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"Dan Do" - sharing a common vision on the path of practicing art from local materials.
In 2012, the group of artists Nguyen Duc Minh, Dinh Anh Tuan, Nguyen Quang Su, and Tran Kim Ngoc returned to Vietnam after four years of working and touring together in Europe as part of the renowned contemporary circus program "My Village". This also marked the moment the group was formed to "extend the happiness" of creating and practicing art.
At a workshop in Gia Lam, Hanoi, the group began exploring, researching, and developing new musical instruments, primarily made from bamboo – a familiar material for generations, deeply intertwined with Vietnamese culture, life, and spirit. During this period, Dan Do welcomed a new member – visual artist Nguyen Duc Phuong, who documented the artists' work through paintings, thus discovering a turning point in their artistic practice as they began mixing clay to use as pigments, exploring and experimenting with techniques related to lines, shades, and surfaces.
The Dan Do group of artists.
The materials are rustic and the sounds are pure, like nature itself.
"Dan Do" is also the name of a special musical instrument made from bamboo – the first creation of the group of artists. "Through bamboo, we are exposed to the cultures of different regions. That is the endless inspiration for us to pursue the philosophy of bamboo, of the rich and diverse colors in the foundation of Vietnamese indigenous culture," shared Nguyen Duc Minh, one of the members who created Dan Do, about the inspiration behind the group's musical instrument.
"That" - the name given to this special instrument because it resembles both the traditional Vietnamese fishing tool - "that" - and the sound "that" - the primal sound of the early days, like nature's echo, a sound "no one remembers the name of," but when heard, listeners exclaim in surprise because it feels so familiar, "I've heard it before, it's that sound."
The fascinating artistic journey began with that guitar.
To produce those clear, pure sounds, the group of artists poured their heart and soul into every detail of the instrument. It's also the fascinating and arduous story of how each instrument was created from two fundamental materials, bamboo and clay, forming an entire orchestra with a full range of tones.
"That" refers to the process by which artists travel throughout Vietnam, from North to South, selecting wild bamboo groves, choosing mature bamboo stalks at least 15-20 years old, and taking the fourth bamboo segment from the base, waiting six months for the bamboo to dry naturally... to create the "Doi Lute"; to combining two seemingly unrelated materials, a large earthenware jar and a piece of motorcycle inner tube, into the shape of the "Jar Drum" - a rare percussion instrument with a deep tone created by the Vietnamese; or the one-of-a-kind "Lang Drum," commissioned by the artist according to a custom design in the famous Phu Lang pottery village, and then named after the word "Lang." Other examples include: the pot-shaped lute, the "te" drum, the rolling drum, the clear drum, the "do" gong, the "thiu" flute... and most recently, the water flute.
Those sounds are produced by a special set of musical instruments.
Each instrument carries its own story, creating unique sounds and inspiring compositions for the group of artists. "That's It" tells the story of the group's journey, from a bamboo stick to that instrument, from gentle, clear sounds to powerful, resonant ones, and listeners can also detect a touch of wit and charm throughout.
"Día à" tells the story of the simple, unrequited love of a girl from an ethnic minority named "Día" for Minh, the "mouth harp player," whose music seems to soar from the depths of the abyss, up the mountain slopes to the sky, and then suddenly shatter.
"Here and there" is a journey of the senses, whether sitting in a lowland bar sipping corn liquor or enjoying a glass of whiskey high in the mountains, it's a blend of modernity and tradition, of the highlands and the lowlands, and when you're tipsy, there's no longer any place to be. All of this creates a symphony that is both pure and captivating like nature and life, yet genuine and heartfelt like the soul of the artist.
The Dan Do artist tells stories through sound.
In the cozy atmosphere of Dan Do Lab, the paintings of artist Nguyen Duc Phuong bring a unique and complete artistic experience to the multi-sensory minishow "Stories of Do". Against a backdrop of red earth and broken pottery fragments, the characters, with their simple, rustic yet impressive forms, are recreated by the artists themselves, much like the sounds they are recreating in this place. The paintings vividly depict scenes of the artists' daily lives, from creating to resting... especially exuding a genuine and raw joy, like that of a human being amidst majestic nature, or of an artist in the face of primal sounds.
Twelve years – an old cycle closes, a new cycle begins.
Over the past 12 years, the Dan Do group has participated in larger musical projects such as the SEA Sound Southeast Asian Indigenous Orchestra, creating "Chem Gio Concert," "Loi Cua Tre," "Dan Do," "Xuyen Khong," etc. This journey also marks the artists' transition from youthful exuberance to middle age, becoming more composed, but their passion, diligence, and unwavering creativity in creating a unique orchestra, bearing the group's distinctive mark, remain as strong as ever.
Now, after 12 years, they are creating another memorable turning point, continuing their own artistic philosophy, but under a new look and mission: to bring the sound of Dan Do further, beyond borders, with a contemporary musical spirit.
Not content with just experimenting with traditional instruments like the mouth harp, leaf trumpet, zither, and flute, the group of artists has made groundbreaking and seemingly contradictory experiments and practices – combining with Western music and their friends and artists: beatboxing, bass guitar, the contemporary group Limeboxx, jazz artist Quyen Thien Dac, and most recently, just before Christmas, the Dan Do group collaborated with Bryan Charles Wilson – an American cellist with a desire to explore and create, bringing the colors of Vietnamese folk music into his works. This combination brings a different spirit to the performance language of the cello – a classical Western instrument – and Bryan hopes to share this interesting collaboration with international audiences.
Bryan Charles Wilson - an American cellist who loves Vietnamese folk music.
With their unique artistic vision and deep love for national and indigenous culture, stemming from a journey of searching for and creating harmonies of the most beautiful, innocent, and pure sounds, while simultaneously adding new value to the treasure trove of Vietnamese musical instruments, the Dan Do group is now embarking on a new path – taking their music further and integrating it with the global mainstream. We believe that their unique yet familiar "Do" sounds, along with their impressive compositional style and performance skills, will undoubtedly be warmly received by the art-loving community in particular and the public in general.
The concert program "Crossing Time," a fascinating encounter between two musical languages - Western Jazz and Vietnamese indigenous music - tells the story of the connection between artist Quyen Thien Dac and the Dan Do group. It will take place from 7 PM to 9:30 PM on January 20-21, 2024, at Dan Do Lab, Hong Ha factory area, end of alley 109 Truong Chinh Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi.
