From the Guangdong Restaurant to the creative space
People consider that place to be a junction in contact with the three Vietnamese – Chinese -French cultures and architecture, people also call that place as a rendezvous culture to keep the memories of a time of Ha Thanh old town. Cultural and Art Center No. 22 Hang Buom, where people of the previous generation in Hanoi are still used to called Guangdong Association, have now become a cultural meeting with bold memories of Hanoi , memories marking cultural interference from about 400 years ago to this day.
From the Guangdong Association in 1803 …
Ups and downs time carrying many historical fluctuations have imprinted on the house number 22 Hang Buom so that those who often remember to remember and feel: It is all the ups and downs of this street history. There are all life stories, street stories, stories of today, of Asian wind and rain, of the people of the market, of overseas Chinese and of Hanoi people today. ”
The beginning of this place is the Guangdong Festival, formed by the Guangdong community (China) in the process of settling and trading trade in Hang Ngang, Hang Buom, Hang Bo and Lan Ong streets ( Ha Khau Ward in the past) … This was once a place of religious activities of the Chinese community and also a transaction, trading agreement … The epitaph “Viet Dong Hoi Hoi signed” The Chinese families contributed money to build in the second year of Gia Long (1803), but the construction has been discussed and agreed by the community since 1779. So the shape of this spiritual cultural place.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the restaurant had an area of 408m2; In the first year of Minh Destiny (1820) and the 4th Thieu Tri (1844), the Restaurant was restored and the current appearance was basically imprinted by the restoration of Thanh Thai. In the “Monument record” that the Management Board of the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake implemented in 2006, the total area of the restaurant is 1,670m2. The bar also retains the basic architecture with the “national” -shaped ground including: Tien Duong, Phuong Dinh, Trung Duong, Thien Tinh yard, harem and walking on the two sides of the corridor – Huu and the paintings Pottery reliefs with embossed apricot blossoms … In addition to the construction space for community activities, the Association also has two mandarins and Thien Hau Thanh Mau.
After 1979, for nearly 40 years, the restaurant became a childhood kindergarten, at the peak of 18 classes with 500 preschool children. In order to suit the school space, the teachers have used pictures and decorative items in classes, using curtains to cover the altar, taking advantage of the space but does not change the architecture of the Association . Many elderly people who have lived on Hang Buom Street and Hang Sha Street are still imprinted in the memory of the 22nd house because they have been a time in the role of a parent to take their children in this place …
Experiencing the ups and downs of the time, ancient architecture was embellished in the end of 2018 and completed at the end of 2021 to become an art exhibition center with the official name: 22 Hang Buom Cultural and Arts Center. In the middle of the vast space with impressive layout here, everyone felt the adventurous look and May of this memory when it was both classic, and a modern breath. Because that ancient space is now a new tourism culture point of the capital, the address of impressive art exhibitions, community activities, attracting people to visit, listen to stories. Pho, life, story of people in the old market, Chinese Chinese people and Hanoi people today …
… to the creative space today
Not because of the beautiful introduction, but what is present in the display space this place was an invitation to Hanoi people to find the memory of Ha Thanh for a while. In the middle of the busy commercial street wholesale and juicy tourists, the 22 -year -old Cultural and Arts Center still retains many ancient architectural features, harmoniously combining the French – Vietnamese cultures – Flower. The four rows of houses have a combination of the word “speech”, combined with Thien Tinh yard (skylight) in the middle of the space to circulate air and light. The space is arranged in many floors, layers with different compartments. Another elaborate and elaborate sculpture in every detail, proving the ups and downs of the time have been crossing here, but does not fade the imprints associated with the soil and the person this place.
Strange, when enjoying contemporary art in a new way. It is very strange, when the display is created on folk materials such as silk, incense, sedge mats, paper … causing people to revive the space of Hanoi for a while. Someone said true: “This place is an ideal place for artists to unleash their creativity, to satisfy their passion, where the inspiration from the mind has the opportunity to” live “on the display price. The artists have picked up, connecting the debris of history so that it sparked a beauty that seemed to be accidentally implied, deeply and deeply. ” That’s right, because the story of Hanoi itself was beautiful because of the moss of time and the human being, and the hearts of contemporaries always put Hanoi in his heart, so he always found each other to shake. dynamic and shine.
It can be said that, through a journey of many ups and downs, Guangdong Association has really become a contemporary creative space with artistic value. The community of artists has become a bridge for more people to understand more about the cultural – historical value of the heritage, and the heritage is also a “fulcrum” for experimental art and contemporary art groups. have the opportunity to reach the public.
Every human being, the community passing here has thickened the memory of the 22 Hang Buom house, which is also a memory of the old town of Hanoi. Although not all, it is also a symbolic corner and very typical for the change, adapting to the era of the Ha Thanh Heritage.
Nhật Anh