Exhibition “The Story of Tú Thị Communal House”

Tú Thị Communal House also has the vernacular name “Embroidery Market Communal House,” once associated with the buying, selling, and exchange of embroidery goods by the Quất Động community in the capital. These traces show the bond between worship, craft practice, and trade in the history of the communal house.

The exhibition presents works by Trần Thị Hội with “Seasonal Transition” through clusters of embroidered silk-frame installations, bringing the materials and forms of the craft into artistic practice. Also present are an installation work by Trang Lê and a UV-printed photography work by Nguyễn Thế Sơn. Together they open different approaches to the story of the craft within the heritage space.

Viewing the works at the place of worship of the craft’s patron saint suggests additional connections between materials, the work of artisans, and the community that built the communal house. The embroidery frames brought into the installation also open a view of a craft tool as it becomes a means of artistic expression. Through this encounter, the public can learn about embroidery both from the knowledge preserved in documents and from the ways artists continue to work with the material today.

Today’s exhibition continues to bring the story of embroidery back into the very space formed by the joint efforts of those who preserve and practice the craft.