The Vu Dan Tan Museum, designed by architect Hoang Le, was established with the purpose of preserving, researching, documenting, and displaying the works of the pioneering contemporary Vietnamese artist Vu Dan Tan (October 3, 1946 - October 14, 2009) for the benefit of the community.
At the ceremony, exhibition curator Iola Lenzi stated that the museum houses installations, sculptures, artifacts, paintings, prints, and art books, as well as musical and literary manuscripts composed and compiled by Vu Dan Tan. This allows audiences both domestically and internationally to access previously unpublished works by the artist.
“The museum will conceptualize exhibitions, workshops, and open-workshop programs, as well as initiate educational programs targeting diverse audiences through tours, discussions, lectures, seminars, and dialogues on art, with the goal of sharing experiences and promoting research in the field of art,” added Iola Lenzi.
As part of the opening ceremony, an exhibition showcasing the works of Vu Dan Tan was also presented to the public. The exhibition represents a small glimpse into Vu Dan Tan's creative journey over several decades.
The exhibition features several important works such as Cadillac/Icarus; Money; Suitcases of a Pilgrim, and many others. Through these works, visitors can understand Vu Dan Tan's worldview and his relationship with art as he embraced the era in which he lived.
Vu Dan Tan is a deeply contemplative artist, both creative and critical. Not critical in a negative sense, but rather critical in the sense of profound reflection on his surroundings, their connection to culture, to grand ideas, to the past and future, and the social and cultural impacts of changing events or social phenomena.
He was a highly creative and independent man, yet he didn't live in his own world. Vu Dan Tan viewed artistic creation as a contribution to the world, and he did so with generosity, wit, humor, and beauty.
Thanks to this perspective, he invented new artistic languages to respond to the changing Vietnamese context, a changing world, and, responding to it, became a part of it, developing theoretically grounded aesthetics that turned out to be an integral part of contemporary Southeast Asian art as it spread in the decades after 1970.
The opening exhibition will take place from December 10, 2025 to April 5, 2026 at the Vu Dan Tan Museum (443 Ngoc Thuy, Hanoi ).
Here are some photos from the event:
Source: https://congluan.vn/bao-tang-vu-dan-tan-chinh-thuc-ra-mat-cong-chung-10321654.html
![[Photo] Prime Minister Le Minh Hung presides over the thematic session on promoting science and technology development and innovation.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/23/1782207872934_ndo_br_dsc-1724-jpg.webp)
