The KHCBT Project
I have just (January 2020) completed a project documenting wall advertising in Hanoi. These stenciled phone numbers are for companies offering cement and ground clearance and they are a distinctive feature of the city. The locals hate the defacing of their city and it is done in the middle of the night. However, this feature is in rapid decline thanks to the phenomenal rate of redevelopment and the companies switching to social media advertising. I have become a bit addicted to searching down dark alleys for the more artistic examples with crumbling plaster, flaking paint and multiple colours! Most of these images are taken in neighbourhoods where few or indeed any non-Vietnamese would have ventured. Therefore, the usual attention I get as a tall, white, stranger was even greater when people saw what I was photographing. Having no comprehension of photography and seeing me aiming at a subject that they consider an ugly scar, who can blame them! My Vietnamese does not extend to explaining that I think that the walls are interesting and artistic! The meaning of the letters are K or KH is for Khoản (drilling), C is for Cắt (cut), B is for Bê tông (concrete). So KHCBT = “Khoản Cắt Bê tong” which means “Drilling and Cutting Concrete”. These are a few of the more artistic examples.
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