22.01.25
Chúc mừng năm mới, one and all. This week a large part of the world celebrates the new lunar new year – Marketing Account Manager Beatrice Updegraff, who spent five years living in Vietnam, writes her Home Is Where The Art Is post celebrating all things art and culture in her second home Hanoi.
In this series, the team at Mobius let you in on all their favourite arts venues and regular haunts from their hometowns around the UK. Check out our other entries in this series from:
Living in Hanoi for five years was a huge privilege and one of the happiest and most exciting times of my life. I count myself lucky to have spent so many years there, not just because of the incredible creative community I was surrounded by, but also for the artistic opportunities it allowed for. The Hanoi expat community of Tây Hồ has an exciting and ever-growing arts scene; there’s a huge emphasis on exploring hobbies and passions without judgement. Personal highlights include modelling, sketching and photography for Hanoi Life Drawing Society; dancing and performing with The Hive and Hanoi Dance Collective and, of course, my first two photojournalism exhibitions at Tây Hồ gallery The Arch. I will be forever indebted to Hanoi for the creative spark it lights in people and the opportunities for growth available.
When I first moved to Vietnam in 2019, I spent my first full day at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon. Incredibly moving, this museum uses photojournalism, storytelling and military artefacts to explain the history of the American-Vietnam conflict (1955-1975) and the first Indochina War (1946-1954). A visit here is essential in order to understand both the tragedy of the country’s history and also the incomparable resilience of its people. The Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi is also fantastic – women truly are the backbone of this society. In numerous trips here throughout my years in Hanoi, I always discovered something new when visiting here. Who run the world?
My first two years in Vietnam didn’t include much in the way of arts – the country was hit badly by the pandemic, resulting in over two years of closed borders and limited opportunities for arts and culture. During this time my cultural highlights included visiting the traditional Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre – always a wonderful and wacky experience – and seeing a Vietnamese adaptation of Les Misérables at Hanoi Opera House.
South-East Asia boasts one of the most interesting and fastest growing electronic music scenes. From Equation and Retreat festivals in Mai Chau, to Likdo and Studio Adventure in Phú Quốc, festivals became a huge part of my post-pandemic life in Vietnam; some of my happiest memories include raving in a cave covered in feathers, dancing on a beach until dawn to see in the New Year and numerous events organised by Hanoi-based DJ collectives Spicerack and Thêm. Nightclub Savage in the Tây Hồ district showcases up-and-coming local DJs and overseas artists; Southeast Asia is often skipped on artist tours, so a personal highlight was seeing techno DJs Ellen Allien and DJ Stingray 313 in Hanoi in 2023.
Vietnam is truly a country that knows how to party. From lion dances and lanterns at the mid-autumn festival, to peach blossom and orange trees at Tết (Lunar New Year), there is always rice wine to be drunk and karaoke to be sung, even if you really can’t carry a tune. My top advice to anyone wanting to experience Vietnam’s rich cultural and artistic scene would be to immerse yourself in the art and culture of whatever is being celebrated that day – a football match may have been won; a wedding will probably be happening; people might be practicing a dance routine by the lake.
Although my desire to live in Hanoi may have ended, it is very much my second home. Second to my beloved chosen family who are still there, what I miss the most is the creativity it ignites within you and the space allowed to explore this. Hanoi’s bustling, noisy energy is infectious, and its artistry and culture will stay with you forever.
Tôi yêu Hà nội, hẹn gặp lại.
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