LAYERS OF HANOI

“I was born and raised in Hanoi. People often remember the ancient and nostalgic features of Hanoi, when the moss starts to peel off, revealing a part of the old architecture. It is easy to see Hanoi as a dignified and mature person.

But I have never seen Hanoi as "old" and I never will. Behind the cracked and moth-eaten blue-painted wooden doors, amidst the collective playgrounds, amidst the architecture that has existed for many years, the young laughter of Hanoi's kindergarten still resounds. They are like the most poetic symbol of vitality, the red thread in the veins of Hanoi, the sprout growing in the cracks of bricks and stones. For me, that is the most vivid image of ‘Hanoi’.

‘Layers of Hanoi" also gives me that feeling; injecting new life into patched memories. So that the most true image of ‘Hanoi’ in me can emerge after the strokes, on the structure that always supports them.

Hanoi in layers - layers of houses, layers of scenery, layers of people. For me, it is the layers of generations living together in Hanoi. The people in ‘Hanoian buds' are the young generation, the buds, the sprouts, containing countless dreams for them to become citizens of the capital city.”