Lessons for survival and long-term development
By Út Quyên

'My Own Words' is a monthly series which features personal essays by practitioners in the Southeast Asian art community. They deliberate on their locality's present circumstances, articulating observations and challenges in their respective roles.

Vietnam may have succeeded in containing COVID-19 but the impact of the global pandemic on all aspects of life in this country cannot be underestimated. The art and culture industry is no exception. This article compiles interview responses from art and cultural spaces in Hanoi to discover their concerns, as well as short- and long-term responses towards building a more sustainable future in this changing world.

Audience at the 'Red Dust Horizons' Concert. Photo by Le Huong Quynh. Image courtesy of DomDom.

A "new normal state"
The nationwide lockdown directive in Vietnam was lifted in late April 2020. At the end of May, public art and cultural activities were cautiously revived. The frequency of public events gradually restored its previous pace. In fact, most art and cultural organisations have observed greater interest and attendance in their online and physical events. This includes challenging art forms such as experimental music. DomDom, the Hub for Experimental Music & Art, had 300 attendees for their live performance 'Red Dust Horizons Concert'.

A sudden surge in attendees might have been due to limited public events available. This is a positive sign welcomed by local artists. However, they are cautious that this excitement might be a temporary manifestation.

Isolated art and culture community

Mr. Nguyễn Anh Tuấn (right) moderating a talk. Photo by Nguyễn An. Image courtesy of Heritage Space.

Singapore's Straits Times newspaper recently published its survey of the essential services, which named "artist" on top of the non-essential jobs list. Though distant, this sparked a wave of anger and sarcastic responses among many in the Vietnamese art community. Yet, what this poll has revealed is how isolated the art and cultural community feels in dealing with the outbreak. Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Artistic Director of Heritage Space, an independent contemporary art space in Hanoi, comments, “Although the arts belong to the totality of social superstructure and have its own infrastructure, as well as economic and spiritual value, they are always placed the last in the chain of appropriate attention of both the state and the people.” He adds, "We are always given the least resources and have to work on our own during normal times, let alone whenever a social crisis happens."

The pandemic has only made the difficult relationship between the arts community and Vietnamese policy makers more visible. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has not come up with any emergency responsive solutions to support the independent art and cultural community. The government’s VND62 billion (approximately USD2.6 million) Financial Assistance Package for those affected by COVID-19 targets a wide spectrum of jobs, from cleaners to grocery salesmen to private drivers. However, Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà, a researcher at the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS), and the manager of VICAS Art Studio, notes that independent artists are not eligible for this package.

Different reactions to a shared situation

Dr. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà, researcher at the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS) and manager of VICAS Art Studio.

Exhibition Tour at VCCA after the lockdown. Image courtesy of VCCA.

While state-supported organisations have economic security, this has come at the expense of their ability to be nimble in responding to the crisis. Founded in 2017, VICAS Art Studio is the only government-supported contemporary art space in Vietnam. From the outside, they seem to be in an advantageous position, with sponsored infrastructure, secured income for employees, and guaranteed budget for activities and projects. Across the three months of social distancing, VICAS staff still received salary from the state budget as researchers. None of its future projects were cancelled and existing programmes will be resumed. Its partners and artists all believed that when the pandemic ended VICAS would resume operations, and that its relationship with audiences, collectors and community intact.

However, Dr. Nguyễn Hà says that being sponsored by the State has made them quite passive in building capacity to respond to the crisis. All its staff members must prioritise their responsibilities as researchers for the institution, while operating the VICAS Art Studio is voluntary work without any further allowances. This makes it hard to maintain a stable team for the art space, with members often overloaded with work. During the pandemic, they could not proactively propose solutions to transform the organisation.

Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA) under Vingroup, one of the largest businesses in Vietnam, also faces an uncertain future as their activities are subjected to decisions from the corporation. Should the economic situation worsen, an unprofitable art centre is likely the first facility to be removed.

Exhibition tour at Matca Space. Image courtesy of Matca.

With reduced funding and travel limitations, most art and cultural spaces and organisations have to postpone or cancel their programmes. Yet regardless of the pandemic, practitioners understand that they are operating in the context of an imperfect infrastructure for art and culture. Hà Đào, a photographer, critic and manager of Matca Photography Space, says, “Perhaps the independent art spaces are too familiar with the upheavals of life, working underground and constantly having to find a way to survive. In this regard, COVID-19 is just a quick passing event.” Manzi, an art gallery and cafe, is one of the first places to restore activities with a busy schedule of exhibition openings, events, and talks. Remaining financially autonomous and knowing how to deal with local authorities are problems that affect the survival of these spaces from the beginning.

Reforms for survival

TPD's film making class. Image courtesy of TPD.

Many Hanoi art and culture spaces took the lockdown period as an opportunity to restructure their operations and develop their capabilities. AGOHub, a space for Architecture and Art, realised the need to separate their work into distinctive categories in order to perform better and fully exploit their resources. Currently, AGOHub has two independent teams managing their physical facilities and organising professional events. Nguyễn Hoàng Phương, Director of The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD), remarks that community-building is the most important thing for organisations with limited human and financial resources. During the lockdown period, TPD devoted its effort to strengthening their internal communications, and rewarding supporters with free lessons.

A drama project for children at ATH. Image courtesy of ATH.

Going digital has become a global trend as a response to COVID-19. After initial doubts about the efficacy of digital substitutes for live events, performing arts organisations are seeing the benefits of reaching a wider audience and enabling a more dynamic, international programme. Replacing its annual Performing Arts Spring festival (PAS) with an online version that took place on Zoom over two days in June 2020, ATH was able to have more guest professionals on the programme, including two influential drama and dance artists from the United Kingdom and France who facilitated workshops. This structure also allowed broadcasts of recorded student performances and new theatre productions, as well as the possibility of live-streaming a concert and two plays created specially for the festival.

Organisations also found new opportunities for cooperation and new potential partners. Heritage Space collaborated with Goethe-Institut Hanoi to screen the film 'The Space in Between: Marina Abramović and Brazil', for which Abramović unexpectedly participated in an online sharing with audiences. Nguyễn Anh Tuấn of Heritage Space says, “We reached out to Abramović just about one week before the event without much hope that she would accept our invitation. Normally, her schedule must have been planned a year ahead.” The residency space ba-bau AIR moved their focus from providing accommodation for foreign artists towards inviting local artists and organisations to utilise their facility for events and short-term workshops. Travel limitations have made them look for collaboration domestically. This has strengthened the connection among local art and cultural practitioners, spaces and organisations.

Immediate actions taken by spaces to deal with the pandemic also have the potential to become long-term operational models. For example, Á Space developed an online platform called Virtual Á Space, which operates independently from its physical space. Tuan Mami, artist and founder of Á Space, says, “Virtual Á Space creates new possibilities for young artists and art practitioners to develop their projects and curate shows, opportunities often reserved for more established practitioners when it comes to physical spaces.” Virtual Á Space's first showcase ‘I, Other Existences’ will be curated by Mơ Hỏi Mở - MO?, a multimedia art collective founded in 2019.

Is there a sustainable future?

A workshop on design thinking organised by AGOHub after the lockdown. Image courtesy of AGOHub.

It was not until COVID-19 broke out that the question of sustainable development was raised by practitioners in Vietnam. Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, founder and manager of AGOHub says, "To be sustainable, we need to balance art and non-profit activities with that of practicality and business." Yet this is a difficult problem for many other spaces, especially those dealing with experimental art forms such as DomDom, Á Space, Heritage Space. Furthermore, none of the managers and owners I have interviewed are confident that their organisations will survive a second wave of the pandemic and prolonged closure.

Here are lessons learnt which are essential for survival and long term development:

expand on one’s capacity to respond to crisis
strengthen one’s connection with the public
make better use of internal resources
localise and regionalise activities and projects
reduce dependence on funding from foreign organisations and institutes
find a balance between nonprofit and profitable activities.

In addition to these actions, appreciation for cultural and artistic industries needs to be improved at a systemic level through national education and communication programmes.

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

This piece has been republished on Art & Society Research Centre site in Japanese. To read it, click here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of A&M.
Read all My Own Words essays here.

About the Author
Út Quyên is an art writer, and art and cultural coordinator and organiser. Aside from writing and commenting on art activities as an independent writer and a contribute-writer of the arts and culture website Hanoi Grapevine, she is also involved in planning and operating creative events, art programmes and projects at Heritage Space, an independent art space in Hanoi, as well as many multidisciplinary creative projects with other art centres in the city. Út Quyên currently lives and works in Hanoi, Vietnam.