Between Victory and Sorrow: The Complex Realities Behind Văn Cao's 'Mùa Xuân Đầu Tiên'
Composer Trịnh Công Sơn once wrote: “In music, Văn Cao is as noble as a king. In the field of song composition, I am like a child dreaming that the sun is a paper kite to play with. Brother Văn's music is the music of soaring fairies. I wander among the human realm. He keeps flying and I keep sinking. Flying and sinking in our private destinies...”
‘Fight or Flight or Float or Fall‘ Takes Viewers on Trip Across Memory, Trauma and Healing
In Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s new solo exhibition, materials and forms associated with destruction, violence and death are reimagined and transformed into sculptures that evoke healing and resilience. Through sensory elements such as touch, sound and movement, the exhibition guides viewers through layers of memory, and a journey from trauma towards reflection and healing.
The New Year Brings New Joys at Grand Ho Tram
While traditional, Tết doesn’t need to feel outdated. Combining the timeless charm of the holiday with emerging opportunities for fun allows the season to remain enticing for people of all backgrounds and interests. A selection of entertainment offerings, culinary opportunities, and activities at The Grand Ho Tram’s District Vui balance the best of nostalgic New Years and modern thrills, making it a wonderful choice for foreign and domestic travelers booking their first trip of the year.
Heritage Encounters Contemporary Art in Exhibition ‘Thẩm / Thấu, Thưởng’
Just before the upcoming Lunar New Year, “Thẩm / Thấu, Thưởng” exhibition takes viewers on a journey to explore the beauty of traditional and folk materials re-imagined in contemporary forms. It enhances the essence of contemporary art through a fresh perspective on how heritage can be reinterpreted within modern creative practices.
Vũ Bằng's Nostalgic Longings for Hanoi Teach Us How to Love a Place Deeply
From Thương Nhớ Mười Hai to Miếng Ngon Hà Nội, Vũ Bằng’s way of lacing Hanoian features with melancholic reminiscence always brings me straight back to the embrace of my hometown, even more so after I moved to Saigon at age 19. Since then, my writing and social media posts about Hanoi have often been accompanied by quotes “stolen” from his books: “My spring — the spring of northern Vietnam, Hanoi's spring — is a season of gentle misty rain, cool tender winds, the sound of swallows calling all jade-dark night, distant chèo drum beats from distant hamlets with maidens lovely as poems singing timeless love songs.” This was how Vũ Bằng’s oeuvre made its way to my heart.
The Phenomenal Phonk of Budding Rapper Ci Pi's Fever Dream
Everybody in my university program seems to know Bùi Ngọc Cẩm Phương, though in the music world, she's more popularly known as Ci Pi, a stage name that combines her name’s 2 initials. Be it because of her music or her noticeable Japanese fashion styles, even on campus, Ci Pi’s presence is “vivid” and easy to spot. However, it wasn’t until I knew her personally through a group project that I caught a glimpse of her true self. Despite the edgy appearance with quirky hairstyles and aesthetics, Ci Pi is quiet and calm, and always seems to be immersed in her own world.
Khôi Phạm in Music & Arts
5 Classic Christmas Songs in Vietnamese for Those Craving Nô-en Wistfulness
Christmas celebration in Vietnam is something else altogether.
Composer Hoàng Việt and a Radical Romance Across the North-South Border
In a country fractured by ideology, Hoàng Việt's love for his wife Ngọc Hạnh persisted like a secret melody carried across closed borders by weak radio signals, and letters that had to circle the globe before finding their way home.
Behind The Curtain: Standpoint Theories
Brimming with creative ideas, the multi-disciplinary Standpoint Theories, which first made an appearance last year at Cargo Bar, will grace Saigon once more for three days in January.
Saigoneer’s 10 Most Popular Stories Of 2014
As the calendar is set to flip to 2015, we’ve put together a list of Saigoneer’s most popular stories from 2014.
Left For Dead, Vietnam’s First Restored Steam Locomotive Makes Miraculous Return
After an 18-year absence from Vietnam’s tracks, it looks like steam locomotives are making a comeback.
15 Amazing Moments Captured On Vietnam’s Streets
In Vietnamese cities, streets are where life happens. With few parks available to the country’s urban masses, they serve as everything from entertainment venues to wedding halls to restaurants. They a...
Saigoneer Sunday Rewind
Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.
Plus-Size Woman Sends Her Photos To Editors Across The Globe, Photoshop Hilarity Ensues
Back in June, an American blogger Esther Honig sent her photo to editors around the globe to be photoshopped. She found that each country (including Vietnam) projected their own cultural values and st...
These 8 Saigon Christmas Cinemagraphs Will Get You In The Christmas Spirit
Whether you enjoy Saigon’s frenetic Christmas energy or not, it’s impossible to escape the twinkling light shows in the city’s alleys, Santa impersonators and tinfoil snow.
All In: Vietnamese Artists Put A Beautiful Twist On Playing Cards
With an obsession for peace signs, adoration for the hippie lifestyle and an open mind, two young artists, Đinh Công Thành and Ngô Đình Lệ Thuỷ, have started a creative project called “Bài Ta” (Vietna...
Saigon Xưa: Young Artist Makes Incredible Drawings to Show Love of Old Saigon
Although born in Ninh Thuan province, Le Hung Trong has grown intimately attached to his second home, Saigon. Working as an architect for past three years, he has put together a collection of drawings...
OMG: Use Of Online Acronyms By Vietnamese Youth Blurs Linguistic Lines
Across the globe, the internet has brought about new ways of thinking, interacting and communicating. The latter has been a cause of concern for some in Vietnam who worry about the impact of popular i...
[Video] Pro Skateboarders Make an Epic Vietnam Road Trip
Back in 2012, Skateboarder Magazine sent a group of pro skaters on a motorbike journey from Hanoi to HCMC in a quest to find unseen skate spots throughout the country.
[Photos] Vietnam Through The Lens Of A Leica
There’s little doubt that Vietnam is one of the World’s most photogenic countries. No matter what camera one uses, you’re bound to have at least a few gems on your film roll or memory card. But what h...
A Look At The Top Google Searches In Vietnam In 2014
On Tuesday, Google released its annual “A Year in Search” showing the most popular searches of the last year. To make it a bit more accessible, the search engine released localized versions in additio...
4 Awesome Animated Gifs Of Sleeping Saigon Cyclo Drivers
Maria Tran Larsen, a graphic designer with Vietnamese roots living in Copenhagen, Denmark has always been entranced by the sleeping cyclo drivers she came across on her trips to Vietnam.
Rolling The Dice With Old Saigon Monopoly
There’s something about inspired design mixed with nostalgia that always pulls on the heartstrings. We recently got wind of an old Saigon inspired game of Monopoly designed right here in Saigon.
Incredible Pointillism Pieces Show The Faces Of Vietnam
Out of all the many art forms, pointillism is one of the most impressive. Artists in this medium use millions of individual dots to compose their masterpieces that are packed with incredible detail.
Saigoneer Sunday Rewind
Saigoneer's staff highlights their favorite articles from the past week.
[Photos] An Illustrated Guide to Vietnamese Motorbikers, Part 2
After we published the first edition of “An Illustrated Guide To Vietnamese Motorbikers,” we received an abundance of requests from users on Facebook, Twitter and a number of Vietnamese social network...
Artist Spotlight: Tonstartssbandht
Tonstartssbandht is one of those bands which occupy that very rare dimension in music defying categorization. Psychedelic-rock, pastoral vocals, pop undertones, rock-n-roll and lo-fi are all terms tha...
Amazing Vegetable Carvings In HCMC
When one thinks about materials artists use to make intricate carving, wood immediately comes to mind. But at the Taste of the World culinary festival which wrapped up last week, a group of talented c...
