A visitor view exhibits at Của Trăng và Ta (Of Moon and Us). The exhibition presents the traditional Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival through contemporary art. — Photo courtesy of District M

HCM CITY — An installation exhibition is inviting visitors to discover the traditional Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival through contemporary art, combining folk-inspired installations, painting, woodblock prints and music.

Running until September 30 at EMGallery (EMG), the Của Trăng và Ta (Of Moon and Us) exhibition explores familiar images associated with the festival, including lion dances, traditional drums and lantern processions, while offering new interpretations by artists from different generations.

Within the exhibition space, variations are structured across three bays reminiscent of iconic traditional ancient architecture long rooted in Vietnamese culture.

At the centre is the improvised installation Thùng Thình Thùng, featuring four multi-material lion heads from the Trăng Ta traditional toy restoration project suspended above an arrangement of traditional drums.

Handcrafted from bamboo frames, papier-mâché and fabric, the lion heads feature simple folk-inspired patterns and demonstrate the meticulous craftsmanship behind traditional toys.

The visual experience is accompanied by a contemporary folk ensemble composed specially for the exhibition by artist Dzũng, creating an interplay between visual art and sound.

Thùng Thình Thùng is also the title of a new musical composition by Dzung, inspired by the familiar sounds of the Mid-Autumn Festival and developed from traditional instrumental elements combined with nylon-string guitar.

Other rooms display gouache and dó (poonah) paper paintings depicting zodiac animals and festivals, reflecting the cosmological thinking found in the works of renowned painter Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm (1919 - 2016), alongside a collection of woodblock prints inspired by the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Together, the works evoke the atmosphere of the full-moon night, from lion dances and traditional drums to lantern processions, while showing how artists today are reinterpreting familiar folk imagery.

Artist Kevin Vương, creator of the Trăng Ta project, said his interest in restoring traditional lion heads grew from his childhood love of lion dances.

As he grew older, the familiar image of the lion continued to inspire him to recreate traditional lion heads while exploring ways to bring the cultural form back into contemporary life.

Rather than treating traditional objects solely as museum pieces, the project seeks to reconnect them with everyday cultural experiences, he said.

Through Trăng Ta and the exhibition, he hopes to encourage audiences to appreciate Vietnamese folk art and recognise its cultural and social value.

According to EMGallery, the decision to focus on the Mid-Autumn Festival reflects the gallery's wish to create a space that is both contemporary and rooted in cultural heritage.

The exhibition aims to help bring traditional culture closer to the community, particularly through forms of artistic expression that allow familiar cultural memories to be experienced in new ways.

By bringing traditional lion heads, folk music and Mid-Autumn imagery into a contemporary gallery setting, Của Trăng và Ta offers a meeting point between cultural memory and new artistic expression. — VNS