Exhibition 'Nostalgia for Cities' - a new perspective on old spaces

“Nostalgia for Cities” is the opening exhibition for the Photo Hanoi'25 International Photography Biennale, curated by artist Nguyen The Son.

The exhibition brings together 30 talented Vietnamese and international photographers and visual artists. Inspired by the notion that each city is a living, ever-changing entity, the works explore how collective memory is formed and enriched over time.

Continuing the “ Hanoi - A City” in photography from Photo Hanoi'23, this exhibition raises the question: Can memory and nostalgia be the factors that shape the identity of a place? Through the artists' lenses, urban spaces, from familiar to unfamiliar, appear as treasure troves of vivid memories, affirming the power of photography in evoking emotions and reviving things that belong to the past.

The wordless dialogues spread throughout the exhibition, opening up new perspectives on seemingly familiar spaces, including Hanoi city.

While Jean-Charles Sarrazin, a French photographer and cartoonist, brought nostalgic film footage of Hanoi during the post-war reconstruction years, local photographers brought closer slices of contemporary Hanoi life: Dong Hieu with "Whispering" of nightlife, and Pham Duy with the moment "The city stood still" during the days the city fought the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides Hanoi, the exhibition also brings photo stories from many other cities: from metropolises like Paris, Tokyo, to unique destinations like Yangon or Bilbao...

The works not only remind us of the power of photography in preserving and reproducing personal memories in the flow of time, but also enrich our understanding of the identity and culture of each place in a modern context.

Curator Nguyen The Son said the idea for "Nostalgia for Cities" was inspired by the moment he sat in the airport waiting room, preparing to return to Hanoi after international business trips.

In the airport lobby, clocks displaying the time zones of many cities around the world are always present. They remind passengers of the flow of time, biological rhythms and lifestyles in different lands, seemingly separate but similar.

Images of international time zone clocks are used as a thread throughout the exhibition, connecting the time slices and stories of 19 cities in the same artistic space. ''I want to open up dialogues between different perspectives, between the past and the present, between the inside and outside of each land,'' curator Nguyen The Son shared.

“Nostalgia for Cities” opens a dialogue between cities, in the intersection of culture, history and art, bringing a rich experience of each local identity. Nostalgia is not just about looking back at the past, but also inspiring each person to continue writing their own memories of the places they cherish.

The exhibition “Reminiscences of Cities” is taking place at the 22 Hang Buom Cultural and Art Center and will last until the end of November 2025.

Source: https://congluan.vn/trien-lam-hoai-niem-ve-nhung-thanh-pho-goc-nhin-moi-ve-khong-gian-xua-cu-10316267.html