Exhibition «Ngàn năm di sản» (A Thousand Years of Heritage)

   More than 120 paintings of Vietnamese heritage hang inside the Thai Hoc courtyard of the Temple of Literature — so you look at pictures of the monument while standing in it. The show runs from late summer into early autumn, so it folds easily into any morning in Hanoi.

   The exhibition brings together 120-plus works by 50 artists, from a third-grader to painters in their sixties. Works are grouped by material across the space: lacquer (sơn mài), silk, dó paper, woodcut, watercolour, gouache and Aqyla. It is organised by the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam Centre for Scientific and Cultural Activities together with the Tôi Vẽ club, marking 950 years of Quoc Tu Giam (1076–2026) — Vietnam's first national university — and the 81st National Day.

   What to look for:

• — «Vinh quy bái tổ» — a 2.5 × 7 m piece made entirely by hand, built on the old imperial-examination custom of a successful candidate returning home to honour his ancestors
• — A «five elements» textile system designed by the club, which lifts heritage motifs and architecture off the canvas and across the room
• — A section by 15 child artists, reading the Temple of Literature through much younger eyes

   Dinh Quang Huy (Đinh Quang Huy), the painter who founded the Tôi Vẽ club, says each work has its own voice «but they all meet in a love of heritage». Le Xuan Kieu (Lê Xuân Kiêu), who runs the centre, calls the show evidence of «a vitality, an underground current running through Vietnam's tradition of learning». The club works under the motto «art for the community» and the idea that anyone can draw; this is its annual flagship show, following «Nước non ngàn dặm», «Tôi vẽ Hà Nội» and «Những giấc mơ màu».

   A workshop series runs alongside the exhibition: «Dấu Di sản» (woodcut), «Màu Di sản» (watercolour and gouache) and «Lấp lánh Di sản» (lacquer). On 29 August the organisers host an exchange with more than 100 Vietnamese lacquer painters — a rare chance to hear practitioners talk about a demanding traditional medium.

   Because the show sits inside the monument, your ordinary Temple of Literature ticket covers it; students, visitors over 60 with Vietnamese ID and children under 16 pay less or nothing. Come early in the day, before the tour groups fill the courtyards, and you will have the pictures largely to yourself.