[1] Situated in their home and Vu Dan Tan’s studio at 30 Hang Bong, Hanoi, it functioned outside of the legal framework and was free from any official interference.
Proclaiming its main goal as freedom of expression, during its almost two decades of activities, Salon Natasha has organized around one hundred artistic events extending from curated exhibitions to creative collaborations, spontaneous performances and international exchanges.
In 2005, Salon Natasha terminated its exhibition activities, Vu Dan Tan once again turned the space into his art studio but kept its doors open to the public.
He decided to name it ‘Salon’ in the French-Russian sense, implying that its goal would be not just to organize exhibitions, but also to host various cultural events and to encourage artist-audience dialogues.
As a platform for the exchange of ideas, Salon Natasha thus continued the tradition that began in Tan’s studio which had been known as a gathering place for Hanoi bohemian circles and intelligentsia since the late 1970s.
[3] Salon Natasha was a space where artists felt free to experiment with art making practices without the pressure of having to consent either with the market or the State’s guidelines.
[6] In addition to paintings and drawings, Salon Natasha also introduced art objects, installation, experimental photography, cross-disciplinary interactive events, and performance, forms which had just begun to penetrate the Vietnamese artistic landscape in the early 1990s.
Starting in the early 1990s, some international artists based in Hanoi participated in Salon Natasha exhibitions and projects on a regular basis.
[9][10] Projects such as Crosscurrents enabled Salon Natasha to spread its art activities wider than its own physical space and realize or join exhibitions and events, both in Vietnam and abroad.
The documents encompass the years before the opening of Salon Natasha (1980s), the main period of its exhibition activities (1990-2005), its collections, social connections and media coverage.