KVT’s December Diary ….9th… Paintings on Paper @ Hanoi Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre

Awash in a flow of time that sweeps you along with it

I extolled the new and quietly breathtaking Hanoi Old Quarter Exchange Centre in a pre summer promotion piece on the Grapevine and went back to visit it yesterday. Anyone interested in the evolution of the Old Quarter should visit the permanent exposition on the second floor with its exceptionally well displayed and texted layout. It’s for those with a serious focus on the subject.

The basement display has been dismantled but hopefully will be reconstituted

BUT MY VISIT WAS PRIMARILY TO VIEW THE PAINTING EXHIBITION ON PAPER– primarily Do paper – beautifully installed and a joy to be with.

Two of the artists are 30-ish Hanoians, one a septuagenarian Swiss based Viet Kieu and the other a mid 60-ish French National-both. Three males and one female

The exhibition celebrates the use of Do paper for painting and this is the support of 3 of the artists while a third uses a variety of paper surfaces

Like the interior of the Centre, the exhibition exudes its own sense of calm in the face of chaos and noise and features abstract works, very well framed, that are for sale at prices comparable or cheaper than those at a Manzi / Work Room 4 affordable art frenzies

Try to get a copy of the very handsomely presented catalogue.

I was lucky enough to be in the exhibition space at the same time as Vu Tuan Dung and really enjoyed his delicate, earth toned arcs and curves

Hanoian Nguyen Tuan Cuong has evocative and very delicious representations of clouds and the moon rising over hazy oceans

Jean Cabane’s Memories under perspex are wonderful and make you want to ponder for longer and made me pine a little for the softer, later works of one of my favorite American artists, Joan Mitchell

The strong, fluid works by Dao Tu Khuong are arresting and provide a contrast for the other works

To conclude: an image of the exterior of the Cultural Exchange Centre in case you happen to be wandering down Dao Duy Tu in the Old Quarter