Nha San Collective

ABOUT

 

 
ABOUT

Nhà Sàn Collective (NSC) began operating as an independent artist collective in Hanoi in 2013, when a group of friends set up their publicly accessible space. With or without a physical base, NSC has worked with fellow companions and collaborators to organize exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, talks and other activities as a supporting platform for artists in the community. An initiative for exchanges, expansions and connections. A place that's also open toward works-in-progress and the unexpected, a just-do-it attitude which doesn't always yield answers. Some of the Collective's main projects, which have been held on numerous occasions, are Skylines With Flying Peoplee, IN:ACT Performance Art Festival, Queer Forever!, Emerging Artists program, among others.

The name Nhà Sàn signifies the Collective's foundation which is rooted in the spirit of Nhà Sàn Studio, an artist-run space founded in 1998 in Hanoi. The original Nhà Sàn, a house on stilts, was taken in 2020. In the Ngoc Thuy area by the bank of the Red River, the artists imagine this house to become the Nhà Sàn Collective space, rebuilt, and transformed.

 
HISTORY

Nhà Sàn Studio (NSS) was founded in 1998 by artists Nguyễn Mạnh Đức and Trần Lương. It was the first and is, to date, the longest running non-profit experimental art space in Vietnam. The studio nurtured several generations of the most imaginative and daring contemporary artists in the country.

The studio, housed in Nguyễn’s family home, is a Mường ethnic minority house on stilts that was transplanted from the mountains to a neighborhood in the outskirts of Hanoi. Opening intermittently, Nhà Sàn created space for experimentation and community.

Nhà Sàn Studio quickly became a nexus for international art exchange: hosting lectures, and workshops, sound, video, installation and performance art. Along with providing artists with the chance to experiment with art forms distinct from state pedagogy and commercial markets, Nhà Sàn connected local artists with opportunities for exchange abroad, and hosted a wide range of international projects, and artists in Vietnam.

Nhà Sàn Studio nurtured the first generation of Vietnamese avant-garde artists emergent in the early 1990’s. These artists include Trương Tân, Trần Lương, Nguyễn Văn Cường, Nguyễn Minh Thành, Nguyễn Quang Huy, Ea Sola, Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Phạm Ngọc Dương, Nguyễn Minh Phước, Nguyễn Xuân Sơn (Sơn X), and Kim Ngọc.

Nhà Sàn continues to be valuable resource for an emerging generation of artists, including Nguyễn Trinh Thi, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Nguyễn Trần Nam, Nguyễn Huy An, The Appendix, Nguyễn Quốc Thành and Tuấn Mami.

In 2011, the studio closed indefinitely due to pressure from authorities.

Nhà Sàn Collective (NSC) - 2013 to present

Since the closure of Nhà Sàn Studio in 2011, following the spirit of artistic creativity and freedom, the young generation of artists re-activated Nhà Sàn by a series of mobile and guerrilla projects in public space as well as large scale projects with international institutes in Vietnam and abroad. In 2013 the group formed Nhà Sàn Collective, which supports each other in pushing the boundaries of expression in Vietnam as well as seeks and nurtures other young artists in the community with or without a physical space.

Nhà Sàn Collective relies on volunteering, private donations, and support from cultural institutions both local and abroad to operate.

 

 

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When the website was established in 2015, it presented 13 artists. Since then, Nhà Sàn Collective has continued to work with many friends, artists and collaborators.

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OUR TEAM

In 2015, a board of curators was formed with

Nguyen Phuong Linh

Tuan Mami

Vu Duc Toan

Truong Que Chi

Nguyen Quoc Thanh

Nhà Sàn Collective has been generously supported by

Nguyễn Mạnh Đức

Mẹ Lương

Nguyễn Minh Hải Anh

Ngân Nguyễn

Đỗ Văn Hoàng

Linh Cam

Phùng Tiến Sơn

Lê Tuấn Phi

Nguyễn Thị Minh Huyền

Nghiêm Quang Thái Dương

Nguyễn Anh Tú

Lê Xuân Tiến

Nguyễn Trần Nam

Nguyễn Huy An

Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng

Nguyễn Ban Ga

Tạ Minh Đức

Gabby Miller

In 1998-2007, artist-curator Trần Lương was responsible for Nhà Sàn programs. Later, in 2008-2011, artist Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng was Nhà Sàn’s artistic director. We want to send our special thanks to Lê Thuận Uyên for being our general manager from 2014-2016, and Châu Hoàng for being our assistant curator from 2014-2016. Thanks to the contribution of Nguyễn Quỳnh Chi, Thạch Kỳ Nam who helped us in founding the collective and searching for a new space in 2013-2014.

Our apologies if we’ve missed anyone on this list.

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SPACES

1998 -> 2020: Nhà Sàn - private house of Nguyễn Mạnh Đức & Lê Thị Lương

2013: Zone 9, 9 Trần Thánh Tông, Hà Nội

2014 -> 2016: LaCa Café, 24 Lý Quốc Sư, Hà Nội

2016 -> 2017: Hanoi Creative City, 1 Lương Yên, Hà Nội

Nha San Studio: the wooden house on stilts