Episode 18 of the TIMEZONES podcast series, co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut. In this episode we travel to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and dive into its diverse sounds, noises, and artistic practices. We visit three female sound artists who talk about listening despite noise pollution, changing soundscapes through the past decades, how they collaborate with their peers, and how they cope with ongoing gender inequalities.

Producer’s Note

What does it mean to be a part of a community? A citizen of a city? Can the streets mimic our veins? Can the coursing thoroughfares inflate as our lungs might, heaving in the rarefied schemata the alleys and overpasses trace?

And what of the city’s pulse, the urban throb, the endless effusive clash of chaotic purity – can the indefatigable wash of noise alter our perception, or indeed, shape our ability to perceive? And what of the layers beyond that – the food, the songs, the sayings, the spices, the incense burning in the pagodas, the fish rotting on the shores of the lake, the uncles laughing and smiling, the meanings buried in simple actions.

Can we define an essence that allows us to explain what our city means to us? Can we distill it? Should we?

Hanoi has been shaped by waves of culture, the ripples are still ebbing back and forth as the water is yet to clear. Beneath the surface strong undercurrents play and dance, drawing the daring deeper into its surfeit of heart.

In this podcast episode, you will hear from three cultural creators who call this grumbling behemoth their home. What drives them? What moves them? What power do they draw from this shining capital, perched amidst lakes and mountainous regions, filled with hope and eager to alter expectations?

→ full transcript of episode 18

Credits

A podcast by LinhHafornow
in collaboration with tomes (Tobias Paramore)

Co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut

Featuring: Nhung Nguyen, Ho Tram Anh, Hoan Thu Thuy

Field Recordings by Palmer Keen (Aural Archipelago), Hoang Thu Thuy, LinhHafornow, tomes Music by Tiny Giant and Quách Thị Hồ (song «Hồng Hồng Tuyết Tuyết» at 15:00)

Includes a bonus talk, moderated and produced by Elise Luong, featuring tomes

Artistic Editor: Suvani Suri
Project Management: Hannes Liechti
Video Trailer: Karrl
Jingle Voiceover: Nana Akosua Hanson
Jingle Mix: Daniel Jakob
Mastering: Adi Flück, Centraldubs
Artwork: Šejma Fere
Copy Editing: Kathrin Hadeler

Listen on

→ Listen to further TIMEZONES episodes

Featured Artists

Tobias Paramore (tomes) is an Australian-born music producer and sound engineer. After graduating from Macquarie University, Sydney in 2005, he went on to study further at the Koninklijke Conservatorium in Den Haag, Netherlands. He has worked as a performer, an engineer, and a producer on his own projects and those of others. He works both in the digital realm, and with analog signal processing. He has performed primarily electronic music extensively, both solo and as a part of a duo, all over the world in varied locations. Follow him on Instagram, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Nhung Nguyen is an emerging Vietnamese sound artist currently based in Hanoi, experimenting across a range of left-field aesthetics and expressions – ambient drone, electro acoustic, noise music and musique concrete, amongst others. Since 2014 Nhung has been making works under the moniker Sound Awakener – and more cinematic, piano-driven projects under her real name. She has worked with international labels such as Time Released Sound (US), Unknown Tones Records (US), Soft (France), Flaming Pines (UK), Fluid Audio (UK), Syrphe (Germany). Nhung has also worked on music composition and sound design for theater, films and video art. Follow her on her website, Instagram, X, or Vimeo.

Ho Tram Anh is an independent musician/songwriter based in Hanoi with various projects under her belt. The trademark of Tram Anh’s compositions are key-shifting melodies and spatial, atmospheric production, influenced by ambient and classical music (her primary musical instrument is the piano). Follow her on her website, Instagram, Facebook, SoundCloud, or Bandcamp.

Hoang Thu Thuy has been working as a sound recordist, sound designer, and mixer for 23 years. After finishing high school in her hometown, Vinh City (province of Nghe An), she studied at Ha Noi Academy of Theater and Cinema (SKDA) and graduated in 2000 in Sound Technology of Television and Cinema. Since graduation, she has been working as a university lecturer on film sound. Follow her on Facebook.

Bonus Talk

Hanoi: Pausing from Change
moderated and produced by Elise Luong

A conversation between TIMEZONES episode producer LinhHafornow, production assistant Tomes and their biggest fan, art manager and writer Elise Luong. Hanoi is set to triple in population. Within its exploding economy and suffocating density, musicians and sound artists struggle to find a sense of space. Hanoi is seductive, with roads that curve around ancient trees, bodies of water that offer respite to toads and culinary delights of all kinds. But the ground shakes with the vibrations of jackhammers, and smog and concrete dust fill the air. We live packed together in each others’ spaces, watching the city hurl towards a consumerist future. With the arts and culture flailing at the periphery, Hanoi’s creatives are swooped up into the chaos. How do we hold onto the sonic worlds of the past? What do artists need as cities morph and expand, modifying possibilities of connection, isolation, and identity? What helps us to reflect?

Elise Luong was born and raised near Melbourne, Australia, and graduated with a BFA in photography and video arts from Belgium in 2009. After moving to Berlin, followed by Montreal and then Brussels, she settled in late 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Professionally, Elise has moved through a diverse range of contemporary art fields, spending her first years focused on street art and graffiti, working for both commercial and public organizations. After publishing her first book, Street Art Today #1, she chose to widen her scope of curatorial practice to highlight «experience-based» art forms such as performance, contemporary dance, live/experimental music, and installations.

In 2012, when based in Brussels, she co-founded a non-profit organization called Undecided Productions, programming an array of public events, and working closely with artists to develop inclusive platforms for dissemination. The closing of Undecided’s gallery space HIDDEN opened doors for change, and since moving to Vietnam, Elise has focused on cultural exchange projects, such as founding and running the residency program live.make.share. Headed by Elise, Undecided Productions is now registered as Vietnam’s only international non-governmental organisation. As an art manager, she is concerned with the development of production and dissemination opportunities for young creators, particularly those whose work engages with the themes of ecology and gender. In parallel, she also works as a writer, editor, events manager, program curator, and communication designer.

Follow Elise on her website, Facebook, or Instagram.

Playlist

A selection of sounds from the community of music makers and sound artists in Vietnam and also from the Vietnamese diaspora community, including artists from this TIMEZONES episode. Curated by LinhHafornow.

Trailer

by Karrl