Exhibition “The Story of Hà Vĩ Communal House”

Lacquer appears through works by Trương Hoàng Hải, Trần Văn Giáp, Trần Công Dũng, and Bùi Kim Hiền, along with a souvenir product set by artisan Nguyễn Tấn Phát. Beside the artworks, Trương Hoàng Hải and Ngô Thành Bắc display craft tools, adding another perspective on the work of natural lacquer makers. Nguyễn Thế Sơn’s UV-printed photographic works and Trần Yên Thế’s CNC-cut iron street signs add other means of expression, inviting viewers to explore the relationship between materials, crafting skills, and the artist’s approach to form.

Viewing the works right at the place of worship of the craft ancestors, the public gains a deeper sense of the natural lacquer craft in relation to the people and community that have nurtured it. Through the changes of time, knowledge continues to be accumulated and passed down, and the material continues to develop in today’s life.

A special detail: right in the communal house courtyard, artist Nguyễn Thế Sơn has planted two natural lacquer trees. Because Hàng Hòm Street itself was once associated with the lacquer craft, very few people know what a natural lacquer tree looks like. From the raw material tree to tools and lacquer artworks, the journey of transforming material into products and into art is fully laid out before viewers’ eyes. The two lacquer trees can thus be seen as “living works,” bringing the memory of the craft back in a very intimate way right at the communal house dedicated to Trần Lư, the craft’s ancestor.