Compilation of photographs taken during the first opening of 'Hanoin Henki' at the gallery of the Artists' Association of Oulu. Notable figures in the album include curator and Hanoi-based Finnish artist Maritta Nurmi (image 1), and Finnish artist Jaakko Niemela (image 2, in a red shirt).

Selected artworks prepared for the exhibition were put on hold at customs; they underwent multiple searches before given shipment authorisation by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture. Works presented at the first opening were unframed paintings brought by the participating artist from Hanoi to Oulu, and the handmade cut-outs cardboard sculptures produced by Vu Dan Tan before the opening.
During the event, audience were invited to paint on the cardboard works, while Vu Dan Tan and Nguyen Van Cuong played musical instruments. Such spontaneous practice and interactions carried through the exhibition; the visitors, curators, and artists would drink, chat about art and play music in the space. The exhibition thus embraced and re-enacted the environment and lifestyle of Salon Natasha in Hanoi, which was a goal of the exhibition.
A second opening was announced on the next day.

'Hanoin Henki' (or 'Spirit of Hanoi') was a visual art project conceptualised and proposed by Pauli Mustonen (Cultural Attaché of the Finnish Embassy of Finland, Vietnam), Maritta Nurmi (Finnish artist resided in Hanoi), and Eric Leroux (French artist and frequent collaborator with Salon Natasha), on the occasion of the Asian Art and Culture Festival in Finland. The curatorial team intended to present to the audience an ecology of the Vietnamese art scene, namely the interconnections between art creation, daily life, artist/public interaction and collaboration; as well as the co-existence and exchanges between traditions and modernity in various art forms. Salon Natasha — a multi-functional artist-run space — was hence chosen to be represented and reconstructed as an installation in the Festival.
The project was presented in two exhibitions held in Helsinki and Oulu respectively.