The cultural event is a contribution from Vietnam to the international exhibition entitled ‘Hotel Beethoven’ to commemorate Beethoven’s 250 birthday anniversary.

John Baldessari, Beethoven‘s Trumpet (With Ear), Opus # 133, 2007 ©
The Estate of John Baldessari. Courtesy the Estate of John Baldessari and
Sprüth Magers. Photo: Timo Ohler

‘Hotel Beethoven’ is an exhibition about Beethoven life and works, which has been organized by BOZAR, the Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, in collaboration with the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn.

To close to the Beethoven 250th anniversary celebrations, the Embassies of Belgium in Vietnam and Germany in Hanoi jointly organized a video art exhibition of Nguyen Le Hoang Viet from January 25 to February 4 at the Goethe-Institut in Hanoi (No 56 -60 Nguyen Thai Hoc street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi).

The event is funded by the German Minister of State for Culture and the Media in the framework of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The year of 2020 is marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and many forms of social distancing and quarantine measures. Humans had to stay inside rooms and the distance amon people in public is specifically defined.

Vietnamese filmmaker Viet turns to Beethoven’s music and wonders "if it can provide us with a window to escape the four walls surrounding us. How can his music take us to the world outside?"

Blending a time-stretched version of Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - the monumental masterpiece of Beethoven - with zoom-ins, zoom-outs, shots of Hanoians’ daily life activities, this video installation invites audiences on a visual journey of human survival in this strange time.

Mr. Viet had gained international recognition as Vietnam’s representative filmmaker  to attend some film festivals of Short Shorts, BFI Flare London, Festival of 3 Continents.