Adrian Cachinero Vasiljević

Dossier: Silk City - Living in Hanoi

This exhibition was featured in Fnac Lausanne during the month of March 2008.

Hanoi is a bustling and vibrant city. While it’s sister in the South, Saigon, quickly adapts and absorbs Western ways of life, Hanoi remains a city steeped in a unique culture. The whole city is dominated by anarchic urban planning and unusual ‘tube houses’, zero traffic regulations and mopeds, diesel fuel and greenery.

The sidewalks hint at the lush rainforests some kilometres away, and the oppressive heat is thick and humid. A city which has grown on the banks of the Red River, flowing around existing ecosystems. The very centre features a breathtaking lake, Hoan Kiem, with a central islet, connected by an old Imperial style bridge. The fury of the red, dragon like construction serves as a strong reminder of the Chinese legacy of the Vietnamese people, part of a crossroads legacy that characterises them uniquely.

It’s hard to overstate the penetration of the moped in the Vietnamese psyche. Extremely useful, as well as an exhilarating and definitive way to explore the city, citizens rush around on mopeds, commuting in smart business suits or going to market loaded with crates of vegetables that dizzy onlookers who try to contemplate the amazing feats of two-wheel balance.

I went to Vietnam as a volunteer. I taught English at the Hanoi School for the Blind, building on my existing experience as a language tutor. Nothing could have prepared me for an experience which was eye-opening for me, filling me with admiration for the blind community in a wider sense. My students took down notes furiously, punching small protrusions in the paper through a plastic grill. Writing from right to left to then take out the paper and skim through what they had written from left to right. A formidable sight was to see was the student orchestra. Expert hands blurring over intricate instruments, brows frowned in concentration. My camera clicking discreetly in the background, taking pictures they are condemned to never be able to see.