contemporary dance

There were lots of graceful curls, side twists and leg swings during the modern dance performance on September 26,2008 at the HCMC Conservatory of Performing Arts on Cong Quynh street. For three consecutive nights, contemporary dance occupied the front row in a fully dedicated show. The audience was amazed and surprised by the unconventional choregraphies they were facing and they could have lacked some keys to really grab the meaning of some pieces.

Modern dance is gradually finding its solid ground in Vietnam

Vice Director of the HCMC Dance School Ha The Dung, has put up the show and designed the choregraphies. “I am proud to bring to the public such a show about modern dance, he says. I hope that the audience will be even more receptive in the future”. Mr Ha The Dung studied dance in the USSR and was the first Vietnamese dancer to have received in 2003 the French Diploma of Dance Teacher, majoring in contemporary dance. He now runs the HCMC dance school and he aims at promoting contemporary dance more and more. “Times are changing, he explains. At the last audition we made, we had around fifty pieces to evaluate and ninety percent of them were contemporary dance performances. Ballets or classical dance are no more appealling for the young generation. They have a thirst for new moves, new techniques, new sensation as well. Especially for those who studied abroad.”

Mai Anh is one of the young talent studying abroad. She is a talented young 24 year-old dancer. She has been studying dance since the age of 10 in HCMC. But at 20, thanks to the visit of a French dance troop to the  HCMC Dance School, she discovered modern dance. “That was completely amazing”, Mai Anh recalls. “In general, there are scarcely any regular show or permanent troop in modern dance in Vietnam. But when I saw the French dancers performing this modern dance show, I immediately fell in love with it and I knew that was it.” For her, everything was great: the new approach, the techniques of polyrythmic movements, the narrative structure, the interaction of the body in space, the floor work. It was all new but also a continuation of what classical dance is about. Mai Anh is very excited when she talks about her passion. She cannot describe only in words, she also demonstrates her words with movement.

 

Last August, Mai Anh was invited in by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture and Information to perform at the HCMC Conservatory of music. For the occasion, Mai Anh was asked to perform a choregraphy of her creation. “It was very exciting”, she says. “I was also quite scared at the same time. Modern dance choregraphy is very different because you have to include and give room to improvisation. In my opinion, that is crucial. You have to give the dancers the opportunity and freedom to improvise, that is the essence of this dance style. As a dancer, that is what I love. But as a choregrapher, I was confronted with quite a big challenge”, she laughs. Her choregraphy was called “Twins”. It described two sisters, two dancers. One of them is French and the other is Vietnamese (interpreted by Mai Anh). Even though they grew up in different countries and different cultures, in the realm of dance, they are like sisters.

Modern dance requires a whole new approach of art

For John Huy Tran, a Canadian dance teacher at Dancenter, located at 46/2 Nguyen Cuu Van in HCMC, one of the challenge for contemporary dance in Vietnam lies in the technique but above all in the passion you have to put in the balance. As he has been teaching modern dance to a Vietnamese troop called Hoang Thong, he noticed that if his students can identify the moves he teached, they still don’t undestrand it. “Sometimes I just tell them to be natural and not too “dancy””, John explains. “A plié does not look like a nice plié and when I ask them to simplify the gestures, they just cannot do it. Even if they don’t have the technique, they try to overplay the movement. And it is true that you need to be strong in ballet teachniques to perform well in contemporary dance. And among the 30 dancers in the troop, only 3 have studied dance properly.” But it can be balanced with passion. “But somehow, I can feel that they are surpised by the amount of yourself that you have to put in this dance”, he says. The troop would be learning modern dance to enlarge their scope of activities. “It is quite hard, Mr Ha The Dung explains. All troops would perform ballet, classical dance, traditional dance cheo for instance, or even hip hop. They have to make money to survive in a way, so they have to be able to perform in all kinds of show. Modern dance would just be another skill and an additional opportunity for a troupe.”

But modern dance also requires a different approach of art. As it has no rules, no code, many different “schools” and trends, students and audience alike are confronted with a new kind of freedom. “Modern dance is open to interpretation, Linh Rateau says. It appeals to your own senses and individual opinion. You are free to have your opinion. It can be different form what your neighbour thinks. But noone is here to tell you what you should think of this or that show”. Linh Rateau is the co-founder of Dancenter. As she is a French Viet Kieu, she studied contemporary dance overseas. People may not have the tools to forge their own opinion about a piece of contemporary dance. Even overseas, critics and specialists cannot define precisely what is contemporary dance. It is here but the outlines are blur.

 

If the structure is existing to grow modern dance, it may also needs to emerge from alternative sources. “Overseas, numerous contemporary dance styles have emerged from the streets, Linh explains. In Vietnam, it is not present as the urban culture has quite yet to emerge. In the long run, it will poses a problem in creativity because the risk is that we may see a lot of imitation of foreign styles. But I am confident that it will not happen this way”.

Mr Ha The Dung is also optimistic for the future of modern dance in Vietnam. “Thanks to all the cooperation with foreign troupes, more and more modern dance show are organised. In 2000, at the festival Hue, we had a show with the French troupe ballet La Rochelle. Since 2001, our contacts with troupes in France, Australia and Holland among others are now paying off. All these influences help us a lot. But I always think that these foreign influences help us build our own Vietnamese style of contemporary dance. The way we learn, the way we interprete these moves is definitely Vietnamese!” (Photos by Mai Anh)

graffitis

“SWAT Team! Put your hands in the air now!” But don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the Special Weapons and Tactics squad. This SWAT stands for the Saigon Writing Artists Team, a team of eight young Saigonese graff artists (www.peaceunit.com.vn). Huy, the leader takes us in a tour of the graffiti world in Saigon.

The Saigonese graffiti artists (or "writers" as they prefer to call themselves) are passionate, skilled, community-oriented, and socially conscious. “Graffiti art is exploding”, Huy says. “There are more and more graffitis on the streets. But we don’t want to go that way anymore. What we want is to promote it as a real art form , not as vandalism. We graff places where it is permitted so it is well perceived by the people.” Huy is an 18 year-old chubby schoolboy. “When we bomb out there, we always ask for permission to the owner or neighborhood. I know it sounds strange as in the West, bombing has to be something illegal by nature, which makes it fun. Bombing a well-known place, under police surveillance is the challenge there. We don’t do that. It is not what we are looking for”.

Graffiti as an art form

Graffiti has a long history in the US and in Europe, where the subculture surrounding graffiti has existed for several decades. Bombing has started in the 1960s in New York. The style of graffiti which is now appearing in Vietnam is the kind that uses spraycans. As Huy says, it started a little bit like vandalism here. But the community of writers took it seriously as the rest of the world now does. For instance, Banksy, a well-known British contemporary artist promotes bombing as a true street art. The "guerilla artist" has become a household name in England, and his work is now scattered across the globe. While some see his work as vandalism, he has managed to win over many in the art world. His pieces are always much in demand at auctions and collected by celebrities and art lovers alike. He held his first solo exhibition in May 2008 in Hong Kong. The pieces included a cross section of Banksy’s works including his remixed British ten-pound notes (featuring a portrait of Diana instead of the Queen) doors with monkeys on them, rat characters, Kate Moss as Marilyn Monroe (a nod to Warhol) and various other canvases.

“Our themes are not subversive”, Huy says. “We are young you know. The last combo  (graffiti in which many artists of the same crew participate) we did, it was about Batman, as the last episod was released in movie theaters. We put it combos on websites like graffitivn.com and we discuss them with the graff artists community”, he explains.

Graffiti social impact

Surprisingly, Vietnamese graff art can also benefit to the community. In one area in Go Vap district, where the SWAT Team bombed a 50 meters long wall, the people there are actually enjoying a safer neighborhood. “When we arrived here in this area in Quang Trung Street, Huy explains, heroine dealers and users were squatting the place. We started cleaning the street and putting away the needles.  The eight of us, we were then bombing the wall entire days for a whole month. The drug addicts did not have any opportunity to come back to this place. The neighborhood has been very supportive, bringing us ice tea when it was hot or letting us inside their homes when it was raining.”

Mr. Huu Tri sells ice cream in this street and he is grateful to the SWAT Team, even though he was skeptical when he first saw them bombing. “They came asking all the families on this street for the permission to paint the wall in front of our houses”, Mr. Huu Tri says. “Behind this wall, there is an cimetery. So we gave them permission, not really knowing what would happen next. Now I can see the result and I think it is quite nice. They did not disturb us at all, and they were not noisy nor turbulent. And drawing on the wall is better than doing drugs.” Mr Huu Tri also wanted to have the SWAT Team working on the decoration of her sister’s restaurant. “I wanted to hire them to paint the rooms. But their rate was to high, 150,000 dongs per square meters”.

Graffiti and business

Huy rides a customized Honda Cub that he bombed himself. “I tested graffing on my motorbike and I was happy with the result”, Huy says. “We are trying to make a living out of graffiti. With my friends, we want to set up a paint shop for motorbikes, helmets, tee shirts, wall painting, and decoration. We are currently working with a fashion shop in Go Vap  district and also Dexori, a teen fashion shop. We designed for them a collection, limited edition, of original tee shirts and jeans. In parallel we also paint motorbikes according to clients request. Most of these clients being in our group of friends but we hope that we can soon find more customers. ”

Graffiti and hip hop

In Vietnam, graffiti is also booming thanks to the growing popularity of hip hop music. In Saigon, nightclubs like Corner, MGM, Volcano and now Bounce and Velvet are (or were) playing hip hop music regularly. Graffiti is usually considered one of the four elements of hip hop (along with emceeing, DJing, and B-Boying). Graffiti represents the visual, emceeing and DJ produces the music, and B-Boying is the dance. At the last hip hop party in Benh Thanh theater (Mac Dinh Chi street, district 1) last July organised by 19 year-old Tran (www.darapclub.vn), you could see Huy’s huge graffittis on stage on a wall while the DJ spinned and scratched, the MC raved up the crowd, and the B-boys were battling each other on the dance floor, in front of a 600-teenager crowd. “I did not expect to have so many people. We only advertised on hip hop websites but I guess the hip hop community is growing up every day!”, Tran says.

Huy got a call from Dam Sen park as they will soon open a playground for skate boarding and hip hop dance classes. Huy is still talking with them the possibility to graff the walls there. “I would like to do something new for Dam Sen. We already did a lot of things, Bubble, 3D or Wild style. I will look on internet and try to get inspiration from what is done overseas or by the crews in Hanoi.”

Graffiti in Hanoi

In Hanoi last year, well-known graffiti groups including famous LinkFish and Street Jockey crews gathered to compete in the 3^rd A.R.T. festival. Local residents watched with wonder and admiration the young artists at work. The graffiti works created during the contest were of different styles but only one theme: War and Peace. Before the contest, the A.R.T participants had never dreamt of being able to paint with freedom on such an ideally large wall space as the H5 street without any angry reaction. But they did, in broad daylight, under the very eyes of the “wall owners”.

Local support is a very special award for graffiti writers, who are often scolded or chased away by local residents who don’t like the look of graffiti on their walls. The future of graffiti in Vietnam may well lie in the acceptance and tolerance of the public and on the behaviour of graph artists. “Art is our weapon” Huy says. “And we will keep on fighting”.

welcome to the machine

  The majority of Vietnam’s massive production and export levels can be credited to the manufacturing cities of the HCMC’s outskirts. With its seemingly endless factories and production lines, this region is labeled as the economic motor of modern Vietnam, but one must dig deeper to see the individuals responsible for these staggering output levels: the internal migrant workers.

The show is about to start and great excitement can bee seen on the faces of the hundreds of young workers who can hardly wait on their seats. They just finished their shift at 5pm, twenty minutes ago. Even though they are tired, the prospect of a musical show in the hall of their factory nearby the small cafeteria, where there is usually nothing to do after work, rekindled their energy. The organisers of this show is the Center for Young Workers Support, which is related to the local authorities. “The show is also sponsored by Phu Thinh mobile phone company and it is free of charge for the factory owner, and of course for the workers”, Dao Quang Dung says. Dung is the head of the Center for Young Workers Support of the district. He is very confident in his mission and in the success of the show tonight. “These workers are young and yet nothing is ready for them. There is little entertainement after work and they can be bored. We ususally organise four shows every month, each time in a different factory”, Dung continues.

In fact, companies have been putting in place more and more after-work activities recently at the workers request. The shoe company where the show takes place tonight in Binh Duong has installed two karaoke rooms (open until 10pm) and English courses are also organised for the workers. Sometimes the workers would go on daytrips and picnics into the nearby countryside or even in Vung Tau or Phan Thiet.

Welcome to the industrial age

Vietnam’s economic heart lies in the numerous Chi Minh City industrial zones : Long Thanh, Binh Duong, Bien Hoa, Tan Tao…

Workers see the factory as a home far from home where they work and spend their spare time together. Tens of thousand young men and women are employed by the factories today. In average; there are around 15,000 workers living and working in one industrial area and around 130 factories in the fields of garment , textile, package, aquapoduct, shoe, etc.

The emergence of internal migrant population is a direct result of Vietnam’s economic reforms in 1989 (Doi Moi) and WTO membership, coupled with the changes in urban and rural living regulations.

Although an old residency regulation limited each person to strictly urban or rural residency and commerce, reforms in the 1990s allowed farmers to sell part of their produce on the market, therefore permitting them to supplement their produce sales to the government and gain more economic independence. The eased residency restrictions coincided with the general economic open door policy in the 1995s and 2000s.

This resulted in new competitive challenges for local and international firms and forced them to seek increasing quantities of cheap labor. Thus, the migrant boom was born, and young Vietnamese migrated to the new industrial zones in the South, hoping to prosper from their country economic growth. Today, thousands of factories are worked by hundreds of thousand migrant laborers which are crucial to the growth of the national economy. 

The factory life

The working day at the factory begins at 7am or 8am. There are around three breaks during the day, including an hour lunch break. Workers go home at 5pm or 6pm unless they want to take an extra shift.

Many workers come from small farming towns, form every part of Vietnam. They form a new kind of society, a mosaic of young people from different origins. For these young laborers, farming is the vocation of their parents, and since most of them is better educated and more prepared to enter the workforce, they are eager to leave their homes for the excitement of the southern booming towns.

In many cases, the financial circumstances of workers’ families force them to migrate so they can support their families. Especially after the rise in the cost of living that came with the economic opening of the 2000s, many families could no longer afford for all of their children to stay at home. Moreover, many children go out to work once they are grown so they can send money back home in a display of gratitude to their parents for birthing and raising them. “We feel like we have “debts” towards our parents”, Kim Thanh says. Kim Thanh is a 19 year-old young girl originally from a small town in center Vietnam, and she moved in the South two years ago. She is sitting next by her boyfriend. They met at the factory. “When my debt will be finally paid, maybe I will return home and settle down to start a family”, she explains. When asked if she would start a family with her boyfriend, she does not want to answer.

In addition to these financial motivations, indeed, many migrant workers leave home in search of independence and excitement, given that for most young Vietnamese, the idle life of the countryside can sometimes be as crippling as conservatism and poverty.

Mixed feelings

However, in the case of many workers, the joy of earning good money in factory is quickly overshadowed by harsh working conditions and chronic homesickness. The early 2008 massive strikes demonstrated the uneasiness of workers life in these industrial zones. Assembly line workers usually put in thirteen-hour workdays with two breaks for meals, and typically earn about one hundred US dollars a month.

Besides the stresses of work on the production line, many workers also suffer from nostalgia and even depression caused by homesickness and the general lack of personal contact in manufacturing parks. “Friends are hard to make and even harder to keep in the factory, mostly because of the inherent lifestyle. People move from one factory to another, they are trying jobs and when they are stisfied they stay in the factory”, Viet Anh, 23 year-old, explains. “There is a strong division of workers into regional networks of workers from the same province, city, or even village”, he continues. “I am from the South. Before, I was sharing the dormitory with Northern workers. I could not get along with them and reversely. I didn’t like the way they talked, the jokes, their food. I am now living in a room that I rent to a ricegrower family nearby the factory. This family and my neighbours are Souther people so it is ok”.

These connections can be the difference between finding a way to begin the job search, choosing a good factory, or surviving life as a migrant. However, although these regional associations make migrant life much more secure and enjoyable for the workers involved, they create a much harsher working environment, as workers identify each other less by name than by their province or country of origin.

The MC appears on stage and the show finally starts in an incredible noise. Just like any other youngsters, Kim Thanh, Viet anh and the other workers shout and laugh, forgetting for a while their hard life, homesickness, or the company corporate messages like “good and hard work is the duty of every worker” written on banners hung everywhere in the factory. Quizz games, singers and clowns on stage fill the night while the show successfully carries on, just as Dung predicted.

beauty for the masses

“Tell me what you don’t like about yourself”. The two plastic surgeons of famous TV series Nip / Tuck open their meetings with their clients with this opener. This sentence is more and more heard in Vietnam as plastic surgery business is booming. As disposable income has greatly increased in cities, urban citizens are now taking care of their appearance, and not only with cosmetics, thus following the worldwide trend and fashion. But these services are not reserved for wealthy people: prices are indeed lower than anywhere in the region and it is affordable for many people in Vietnam, even for modest wages.

“Women want to be more feminine”

“Even a secretary can afford plastic surgery. Not only millionaires spouses cruising in Lexus cars”, explains Doctor Siegfried Franckhauser, a French plastic facial surgeon working in Ho Chi Minh City. “Lots of secretaries get a lifting at lunchtime, it’s quick – 20 minutes – and not too expensive, around 2 million dongs”. And it is the same for other operations. The most demanded operations concerns breast augmentation and nose job (flat nose enhancement).  Unlike in South Korea and in China, there is not much demand for eyelid surgery. But another specific operation is maxilla (jaws) surgery. “I did not see such demand in other countries or in France. But here, there is quite a lot of demand for that operation. Some women find that their face is too masculine due to the shape of their jaws, which is too square according to them”, Dr Franckhauser says. “For that, the procedure is a bone resection of the maxilla angle. It makes the face rounder and more feminine”. But he faced new difficulties here with this procedure because Vietnamese skin will not heal properly, as it leaves a scar in most cases, due to their reaction to the medicine. Therefore, Dr Franckhauser had to innovate by operating internally, which means inside the mouth of the patients. “The scar is then invisible. If the operation was external as I usually do in France, it would leave a large scar under the jaws, near the ears. That is not a souvenir you want to leave to your patient!”.

”Women have models, doctors should have ethics”

What are the motivations? In previous years, Vietnamese women wanted plastic surgery to resemble a foreign actress or singer. Nowadays they refer to Vietnamese  or Asian models. To sump-up, some Vietnamese women used to think that they would look prettier with a caucasian look (high nose, white skin, bigger breasts, rounder eyes). But more and more, they want to look prettier in an Asian way.

“Canon of beauty is different here than in the West. Sometimes I find it hard to operate a woman that I find lovely. Women have a small nose and I think that it is quite cute. In France, it is easy to discuss the legitimacy of an intervention because we would both have the same culture and canon of beauty. But here, I have to adapt. Sometimes I think that a client does not need a nose job while she asks for it”, Dr Franckhauser says. “It poses me metaphysical problems sometimes!”. Even if he admits to adapt to the local taste, there are still things he will not do. “I refused a client once. She wanted to remove a wrinkle under her eyes. She was only eighteen! I refused and tried to convince her not to do it as she was too young and it was clearly unnecessary”. But then, she might have got it done in another clinic…

The culture is somewhat different but what still remains is ethics. For Dr Franckhauser, you cannot do everything in this industry. There is a serious need for a legal frame in plastic surgery industry right now: it is said that there are 500 plastic surgeons in Vietnam but only 100 may have a degree (the Hanoi university of medicine delivers a diploma in plastic surgery). Others would just be doctors attracted by quick fortune of this booming market. In such situations, accidents and bad jobs are frequent. A woman had a nose job and a few days later a hole appeared at the end of her nose, near the nasals. When she went to the doctor, a plastic pipe, same as used in plumbing, was removed. The so–called surgeon placed it to “enhance” her nose… Clients trust doctors and they are still reluctant to go to court in case of mistake. As medicine is quite technical, they don’t feel they have the knowledge to demonstrate a doctor’s error. Doctors have an aura, a prestige, like teachers at school. You just don’t question their authority and expertise. So much so that surgeons do not even care to take an insurance in case of accidents, which could arrive during an operation. Unlike in the West, no one would sue them.

“The future is now”

Botox is arriving and it is already on every lips (so to speak !) of the jet set people. Where is it available? Where can I get some? Which doctor is doing a good Botox job ? Botox is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Doctors use it in small doses to treat health problems, including temporary removal of facial wrinkles, severe underarm sweating between others. Botox injections work by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles or by blocking certain nerves. The effects last about three to four months. Ohui, a Korean cosmetics company is advertising for their Botox product in Vietnamese magazines. As people can also see on internet and on TV, movie and pop stars have been using Botox for a long time already… and it is becoming the ultimate “show off”.

Even if people tell plastic surgeons what they want to change, they usually do not say the reasons behind. Plastic surgery has of course cultural aspects. As a result of economic development, obesity has also become a problem… as a consequence, liposuction’s demand is soaring. Liposuction is the process of removing excess fat from various areas of the body (tummy, buttocks, hips) via small, hollow instruments called cannulas. These instruments are introduced into the area of fat removal by tiny holes or incisions, generally no bigger than one quarter inch in diameter. Like in the West, liposuction has also become a “must” for women who want to stay in shape.

“Vietnam specials”

But sometimes, it is not for fashion or westernisation. People may resort to plastic surgery for traditional reasons! For example, fortune telling is quite present in Asian cultures. In Vietnam, people can give a lot of importance to the date and time of child’s birth. For this reason, many women call for caesarean operation, instead of a natural delivery. Doctors have nothing against it, especially when a caesarean operation is charged usd 500 while natural delivery is charged usd 100 ! An increasing number of these women then go to plastic surgery to remove the scars of the operation, as many times as they deliver babies…

Also, plastic surgery clients are in majority women. While there are 30% men in the West, the proportion in Vietnam is as low as 10%. In most cases, men go for rejuvenation operations. But in Vietnam, men would do so because they get married with a wife who is 20 or 30 years younger than them. Such a reason does not exist in the West yet…

Finally, one could think about plastic surgery as superficial and overly luxurious in a country like Vietnam. But plastic surgery is not only for aesthetic purpose. Reconstructive surgery is what gives sense to this profession. It helps people who suffered accident injuries or difformities to go on with their life, in a society attached to beauty and appearance. “I am specialised in facial surgeries. As I am currently the only one in Vietnam, I try to make myself helpful by operating children who have harelip, sometimes for free”, Dr Franckhauser says. In Vietnam according to Operation Smile, a US-based non-profit organisation which provides free surgeries for children with facial deformities, 1 in 500 babies are born with a facial deformity. Operation Smile Vietnam provides training, knowledge transfer, international cooperation and partnerships with local partners so that a greater number of children can be helped. “This reconstructive operation is quite simple. But it changes the whole life of the child and his family. It is very rewarding”. (Photo by Siegfried Franckhauser)

saigon's new face

Since Viet Nam's effective economic opening in 1995, a boom of foreign investment in all sectors, including real estate has occured. It has regained tremendous momentum since Vietnam’s entry in the WTO last year. International and domestic developers have moved in to build and renovate hotels, offices, apartment, public housing, airports, shopping malls, thus shaping the new face of Saigon.

As one can see today, the city’s architecture spreads from colonial remnants – Saigon was once called the Pearl of Asia by the French in the early 20^th century- to new city blocks emerging from scratch like Phu My Hung area (district 7). Cranes in dusty construction sites are erected  all over the city, tons of workers and engineers work overnight like ants,  temporary skeletons of rising building become common.

So how will be the new face of Saigon?

Brief history: a patchwork of influences

The architecture of Saigon displays a range of influences and styles from different countries and periods. These range from the French colonial and Art Deco styles, Chinese shop houses and hybrid forms of the American period to the tendency of more contemporary architecture to incorporate trends from around the world.  In both aesthetic and technological terms, Saigon’s architecture may be divided into the more traditional pre-Doi Moi period until 1995, and the largely modern post-1995 period.

Modern architecture in Saigon began with the transitional Art Deco style and the arrival of reinforced concrete as a popular building material. International Style modern architecture was popular from the 1960s to the 1970s, especially in the public housing apartment blocks.

After the end of the war, Russian architecture was predominant. This period is characterized by numerous repetitions of style and lack of quality material until 1995.

Nowadays, an architectural trend has been the rediscovery of Saigon’s architectural heritage, leading to an active conservation of French colonial villas, which are now visible as light boxes covering facades were taken down. But bolder architects are taking Saigon directly to the 21st century.

 

Local innovation today

An important area of local innovation has involved seeking to develop a form of modern architecture appropriate to Saigonese climate. This climatically sensitive approach to architecture traces its roots back to the French houses and hospitals (Graal hospital has set the standards for hospital architecture in Vietnam and in the region for instance).

The big leap toward bio-climatic architecture

From the late 1990s, this has led to a proliferation of what might be called “modern tropical architecture”, or neo-tropical architecture. It involves a return to clean and simple rectilinear modernist forms, coupled with an emphasis of lush landscaping and sleek sun-shading in the form of tainted glass.

But have these architectural efforts taken into account energy saving concerns, global warming, climate change and environmental sustainability ? Especially given that air conditioning in buildings is one of the largest consumers of electricity in Saigon, which is mostly generated by fossil fuels, it is very likely not. Hoang Anh Tu, professor at the HCMC university of architecture and founder of Arcasia, a well-established architect firm in Vietnam, explains how he can link techniques of the past and new technologies : “one should always consider the principles of the Vietnamese climate such as sun, rain and humidity; it is very specific to every country. This is key to achieve harmonious and sustainable architecture. Like many architects aware of sustainable architecture, I am very concerned by the consumption of energy. One of the most energy-eater is air conditioning. I always try to reduce drastically this consumption when I is possible. For example, I always favour natural ventilation as well as natural lighting. It is such a paradox to light up a room or a corridor with artificial light when you have such a beautiful sunshine almost 365 days a year !”. Hoang Tu Anh shows me one of his design where he could divide the consumption of electricity due to air conditioning by two. The façade exposed to the sun (southern orientation) is generating hot air. By temperature difference with the façade under the sun, convection air currents are naturally created. “This is not supposed to replace air conditioning. Air conditioning is still important because natural ventilation cannot cool 100% of any building. But natural ventilation can reduce energy consumption by two. One of the aim of sustainable architecture is not to favour exclusively natural material. On the contrary, it aims at merging old techniques, traditional material with new technologies so we get the best of both.”

He also acknowledges that Vietnam is lagging behind today in construction technologies. “They are simply not available here”, he regrets. But he also adds optimistically: “Natural construction material has so much potential here. There is tradition and solid know-how. One of them is a brick used by ethnic minorities, made of rice paddy, clay and… honey! Of course we cannot use as such to build skyscrapers but researches should be financed to look into how to improve these techniques. Unfortunately no researches form public nor private sector are studying Vietnamese traditional construction material.

 

A Saigonese architecture on the rise

What is at stake here is the definition of a Saigonese architecture. Many views are competing with each other. Architects will propose; time and people will dispose.

“The lack of rules create anarchy”, Frederic Bolliet, founder of ADN Concept, remarks. “The only rule so far has been the return on investment. Well, that is pretty much opposite to architecture philosophy I guess”, he adds.

There is no significant will from the people’s Committee to develop 'iconic' landmarks in the city, as a means to strengthening the Saigonese identity as well as to attract foreign tourists, skilled immigrants, investments and buzz. But for Hoang Anh Tu, it is absurd to decide to build a landmark, simply because it is not a decree that you can decide unilaterally ; it is much more about worldwide and timely recognition. “A building or a tower becomes a landmark when it has passed the jusdgement of architects in the world. More importantly, it must pass succesguly the judgemen of the people and of time”, he concludes.

There is a mix of different times and origins for the architecture in Saigon today. The economic rationale is still dominant and thus, building has been shaped according to the motto “fast built, fast operate, fast return on investment”. The edifices built are largely generic. “You can find these styles of building a little bit anywhere in the region, in Shanghai, in Kuala Lumpur or in Manilla. It is pretty much a simple design and it is not taking into account any local Vietnamese specificities”, Stephane Crete, an architect working at AW2, a French architecture firm headquarted in Paris, analyses. “This is sad but maybe necessary period. Now that competition increased, we can see more and more clients demanding for high-quality buildings. Basically, this is because it sells that people will ask for architecture. Because it gives a competitive edge to the product one could say”, he remarks ironically. This is also in the nature and functions of buildings required for the time being, mainly office building. The demand is so huge that the main criteria will be price and date of availability.

So where will we see some innovation? Duy, who founded his own architect agency recently, addresses the question: “innovation is now the luxury of few architects in Saigon. Basically it comes from small projects; like this villa for a wealthy person. This person wanted a 20 meter long swimming pool … on the rooftop ! And it also helps cooling the roof, which is usually an issue… Sometimes, the useful and agreable joins together… In order to optimise natural conditions of light and wind, we created a light well and a rain collector to cool down the walls. These innovations are great and this client was ok to put the price behind it. Because it also gives face”. Luxury apartments also give a lot of room for innovation and creativity.

Vietnamese identity may lie much more in interior architecture. The rediscovery of the wet kitchen may well mark the path to this Vietnamese style. The wet kitchen is, as opposed to the dry kitchen, the place where in traditional homes, cooking was made. It was usually outside, in an open space but under a roof. In modern homes, the wet kitchen has disappeared. But the smoke and smell stemming from cooking is becoming more and more annoying for some people. Thus, the wet kitchen is coming back. DWP integrates it more and more in its projects, even in towers and buildings. “Our ancestors were already using it. We are just re-discovering the past”, Duy says.

Another feature of Vietnamese interior design is that the room dedicated to ancestors altar is preserved. The cult of the ancestors does not suffer modernity or space saving or space maximisation. But it is still of a headache due to the feng shui because according to these rules, this room should be facing the street; this is difficult to abide by this rule as the living room usually faces street in modern homes!

 

How will people’s life change?

New architecture brings new way of living. One of the most important will be to learn to live “vertically” and collectively. Street life, which is so important in Saigon, will be radically changed and replaced by “corridor” life. There won’t be a soup child to pass by any more, nor a late night café open down the street corner.

Neighbor relations will also undergo a change. Where there used to be lots of contact before, life in skyscrapers will maybe erase it. Casual contacts with neighbors chattering in front of their houses may well disappear.

On the other hand, architects have taken this issue into account: they try to create commercial areas at the base of their new buildings, usually 3 or 4 storeys dedicated to shops , convenient stores or cafes, thus preserving public areas and social link.

For example, DWP will build a 3,000-apartment complex in district Binh Chanh district. Instead of square towers, Duy tried a new design, a first-time ever in Vietnam: a building in a shape of a ring, with various terraces levels like gigantic waves. This cutting edge building features not only technical innovations but also revolutionizes Vietnamese way of living. “We are going to a “dubaisation” of the living !”, he claims. “ People will have to get used to live on high-storey building”.

The whole organisation of services is impacted. “For this new building, we also had to design the way to collect… trashes. Basically, tenants will be distributed trash bags. For them, doing it with their own bags they will collect from supermarkets for example, does not correspond to the 5-star rate of the condominium”, Duy recalls. DWP had also to rethink the mailboxes system, the electricity counters and of course the parking lot, which anticipating one car and two motorcycles per apartment. As for technical aspects, facades are longitudinally crossed by small “wind corridors” so that the area behind is still aerated.

But big scale does not exclude a concern for small details : terraces have large board so that there is no vis a vis. “I really wanted to bring the best of comfort features from South East of France where I lived for fifteen years !”, Duy smiles.

Saigon and Vietnam will find their way by adapting and integrating into this globalised architecture. Also, a consistent urban planification and homogeneisation guidelines will help creating strong identity for the city.

skateboard spots

4.30 pm in Gia Dinh park, Go Vap district. Families and young couples sit on benches and on the grass, while employees and school children start pouring out into the busy streets. Near the park entrance, three youngsters walk with a strange board in their hands. They unpack their things and start skateboarding in the alley. By-passers stare at them in surprise, as usual. They are skateboarders from the SKS (Skateboard Saigon) Crew. “I started skateboarding four years ago”, Tung says. Tung is a twenty year-old teenager, short hair with an ear piercing. He is one the first skateboarders in Saigon. “Skateboarding started in HCMC four years ago”, Tung says. “I started with one college friends and we were the only ones as far I can remember. At the time, there was nowhere to buy a skateboard. So I had a viet kieu friend bringing me one from the US. He taught me the basics and some tricks. That is how I started.”

After a few minutes and a little demonstration, he continues: “Most of I what know in skateboard, I learned it myself. I download tons of videos on the internet. Tony Hawk is of course my favorite. Tony Hawk was a US pro-skater, he won several titles since he started his career when he was eleven. Eleven year-old, can you imagine that? His videos are amazing. He created most of the tricks that every skateboarder in the world uses. I also watch the annual X-Games competition on TV. It features not only skateboarding, but also roller, bike, it’s interesting. For sure, skateboarders in the competition are amazing. The skate park is for Street Skating. They have rails, stairs etc, just like the urban environment. That is so cool!”.

Skateboarding in HCMC is indeed mainly Street Skateboarding. Skateboarders use the urban environment as a huge playground. There is s Skate Park in An Phu but the entrance fee is usd3. “We don’t go there very often”, Minh says. Minh, nineteen year-old, long hair, wears a black T shirt. “Why should we pay while we can skate for free on the street?”, he asks. “The fun part of street skating is actually to find the good spots in the city, where we can be creative with the urbanised settings. We use stairs, ledges, handrails, whatever we can find… when it is allowed! Because you know, we had some problems before with security guards. We scouted many spots and many times, we ran into security guys who would not allow us to skate in the area. In Phu My Hung for example. My god, the place is so gorgeous for street skating. Lots of stairs, lots of handrails, underground parking lots, cute little parks… but also tons of security guards in every corner! We tried to discuss with them but they would not listen. We continued and found a place where there would be less guards, but we were always finally caught by a patrol. They said we were risking a fine so we left definitely”. Tung comes back after few “nose” (skating in equilibrum on the two front wheels) on the sidewalk: “Then we found this spot here in Gia Dinh park. Well, to say the truth, we were originally skating on the other side of the street. Security guards told us to leave. I heard that later there had been a fight with other skateboarders. That’s too bad. So for now, we can skate here. Only God knows for how long!”

Skateboarding is just starting in Vietnam. It first started in Hanoi ten years ago. “In Hanoi, they are better skaters”, Phuc, twenty six year-old says. “They have lots of spots, a good urban environment and also less security guards! Some skaters are even sponsored by Chinese equipment brands. We know each other very well. The Saigon and Hanoi skateboarding crews are like family. We all chat together on the net, commenting latest videos, tricks or equipment release. There is no rivalry. We share the same passion for skateboarding anyway. I will go to Hanoi next week and meet with them. I go to Hanoi frequently on my way to China, where I buy stuff for my shop”.

 

Phuc owns the one and only skate shop in HCMC, located at 113 Nguyen Huu Can street, Binh Thanh district. He opened the shop one year ago, after he graduated in Graphic Design. “Well, I never worked in graphic design so far but I could use some knowledge to design the logo of my shop”, he laughs. “I prefer selling skateboard equipment now. I sell skateboards, T shirts, shoes, well, the proper equipment to practise the sport, which is helpful. I can still remember when I started skating wearing flip-flops… that was kind of dangerous, I could have hurt myself badly. When we come to the Gia Dinh park, some twelve year-old teens want to do the same but they usually wear flip flops. First thing I recommend is to buy shoes. It is not mere fashion. It is also for safety. The only way to control and have grip on the board is with your feet, therefore your shoes are very important!”

5.30pm, Gia Dinh park. Around twenty skaters are now practicing their tricks. Bypassers sit around and watch them admirative. The “rookies” observe and learn with the “elder”. They all know each other. Tung shows them a trick that he is the only one to perform: “ollie” (jump) above a motorbike. He puts the bike in the middle of the alley and other skaters stop and sit on their boards to watch him. He gains speed pushing on his feet and he jumps, leaving everyone breathless. Applause. “ It took me one year to achieve this ollie”, Tung comments. “I started with some obstacles I was building myself. Then I tried with a bike, then a motorbike. It is a technical and a psychological challenge. Technically, you have to gain speed and push hard on the back feet so the skateboard nose points in the air. From a psychological point of view, well, it is more complicated. There is a psychological barrier for sure. But if you are not afraid to fall, hurt yourself and break a wrist, well then, it is a piece of cake!”

artist Nguyen Duc Tu: « down to freezing point »

 Young artist’s Nguyen Duc Tu recent works are shown this April at the Gallery Quynh. His photographs and video installation depict a strange, surrealist yet poetic and humorous world.

When you look at Tu's photos you don't know anymore where you are: inside or outside the picture; maybe an actor in a movie of depth. “I like to play with the notion of time”, Tu explains. “Time is very interesting to explore. On the other hand, there are so many ways to explore space: take a plane, a car or even a bike and go. But for the concept of time, we do not have any vehicle to explore it, it is only a dream. There is no time machine… yet!”, he smiles. His video installation aims at creating what could be a way to time travel. He catches visitors on a camera without them knowing it at the entrance and shows the video with a small delay. Visitors have then the surprise to see themselves … as they walked through five minutes ago. “I don’t shoot people’s face. Only their backs. It is a way to say that even though you can see the past, you can’t change it. It’s like something you cannot or should not control”, Tu explains.

Tu was born in Hanoi in 1982. After being kicked out of the Open University, he decided to go for a career in arts, his passion since he was a kid. “Being kicked out of University was the best thing that could happen to me!”, he laughs. Since then, he has participated in many collective exhibitions in HCMC, Hanoi and in Paris. He also went to Korea for a three-month residency and he will take another one in Japan in October this year. The exhibition at Gallery Quynh is his first solo exhibition.

Tu then points at his photographs, produced with the Stitcher software which allows the creation a very wide angle picture by mixing many pictures together. The photos seem to produce unlikely scenes, to project a sense of surrealism. They give way to an infinity of ways to interpret them: they call upon our interior self. “People can see what they want in my photos. These photos are just the medium, the meeting point in space and in time of their own projections and my ideas”, he says.  On one picture, you can see a group of bartenders and waitresses holding their trays… in the middle of a hectic traffic jam. Yet, the staff looks serious and would probably be serving drinks to the people stuck amidst the mayhem. On another one, a girl holding a surf board is crossing Dong Khoi street. Here, the message is more social and contemporary as Tu likes to stimulate our reflection. “I am concerned about today’s issues such as global warming, Tu explains. In a way, it is quite a source of inspiration. For example, as a result of global warming, the sea level will rise by one or two meters. For Saigon, it would simply mean being wiped out. But then, there could be nice beaches for surfing!”

Tu has often likened the production of an artist to the keeping of a personal poetry. In his case, his photography is largely influenced by composition of realistic cohabiting with unnatural or unexpected forms. There are, perhaps, for the viewer, the promise of more surprises and more sheer delight as Tu shows in his daring creative work at the Gallery Quynh. “I like to be surprised. I try to integrate this factor in my photos. On this one, my model was posing, wearing a white wedding dress. She plays with multicolour balloons. And as I was taking pictures, a kid showed up and peed against the wall! That could have been a total disaster. But then I thought, well yeah, that’s life. Poetry can only exist if there is a sense of… reality! So I kept the picture of the boy and “stitched” it with the rest of the scene. I think it works quite well!”

To come close to the creativity of an artist like Nguyen Duc Tu allows us to become part of a very special and exciting moment in Vietnamese art. Such an artist seems proof of the undefeatable spirit and power of creativity to burst in the near future in the country.(Photos by Nguyen Duc Tu)

learning to fly

 Flying radio-controlled planes is more than a hobby. Since it started in HCMC, it has become increasingly popular.

It's a busy Sunday near the Giang Ong bridge in district 2. After a smooth landing, a red and yellow PT 19 glides across the runway, past its owner, slowing to a halt. A Scanner has already taxied a little away from the airstrip, which is actually a large street, in a huge open space without any constructions around. To the right, the arrival and departure lounges are bustling. It is no ordinary airport. A miniature model one so to speak, made of streets and vast flying field. All around, it is only wild grass spaces where the streets have no name yet. It should become a residential area in the future but things have stopped due to the economic crisis.

“This is an ideal place to fly our model airplanes”, Mr Bui Anh Phuoc says. “We come here every Saturday and Sunday. The space is quite vast and there are very few by-passers. That is the best place we have found so far.” Mr Bui Anh Phuoc is a wealthy 40 year-old businessman. He parked his black BMW car near the small group for safety reasons. “We usually gather here, at the crossroads of these two streets, he continues. This street over there is usually our landing strip. The one on which we stand is the take off strip. It’s important to keep things orderly. If not, it becomes messy and accidents can occur… just like in a real airport!”

 

Irresistible Passion

Today, his collection has swelled to almost ten models made of plastic and metal.

That does not stop the 45-year-old Mr Cao Tri from indulging in this hobby. ``I spend all the spare time and money I get in my workshop, he says. My hobby has become an all-consuming passion. The feeling of flying these machines is really awesome. Of course you identify with it and you almost have a sense of flying.” Mr Cao Tri works as an employee in a Vietnamese company.

To be a serious model airplane collector can be an expensive hobby to pursue. Some models can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars and it is not something that everyone can afford. However, this does not mean that people cannot be a collector just because they cannot afford to be one. It all depends on how you choose to define the term 'collector'. As for Mr Cao Tri, he likes to refer to anyone who collects something with passion. “Yes, the key word is passion, he says. Anyone can be a model airplane collector as long as you have the passion about what you collect or build, you are a collector in your own right. And the collection hobby needs not be an expensive one. In fact it can be a fun and educational experience too!” There are no children around. “Today, it is daddy’s hobby. But for sure, in the future, I will bring my children. But as we gather here with my friends, we really feel like children!”, he laughs.

Model airplanes are a true passion. At Nguyen Toy World, (223 Hai Ba Trung, D3) everything from the simple model to the radio-controlled plane, helicopter or car can be found. Customers come from everywhere in the city, and even from Hanoi. Not only can you find all of the products that you need but you will likely find that they are offered at more affordable places than you will find anywhere else. The other shops sell hand carried goods whereas Nguyen Toy World shop is the exclusive importer for infamous brands like Futaba, Kyosho or JR Propo.

 

Training, safety and fun

And the shop doesn’t just offer products for sales, they also offer the information and necessary training needed to enjoy model planes to the best of your ability, in a safely fashion for you and others. Nguyen Toy World’s instructor, Mr Nguyen Van Lam, 55 year-old explains: “when you buy a RC plane for the first time, you should take an instructor. Maybe in the west, people can learn by themselves, by starting to buy small electric planes and fly them in the garden. But in our shop, we prefer to teach all beginners as this hobby is quite new in Vietnam. I come here every Saturday and Sunday and provide advising and instruction for free.” There are indeed quite a few things to learn before you can fly: be aware of the wind, practice gentle turns and moves, let alone the acrobatics. “Most importantly, understand how an airplane flies is crucial, Mr Nguyen Van Lam explains. When the wing moves forward the air lifts it. Too slow, no lift and it falls out of the air it stalls!”

A customer calls him. Mr Nguyen Van Lam takes the radio command and executes the landing for him. “The only difficulty at the beginning is the landing. It requires a lot of precision. I have broken one or two planes when landing in the past.” He takes the plane that just landed in his hands and examines the wings carefully. “Always use common sense, keep it safe, be sensible and responsible – but have fun!”, Mr Nguyen Van Lam concludes.

photographer Nguyen Dinh Minh: witnessing changes

Photographer Nguyen Dinh Minh runs his photo shop on Le Thanh Ton street since 1995. He has witnessed Vietnam changes through his lenses and he gives us his impressions.

“My photographs tell stories about the people, the traditions and finally the changes of this country”, Minh says. “They have of course a certain aesthetics and beauty. But look closely and you will understand what they really mean.” With his unyielding smile and loud laughs echoing in his shop, Minh has become quite a character in the Ho Chi Minh City photo scene for the last decade. He has traveled all across Vietnam and he has been around the world many times. He shows a recent photo of the Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong delta: “the soft light indicates that it is early morning. As you know, there, people sell fruits, food, vegetables, everything on their boats. I like the colorful and balanced composition. But look closely at the photo. I chose the angle very carefully. On the first ground, you can see sweet fruits like coconuts and mangos. In the background, you can see the inside of a boat, with a hammock, and some cooking ustensils. It is not poverty, it is enough for a living.” He pauses and get a closer look. “There is a proverb that goes in Vietnam about the Mekong delta way of life. It says “ngot ngao, du xay”. It means that people from the Mekong speak sweet words and possess only what is necessary. My photo illustrates this saying. In the South, life is easy and layback, so I also got the hammock on my picture… maybe by chance!”

Minh learned his job years ago on the fly. “I started working at the Universal Studios here in Saigon, in 1972. I could watch many movies at the time. I was taking care of the magnetic rolls. Then after I went back to my hometown in Nha Trang to work in the photo lab of the Oceanographic museum”. Minh came back to Ho Chi Minh City in 1982, but he could open his shop only in 1995. “I always took pictures all this time”, he recalls. “I always used my money to buy new cameras, films or additional lenses. When I opened the Pro Lab in 1995, things were a little easier. We could import good equipment and could develop films in better conditions.” At the back of his shop is a stockpile of camera boxes. “I still use them when I take photos for my pleasure. I only use slide films. They are great for large prints. Of course for clients, I shoot with a digital camera. Times are changing but old things can sometimes survive”.

When asked if his words could apply to the changing times in Vietnam and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular, he replies : “For me these changes created two emerging trends: a consumer society and an industrialised culture. The economic development gives new subjects.” Minh has been well known for his landscape, city skylights and countryside pictures. “The hidden charm of Vietnam lies in the rural culture and traditions, whether it lies in the terrace ricefields of Sapa, in the salt fields of Phan Rang, or in the schrimps farms in Phan Thiet. The people there have so much to say. Their ancestral work summerizes the thousand year-old Vietnamese culture. I have taken countless pictures of it but I am never bored with this subject.” He then goes through the files on his laptop and opens a panoramic picture of an industrial zone.

“The ancestral agricultural traditions are fading away slowly, giving place to a new industrial culture. It generates a new lifestyle in these suburban dormitory and factory areas. I went to some industrial zones around town, trying to capture this. Workers there are young, from 18 to 25 year-old in average. They come from all provinces, thus creating a mosaic of people, quite unique in a way. But there is nothing to do there after a hard working day. Boredom, alcohol problems will appear I guess. The society has to take care of them in terms of infrastructure, entertainment and education”.

The photos exposed in his gallery located on 2 Nguyen Hue street, district1, also express his concerns about the growing economic gap between the rich and the poor generated by this consumer society. He witnesses it all the time when he goes shooting in remote areas. “I would like to publish a photo album”, Minh says. With a sponsor to commercialise it, we could use the money to build a school in a poor rural area. What comes from culture must go back to culture and education”, he concludes.