PI: Rachel Tough | Collaborator: Phạm Thanh Thôi
Research Assistants: Thanh Sơn Nguyễn, Diana Lê, Nguyễn Tăng Quang,
Lê Thái Hoàng Nguyên, Lại Minh Ngọc, and Phạm Phương Mai
Knowledge Holders: Hoàng Đức Thuyên, Nguyễn Hòai Bảo, and Đức Nghĩa
Project ID: 2022SG17 | Location of Research: Ho Chi Minh City, Việt Nam
Host Institution: School of Global Development, University of East Anglia
In the 1960s and 1970s, billboards and street advertising proliferated in Ho Chi Minh City, previously known as Saigon. Photographs confirm that even the ‘Vietnam War’ did not destroy all such signage in the city. Following market reforms, however, the standardised signs of multinational franchises began to appear with internet penetration and the rise of digital printing further accelerating the disappearance of hand-painted signs. Although significant ethnographic research on Hanoi artists exists, enquiries into sign painting in Ho Chi Minh City remain few. Studies conducted to date generally focus on the signs themselves rather than the processes, conditions, and stories behind their production.
Setting out to address this research gap, this project has documented the production of hand-painted advertising signs in Ho Chi Minh City, recording each stage in a sign’s manufacture – from the original commission to installation at a customer’s business premises – using multimedia approaches including photography and videography. Three artists’ professional trajectories, influences, and wider lives have been explored in semi-structured and life history interviews. Project data provide insights into the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, the material aspects of economic reform, Ho Chi Minh City’s ongoing nostalgia boom, and other themes that may be explored further in the team’s future research endeavours.
The project repository contains all digital files emanating from this project and the Guide to the Dataset provides detailed information about the significance of the research, levels of endangerment, metadata, team roles, and more. The repository will, it is hoped, serve as a helpful resource for anthropologists researching Vietnamese art, design, and advertising as well as various aspects of urban life including everyday negotiations around public space use, the social and cultural impacts of urban development, alleyway life, and consumer culture.
Methodology
Over two years, the project team documented various stages in the production of hand-painted signs and engaged ethnographically with three artists. Fieldwork involved observation of sign making, in-depth and shorter interviews with three sign painters, and interviews with the artists’ customers. Edited digital assets and metadata were finalised and provided to the EMKP team along with the final report on 22nd May 2025.
Participant observation: As all of the project team were residing in Ho Chi Minh City for extended periods, repeat visits enabled them to become participant observers in the daily activities of Artist Thuyên and his community, enabling a richer picture of his working life to be developed. By commissioning a sign from this artist, the PI became a participant observer in the sign design process. This involved artist and customer working together to select colours, themes, and the overall look and feel of the sign.
Semi-structured interviews: The team used this method to obtain details of the artists’ sign-making processes or specific themes such as the reasons for the retro boom in modern-day Saigon.
Life history interviews: The focus on artists and their agency included their life trajectories and subjectivities. This method was used to explore their thoughts, feelings and beliefs about their craft, its decline, and its resurgence.
Audio-visual recording: These audiovisual methods were used to document the sign-making process, the community in which the artists’ home studios are located, and interviews. Video recordings were made using a Fujifilm X-T4 digital camera paired with a Fujifilm XF 18-55mm lens, a DJI RS3 mini gimbal, and a RODE videomic PRO-R on-camera microphone. English subtitles have been added to many video files so that the knowledge system can be understood by English speakers and to enable the files to be used as a teaching resource outside of Vietnam. Photographs were captured using a Sony A6000 camera paired with a Sony 18–105mm F4 lens. Post-production was completed using Adobe Lightroom for raw image adjustments and Adobe Photoshop for further minor refinements where necessary. Audio recordings were made on a Roland R-07 high resolution portable audio recorder with a backup made on an iPhone. RODE lavalier GO lapel microphones were used for interview recordings.
Selected Assets
The below assets capture key elements in the chaîne opératoire of a hand-painted sign.
Artist Thuyên
Artist Bảo
Acknowledgements
The research team would like to express their sincere appreciation to all participants for giving their time and expertise to this documentation project and for their patience as the PI and Co-I completed their doctorates while the project was in progress. Completing fieldwork over two years has enabled strong relations to develop between artists and researchers. This has opened up intriguing areas for potential future studies. The team hopes to continue the interactions for many years to come.
The team would also like to thank funding administrators at both the University of East Anglia and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City (USSH) for facilitating the project including setting up the collaboration agreement between the two universities.