Nha San Collective is the first and longest-running, non-profit, artist-run space for experimental art that was realized in the political scene in Vietnam.
Nhà Sàn Studio has proved to be a near-perfect place to host underground alternative art exhibitions and events in the local scene.
[2] Following the spirit of artistic creativity and contemporary culture, the young generation of artists from Nha San Studio in 2013 decided to form 'Nhà Sàn Collective', continuing the mission of Nha San Studio to build a stable structure for contemporary art to grow in the restrictive cultural and political environment of the local scene.
Since 1998, Nha San has hosted many exhibitions, open studios, workshops, lectures, and talks of local and international artists/ curators.
Some highlight events such as: Asia Window 2002, Emerging artist program every year, IN:ACT international performance art event, Skylines With People 2012...[5] When Nguyen Manh Duc browsing through the exhibition named Khởi Thủy (The beginning) in St. Joseph's Cathedral's neighborhood in Hanoi by Tran Luong, he knew that this new art form could leave a more profound impact on the spectators.
Nha San artist/curator Nguyen Phuong Linh said: "A physical space is essential, but is not too important to influence our way, our society of art.
[11] Nha San Collective was also keen to find and nurture young people who have a passion for experimental art, organizing workshops for emerging artists with constructive critique.
As Nha San developed beyond the traditional operational model, aimed to pursue the path towards multi platforms and internationally engaged artistic activities.
[13] Nhà Sàn is confronted with the difficulties of being a non-commercial art spaces, lack of funding and a supporting legal system.
In celebration of the new space, Nha San organized the group exhibition "The Clouds Will Tell," showcasing the works of young artists from the Collective and other collaborators.
[14] Nha San Collective since then has continued to organize a variety of events, such as workshops, open studios, artist talks, screenings, exhibitions and more.
In August 2015, Nhà Sàn Collective moved to a new space located in the cultural complex of Hanoi Creative City.
[17] Linh has participated in various exhibitions and art projects in Vietnam, countries in Asia, Europe as well as US, such as Japan, Korea, India, China, Germany, England, France, and Italy.
In 2011, Linh participated in 11th Winds of Artist in Residence at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum with a solo exhibition Dust.
In 2013, she participated in the large exhibition HIWAR, 25th anniversary of Darat Al Funnun in Amman, Jordan[18] Since 2010, Linh organized and curated programs at Nha San.
In 2012, she organized Skylines With Flying People, one of the most ambitious contemporary art events in Vietnam in the last decade with local and international artists and curators from Vietnam, Japan, Germany, US, Serbia, Shanghai, and Korea at Japan Foundation, Nha San Studio, Goethe Institute, Manzi Art Space and many public sites in Hanoi.
In 2013, together with her colleague Tuan Mami, Linh co-found Nha San COLLECTIVE, a group of young experimental artists.
As an artist, Hung is known for bringing a fresh, original perspective to the visual arts in Vietnam, with an extensive body of work including paintings, sculptures, digital images, installations and performances.
Born in 1976 and raised and educated in Hanoi, Nguyen makes art that reflects the comical situations arising from the rapid yet piecemeal processes of domestic urbanization and modernization.
Depicting military planes laden down with oversized grocery items, or else soaring across the sky with bushels from the rice harvest, Hung's surreal scenes humorously morph a symbol of destruction with conduits of hope, benevolence and joy.
[20] As one of Vietnam's most recognized emerging artists, Nguyen Manh Hung has gained increased international attention in recent years.
Born in 1982 in Hanoi and graduated from the Fine Art University in 2008, Nguyen Huy An is considered the most dynamic and innovative artists of his generation.
[28] He has appeared, either solo or with the performance art group Phu Luc (Appendix) – which he co-founded in 2010 – in performance art festivals in Vietnam, Japan and Singapore and in important exhibitions such as LIMDIM in Oslo, Norway, Sounds of Dust in 943 Studio Kunming, China and the unprecedented multi-disciplinary exhibition 'Skylines with Flying People' in Hanoi in 2012.
A university dropout, Phung Tien Son wanted to escape the confinement of the rigid and outdated Vietnamese education system to pursue a more experimental and liberal approach to art-making.
[33] War, heavy metal rock ’n’ roll, the history of Vietnam – these cover some of the main themes in Tien Son's practice, currently experimented by the artist using various new media means including sound, computer-generated drawing, GPS and Google mapping.
Focusing on the undocumented and unannounced war fought at the borders between Vietnam and China in 1979, Tien Son hopes to further explore and shed some light on the ambiguous centuries-long history and relationship between the two Communist neighbours.
Although this short but bloody episode – today known as the Third Indochina War – claimed tens of thousands of lives in the space of less than one month, state media on both sides have remained quite despite the mutual tensions which have been flaring in the subsequent years up until now over border disputes and other political problems.
In his recent works, Nam tends to take interest in the dark, hidden and forgotten fraction between the past and presence, faith and retribution, and random tales that hold memory as well as history.
In his latest work of "Salted" he stood at beach front for hours as the tide slowly came in, in a very silent way, relating about the connection between the land and the existence of a person.
Some of Duc's notable recent projects include: Mini DOCFEST of documentary and experimental films at the Goethe Institute Hanoi in 2014; sound and video installation exhibition ‘Nho va Min’, Nha San Studio in 2014; ‘Autopsy of the Day’ photography exhibition at the Goethe Institute Hanoi, 2012.