Exhibition “The Story of Xuan Phien Thi Communal House”
- Date & time00:00 – 23:59 • 14/11/2026
- Venue4 Hang Quat Street, Hanoi Old Quarter
Đang tải…
The exhibition “The Story of Xuan Phien Thi Communal House” is part of the project “Stories of Communal Houses in the Street,” initiated and curated by artist Nguyen The Son within the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026. The program brings images of the fan into encounters with installation, photography, and contemporary uses of materials right in the communal house associated with fan-making. The exhibition is open to the public free of charge.
The name of the communal house - “Xuan Phien Thi” - means “spring fan market.” The communal house is associated with artisans from Dao Xa village, Hung Yen, who came to Thang Long to settle and built a place to worship the patron ancestor of the Dao family’s fan-making craft. The name thus preserves memories of the craft, the community’s origins, and fan trading in the capital.
In this exhibition, Bui Kim Hien and the group of artists bring painting onto paper fans and organize them into art installations. Vu Xuan Dong approaches the shape of the fan through fan-shaped light installations. Also present are UV-printed photographic works by Nguyen The Son and CNC-cut iron street signs by Tran Yen The. From drawing paper and light to printed images and metal, the exhibition opens up different modes of expression around stories of craft and place.
Viewing the works right at the communal house worshipping the patron ancestor of fan-making on Hang Quat Street brings a more authentic feeling about the relationship between the craft and the memory of Hang Street. The fan - an everyday familiar object approached through its decorative surface, shape, and ability to organize space - suggests additional ways of seeing a craft object when it enters art. The communal house space also adds a layer of association with the artisans, the community, and the trading activities that once helped create the street name.
Ticket Free
Hoàn Kiếm Lake pedestrian street area (Đông Kinh Nghĩa Thục Square, Bà Kiệu Temple Flower Garden), Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, Hanoi Museum, Temple of Literature - Quốc Tử Giám, Bát Tràng Ancient Village
Held annually
