Talk «Ca dao xứ sở» (Folk Songs of the Homeland) — Session 2

   A great deal of Vietnamese folk verse was made at work — in the paddy, on the water, at the loom — sung to keep a rhythm going and make a long day shorter. The second evening of a three-part conversation series on ca dao and dân ca goes straight at that layer, under the theme the organisers announced as «Songs of Labor and the Love of Life». You get the verses read aloud and taken apart in a 40 m² reading room in central Ho Chi Minh City, a few minutes' walk from Notre-Dame Cathedral.

   The series is called «Ca dao xứ sở — Nhớ người xưa từng ở nơi này», roughly "folk songs of the homeland: remembering the people who once lived here". It is run by Năm Năm Tháng Tháng with Tempo Nexus and led by Thạc sĩ Kiến Nam. Three sessions, three separate subjects rather than one evening repeated:

• — Session 1: romantic love and marital devotion — 16 August 2026
• — Session 2: songs of labour and the love of life — the evening described here
• — Session 3: moral principles and righteous conduct — 18 October 2026

   It suits readers finding their way into Vietnamese literature, folklore researchers, literature students, and residents who would like to know why a neighbour answers a question about work or money with a rhymed couplet instead of a straight sentence. No preparation is expected.

   The room is half the reason to come. Tempo Nexus is a 40 m² library inside the Lê Ngọc apartment block, built around 1951–1961 and converted by k59 atelier — architects Phan Lam Nhat Nam (Phan Lâm Nhật Nam) and Tran Cam Linh (Trần Cẩm Linh) — with the work finished in 2025. Patterned cement floor tiles that had been boarded over for years were uncovered again and the old wrought-iron grilles kept rather than replaced; the venue describes itself simply as a reading room, a place of memories. It is apartment 306, inside the block itself rather than a shopfront on the street.

   The organisers have published the theme of this second session but not a detailed programme for it. What is certain is that 40 square metres do not hold many chairs, so register ahead through the organisers' form. It is a quieter kind of evening than the city usually puts on, and far less abstract than reading the same verses off a page. Take a seat while there are still seats to take.