Exhibition “Sac son”: Awakening the cultural space of Ha Vi communal house
From May 16 to August 16, 2025, the People’s Committee of Hang Gai Ward (Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi) organized the exhibition of cultural heritage space “Sac Son” at Ha Vi Communal House (11 Hang Hom Street). The exhibition is within the framework of the Communal House Story in the Street Project to introduce and promote traditional crafts associated with the craft street and the craft ancestor being worshiped at the communal house by Curator Nguyen The Son and the group of young artists “From tradition to tradition”.
Following the success of the Silk Color Exhibition, extending the artistic activities at Yen Thai Communal House, this Sac Son exhibition continues to be an effort to promote the creativity of an artistic space right in a communal house with a long history of the painting profession on Hang Hom Street.
The Sac Son exhibition is inspired by the red color of traditional Vietnamese lacquer. It can be said that Son and Then are the two main colors in traditional lacquer besides other materials such as gold and silver, mother-of-pearl, eggshell, etc. Red color is also divided into 4 shades: Trai, Tuoi, Tham, Nhi, which are used in a variety of ways when combining shades to create a multi-color palette in traditional Vietnamese lacquer paintings. Red color is not only red but also becomes a soul shade that creates a very typical Vietnamese soul of lacquer material.
Works on display at the exhibition
In the very special space of Ha Vi Communal House (where the founder of the lacquer craft, Tran Lu, is worshiped), with a long history of hundreds of years when the people of Ha Vi village, Thuong Tin, Ha Tay went to Thang Long to make a living making lacquer-covered wooden products, the works in this exhibition are very diverse in form and expression, from lacquer paintings, lacquer-covered wooden statues by painters to handicraft products by Ha Thai lacquer artisans.
In addition to the traditional lacquer works with rich red color in the works of artists Bui Kim Hien, Lai Minh Huyen…, the red color is also hidden in experimental paintings when combining the red color in traditional lacquer with industrial materials such as stainless steel by artist Lolo Zazar; or the experimental photography with lacquer by curator Nguyen The Son; the light installation by artist Vu Xuan Dong when interacting with the traditional shaped lantern clouds with golden tones with the very sophisticated attic architecture of Dinh Ha Vi.
Curator Nguyen The Son introduces works in the exhibition to students.
The supporting exhibits in the exhibition, such as two lacquer trees planted by artist Ngo Thanh Bac right in the communal house yard, along with a system of tools and processes for the lacquer craft, from tools for collecting and applying lacquer to specialized tools for painting and making lacquer products by artist Truong Hoang Hai, have turned the exhibition space into a miniature lacquer craft “museum”, helping viewers to visualize the entire process from root to tip of the lacquer craft, as well as see the diverse applications in real life expressed through products and works guided by a Sac Son that connects the traditional cultural identity of Vietnam.
Artists participating in the exhibition: Vu Xuan Dong, Truong Hoang Hai, Lai Minh Huyen, Bui Kim Hien, Dinh Van Trong, Ngo Thanh Bac, Tran Cong Dung, Lolo Zazar, Tran Van Giap, Nguyen The Son.
Curator
Nguyen The Son
Exhibition information
Exhibition “SAC SON”
Location: No. 11 Hang Hom Street, Hang Gai Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Time: 16/05/2025 – 16/8/2025
Opening:8:00 a.m. – Friday, May 16, 2025