XQ Silk Embroidery and Artist Space in Vietnam

Walking back to our hotel one night the sound of live music draws me to XQ - a combination art gallery, art factory and artist space.

Hand woven silk shirts and traditional dresses are on display in one of the rooms. Another room has wooden carvings and statues, depicting struggles faced by the Vietnamese. Embroided canvases are the organisation’s product line and are sold in large quantities from the many offices in Vietnam.

Embroidery has a strong history within Vietnam, unfortunately, it’s going the way of the Japanese geishas. Few girls want to make a career out of embroidery due to the amount of time required to perfect the art.

A portrait requires one girl two months of work to do and four to five years of experience to undertake. Larger scenes can take four girls three months each to complete. The pictures sell for between 800 and 3500 USD from what I could see.

The courtyard cafe serves hot tea, as four guitarists sing and play songs composed between the 40s and 70s. They sing songs of love, songs about the daily lives of fishermen and farmers and songs of mothers and fathers watching their children go to die in the American war. Our front row seats for this spectacular performance come free of charge, the music is so moving that the owner of the gallery picks up a microphone and joins in the songs. Nhac Gi Trinh Cong Son, the composer of many of the songs, is known by all in Vietnam and his music is loved by many.