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The Grapevine is a project of Brian Ring, a Canadian artist who first came to Hanoi in January, 1996 and has spent most of his time here since then.

About our new logo

Grapevine has a new logo, and here is the story behind it:

The old logo included a bunch of grapes, which seemed at first to go well with the name Grapevine. (Why did I choose this name? Please see “Why is it called Grapevine” a bit further down on this page.)

But it soon became obvious that many people seemed to immediately think that Hanoi Grapevine was a website about wine. This was what started me thinking about changing the logo.

Then in 2010 I received an interesting gift for my birthday. The Hanoi painter Phạm Huy Thông made a T-shirt for me with his altered version of the Hanoi Grapevine logo – he changed the grapes into paint splatters. What a cool idea! Later I was in the studio of another Hanoi painter, Hà Mạnh Thắng and he let me take photos of his paint-splattered floor. Then I started playing with some of those images in the computer, repeatedly reducing and simplifying the image until finally I had a stylized paint splatter which is now (09/2011) the new logo. So special thanks go first of all to Thông for having such a great idea and making the T-shirt for me, and second to Thắng for allowing me to use the splatters on his studio floor as the model.

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Why is it called Grapevine?

This Grapevine has nothing to do with grapes and nothing to do with wine, so why this name?

The name comes from an old saying in English – “I heard it through the grapevine” – which indicates that information is recieved from an informal, usually personal contact. Information is passed along from person to person, something like a vine connecting bunches of grapes. When I started this blog the name seemed appropriate, because that was how I heard about most of the events happening in Hanoi.

This phrase is also familiar to many people because of a popular R&B song from the late 1960′s. “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” was recorded by many artists, probably the most popular being Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

You can read a good explanation of the presumed origins of the phrase, and a thorough history of the song and everyone who recorded it.

And while you’re reading, listen to Marvin Gaye or Creedence doing the song:

Mavin Gaye

Creedence

PS: the Grapevine moved to this address in May 2008. But it began its life as a free blog on wordpress.com. The first 260+ posts are still at the Grapevine’s old home.