ACAM 2025 | Session 5 – Building a Festival or Biennale from Scratch

10:30 am – 01 pm, Sun 28 Sep 2025
Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA)
B1-R3, Vincom Mega Mall Royal City, 72A Nguyễn Trãi, Thanh Xuân, Hà Nội
Registration link
Deadline for registration: 12 pm, 25 Sep 2025

From Hanoi Grapevine:

What does it really take to build a large-scale cultural event like a festival or biennale — especially in a context where institutional support may be limited, and infrastructures are still emerging? This session offers a deep dive into the process of designing, coordinating, and sustaining such ambitious projects like Photo Hanoi, Vietnam Festival of Creativity & Design (VFCD),…. From the first idea to execution and evaluation, speakers will share their behind-the-scenes experiences, strategies, and lessons learned.

Topics:
Project design and budgeting under constraints
Building a team and timeline from zero
Working with diverse stakeholders: artists, curators, local governments
Evaluating impact: short-term buzz vs. long-term value

Note:
– The program has a limited number of attendees. You will receive a registration confirmation email within 72 hours.
– Participation is FREE OF CHARGE. Each email can only be used to register one person.
– To ensure the program starts on time, the organizers will begin check-in 30 minutes before each session’s official start time.
– By attending, the audience agrees to allow Hanoi Grapevine to use their images and feedback as materials for the program.
– Kindly note that food is not permitted at the event.

About speakers

Liên Lê is the Events & Exhibition Manager at the School of Communication & Design, RMIT Vietnam, where she brings creative ideas to life through practical execution. A graduate in Professional Communication from RMIT Vietnam, Lien has built a strong foundation in event planning, from small-scale showcases to large public festivals like the Vietnam Festival of Creativity & Design. Her core strengths include securing partnerships for exhibitions and cultural events, managing budgets from millions to billions of VND, and coordinating with diverse stakeholders to ensure smooth delivery. With hands-on experience in every stage of event production, Lien focuses on building festivals from the ground up, balancing creativity with logistics to create impactful, well-run experiences.

Mzung Nguyễn is a multimedia artist with a background in journalism and film, and has over 15 years of experience leading community art projects in Vietnam. Leveraging her personal reputation, extensive network, and self-funded resources, Mzung and his colleagues founded Ồ Ạt Festival. This independent art platform aims to create a vibrant, interdisciplinary, and open ecosystem for contemporary art.
Ồ Ạt was created to fill the infrastructure gap for independent artists, providing them with opportunities to showcase their work, experiment with new methods, and expand their engagement with the public. The festival’s programs span a wide range of activities, including exhibitions, performances, film screenings, talks, and community events, all designed to foster dialogue between different generations, disciplines, and cultural contexts. By connecting social and international resources, Ồ Ạt not only presents new works but also nurtures and promotes Vietnamese contemporary art practices to a global audience.

Tâm Huỳnh, an independent consultant and art manager, is currently working at GateGate Gallery, a contemporary art space in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. With a strong knowledge base and experience gained from observing international art fairs and projects, he has built close relationships with artists, collectors, and experts both in Vietnam and abroad.
In his role, Tâm strives to create art experiences that are conceptually profound yet accessible to the public, while also promoting the long-term development of Vietnamese contemporary art in a global context.

Bùi Thanh Hương – Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Architecture Magazine, Vietnam Association of Architects.

Together with the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, Architecture Magazine is one of the key organizers of the Hanoi Creative Design Festival, implemented under the direction of the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam Association of Architects. Serving as a steadfast partner throughout the event, Architecture Magazine not only undertakes communications activities but also participates in professional management and directly implements various festival programs. In addition, the magazine organized the closing ceremony and issued letters of appreciation, acknowledging the contributions of agencies, organizations, units, and the community to the overall success of the festival.

Drew Pettifer is an artist, curator and non-practicing lawyer from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. His work examines minority histories, the archive, power, embodiment, social practice and representation. Using art as a vehicle to foreground critical histories which have been systematically under-represented in archives, his art works across photography, video, sculpture, installation, textiles, and performance. He has received several awards for his creative practice and has been exhibited across Australia and internationally. His artworks are held in major public collections in Australia, including the National Gallery of Victoria, City of Melbourne, and Art Gallery of South Australia, as well as private collections nationally and internationally. Drew holds qualifications in law, cultural theory, curating, and an award-winning doctorate in fine art from Monash University, Melbourne. He is currently an Associate Professor in Fine Art at RMIT University, Australia, where he is the International Lead in the School of Art.

About moderator

Hoàng Minh Châu is a curator, the founder and director of Chau & Co Gallery. Prior to becoming an official art coordinator in 2022, she gained extensive experience organizing fashion and music events.
In 2019, she was honored to be appointed by the Hanoi People’s Committee to the task force responsible for drafting Hanoi’s application to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a Creative City of Design.
She is currently a member of the Hanoi Grapevine’s Passionate Audience Council, a representative group that selects the main categories for the Hanoi Grapevine’s Finest awards, a prestigious award for artistic creativity in Vietnam.

About ACAM

ACAM (Arts Coordination Annual Meeting) is the first annual gathering in Vietnam aimed at honoring and strengthening the crucial – yet often unacknowledged – role of art coordinators. These individuals bridge the gap between artists, curators, institutions, and communities — managing timelines, handling permissions, translating cultural sensitivities, and ensuring creative visions are realized.

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