Saigon 1990’s through the model

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The space of Ben Thanh market, Notre Dame Cathedral, sidewalk shops, houses … in the 1990s are recreated through small models with only hands.

After three years of crafting, Nguyen Trieu Kha (Binh Thanh district) owns nearly 50 models of old Saigon, most of the 1990s. Images of Ben Thanh market, Notre Dame Cathedral, restaurants, street corners, houses The door … was vividly recreated by Kha.

“I was born in Saigon and lived abroad for a while, so I always have nostalgia for my homeland. When I come back home, I work on making a model as a way to save memories for myself and everyone. I choose the decade.” year 90 because this is the time I live, with the most memories, “said the 28-year-old man.

In the house on Binh Loi Street, every day Kha and his friends make old Saigon models, both according to customers’ orders and according to the group’s own preferences.

To create a complete model, the team spent an average of a month brainstorming, photographing, graphing, finding materials, shaping and assembling small parts together. Materials are mainly wood, rattan, bamboo, paper, plastic … According to Kha, finding the right material for every detail is one of the most difficult stages.

On the shelves displaying a series of Saigon models of the 1990s such as traditional medicine stores, houses on the canal, store renting records, noodle shops, street vendors … The owner said, these products are not for sale, but for storage. display. If the client wants, he will remake the same model.

“In order to create the most realistic models, the group, in addition to looking for pictures, had to ask more uncle who lived at that time. Just not making a small detail, not yet a finished product,” Kha said.

The first model to be implemented in 2018 is a rice shop with a simple scene of thatched houses and corkscrews. Most models, from the sketch to the final product, are often not completely identical due to the ever-changing ideas.

Ben Thanh Market is the most successful model, done in over a month. Market space in the 90s was vividly recreated with bustling street vendors, sugarcane water trucks, beverage counters, cyclo …

The architectural motifs on the hundred-year-old market such as reliefs, clocks, tile roofs … are elaborately crafted. “This model has customers buying for 35 million VND but I do not sell but build another Ben Thanh market, likewise for them”, Kha said.

The busy life and business scene on a corner of Saigon street 30 years ago was inspired by the old market on Ham Nghi street (District 1).

The model of Ba Thien Hau pagoda on Nguyen Trai Street (District 5) is sold for 19 million VND. The guest who ordered this model was a couple who wanted to recollect their memories where they first met more than 30 years ago.

“I have to travel many times, take all the angles and ask the people here to have a true old scene and depict the sophisticated architecture of the temple. The hardest thing is to make statues on the roof. pagoda, “Kha said.

An evening corner of Notre Dame Cathedral was made at the request of a guest, a person who wanted to recollect old memories when the group of friends often met and talked here.

In the 1990s, temporary houses made of iron and wood were often found around the canals and channels in Saigon. These poor working-class houses, built in long rows, are quite shabby, called the “slums” along the canal. Next to that is the typical traditional medicine store model in the Chinese street.

Close-up of a tape rental shop is faithfully reproduced. The tapes and posters of movies such as Tay Du Ky, Dat Ky Tru Vuong, Sword Swords … like recalling memories of movies of the 80s – 90s.

Sugar cane juice truck in the old days was made of wood, pressed juice instead of machine as now.

Affordable restaurant on the sidewalk in Saigon is a topic that the group regularly performs and has many customers ordering. Each model depends on the size, detail … priced from 500,000 VND or more.

“Customers mainly buy as souvenirs when traveling to Saigon or order them to make their own memories. In the near future the group will make more models of the old West and Hanoi”, Kha said. Follow Vnexpress

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