
Culinary innovation can take many shapes and forms. But sometimes, this tinkering can have the unintended consequence of straying too far from the original. Such is the dilemma that faces China’s Sich...
OXYMORON: An Exploration of Sound, Dance and Light
If it were possible to condense the creative output of Saigon’s urban dance and music scene into one show, OXYMORONmight be it. Creative directors Lai Tran and Chieu Tori – a DJ duo also known as Chee...
[Video] Incredible Singapore Timelapse Took 3 Years, 10 Terabytes to Make
In just four and a half minutes, Melbourne-born artist Keith Loutit captures three years of change to the Singaporean skyline by way of a stunning timelapse video.
[Podcast] Renovation Generation: The Life of a Nonsensical Poet
The sonic portraits of Hanoi's Renovation Generation continue this week with the podcast's tenth episode, featuring cafe owner and poet Nam Lu.
[Video] Foreigner Pleads for 'No Sugar' Through Song
For our non-Vietnamese-speaking friends, there are certain linguistic misunderstandings which become a part of daily life in Saigon. To the untrained ear, for instance, sao, xạo, xấu, sau and xào migh...
[Video] Highlighting Vietnam's Forgotten Moroccan Soldiers
Vietnam and Morocco have much more in common than you might initially think.
[Video] 'As a Saigonese': Saigon in Vivid 4.6k
From multicolored layers of chipped paint to a sliver of light emanating from a darkened alleyway, Saigon is a city of details. While the naked eye provides a solid lens, we’re often too bus...
Meet Cambodia's All-Female Rock Band of Ex-Garment Workers
After years of working in minimum-wage garment factories, Cambodia's Messenger Band now fights for better working conditions and higher pay through music.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Music & Arts
[Video] Rapper Wowy Preserves a Piece of Saigon History in Music Video 'Do Tao Lam'
Late last month, Saigon rapper Wowy debuted his “Do Tao Lam” music video, the first clip from his most recent album, Lao Dai.
Foreign Filmmaker Uses Vietnam as Backdrop for Sci-Fi Short
When it comes to filmmaking, Vietnam's natural beauty has attracted a fair amount of international attention in recent years. Just a few months back, the cast of Kong: Skull Island – including the gre...
Incredible Drone Photos Show Singapore From Above
Singapore is often lauded for being an organized, well-planned metropolis. This is even more apparent when you take in the Lion City from above as a bird's eye view of Singapore reveals the fractal-li...
[Podcast] Renovation Generation: A Wedding Planner Who Doesn't Believe Weddings Equal Happy Endings
For its ninth episode, the founders of Hanoi-based English-language podcast The Renovation Generation recorded their first-ever live interview in front of an audience at Hanoi's Manzi Art Space&n...
[Photos] Japan’s Last Samurai
The adoption of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 signaled the beginning of the end for Japan’s samurai’s who enjoyed centuries of prominence in the country's feudal ranks.
Unlocking the Potential of Vietnam's Art Market
As one of Vietnam’s most prolific art organizations reduces its cultural and residency programs, we look at the state of national contemporary art in the global market and its economic impact on Vietn...
[Podcast] Renovation Generation: Hanoi's Coolest Skater
Last month, Saigoneer sat down with Eliza Lomas and Fabiola Buchele, the duo behind Hanoi-based The Renovation Generation. Now on its eighth episode, the English-language podcast focuses on Vietnam's ...
[Photos] Vietnam Steps up Its Meme Game Ahead of Obama Visit
Vietnamese netizens are flexing their meme skills ahead of United States president Barack Obama's visit to the country.
Livinwondr: A People’s Art Project
The first installation of new community project Livinwondrexpresses the stories and creative ideas of the public through transformative media art.
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