Street Art – Page 9 – TOKIDOKI (NOMAD)

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: VÌ MỘT MÔI TRƯỜNG XANH

Published on June 12, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

Vietnamese community propaganda, or tranh cổ động.

*While the word “propaganda” often carries a heavy political weight in the West, in Vietnam, it is frequently used by local wards (phường) for social mobilization and civic education.

“VÌ MỘT MÔI TRƯỜNG XANH”
(For a Green Environment)

😆 The wonderful irony: a mural pleading for a green environment serves as a shelf for a plastic takeaway cup of trà tắc (kumquat tea).

9april26
Saigon, Vietnam 🇻🇳

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: BLUE DRAGON 🐉

Published on June 11, 2026 by jacquelinemhadel2 Comments

4april2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: CONICAL HAT & LANTERNS

Published on June 10, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

3april2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: WAVERIDERS

Published on June 9, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

April 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: SCENES

Published on June 8, 2026April 3, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

April 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: BEFORE I GOT HERE…

Published on June 7, 2026 by jacquelinemhadel2 Comments

Before I got here, the Cafe Apartment building at 42 Nguyen Hue was at the top of my list. A 1960s apartment block with 50 cafes stacked nine stories high. I’d seen the photos a hundred times. I finally went. Stood outside. Took this photo.
And realized everything I wanted was down there.
The best coffee in this city costs 15,000 dong on a plastic stool from a woman who doesn’t have an Instagram account. The best food is served on a plate you didn’t choose from a menu you can’t read. The best views are at eye level, not from a balcony. Saigon doesn’t get better the higher you go. It gets better the closer you sit to the ground.

Kids skating Dong Khoi today. The same street where French officers took evening walks, where war correspondents filed stories from the Continental, where tanks rolled in on April 30, 1975. Now it’s a skate spot. Vietnam’s youth keep finding ways to claim public space that nobody offered them. Fifty years from revolution to kickflip. Uncle Ho didn’t plan for this but I think the street is better for it.

April 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: MORE PROPAGANDA

Published on June 6, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

“Nhân dân Phường Phạm Ngũ Lão bảo vệ môi trường” (People of Pham Ngu Lao Ward protect the environment).

“Đảm bảo trật tự an toàn giao thông là trách nhiệm của mỗi người” (Ensuring traffic order and safety is everyone’s responsibility).

“Ma túy hủy hoại cuộc sống – Hãy tránh xa” (Drugs ruin lives – Stay away).

“Nói không với thuốc lá và thuốc lá điện tử” (Say no to cigarettes and e-cigarettes).

“Chấp hành luật về trật tự an toàn giao thông…” (Comply with the law on traffic order and safety…).

“Ma túy – Hiểm họa của cộng đồng. Không sử dụng ma túy dù chỉ một lần” (Drugs – A danger to the community. Do not use drugs even once).

2april26

SAIGON, VIETNAM STREET ART: TEXTBOOK SOCIAL REALISM

Published on June 3, 2026March 31, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

The main slogan:

“Đảng gắn bó mật thiết với nhân dân, dựa vào nhân dân để xây dựng Đảng!”

“The Party is closely bound to the people, relying on the people to build the Party!”

The small text at the top reads: celebrating the 96th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (3/2/1930 – 3/2/2026). So this is a fresh one, printed this year for the February 3rd anniversary.

The cast of characters is textbook socialist realism: soldier, construction worker, businesswoman, farmer/worker woman, and a Young Pioneer child with the red scarf. The modern skyline behind them includes what looks like Landmark 81 and the Thu Thiem Bridge. Lotus flowers along the bottom, Vietnam’s national flower. The hammer and sickle on a red banner flying over all of it.

The message is the party’s core pitch: we exist because of you, we serve you, we need you. The reality is a one-party state where nobody voted for any of the people who approved this poster. But the lotus flowers are nice.

This mural depicts one of Vietnam’s most iconic architectural landmarks: the Khue Van Cac (Pavilion of the Constellation of Literature), located within the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám) in Hanoi.

Above: A shutter in Central Saigon.

Below: You see these xích lô drivers everywhere in Saigon, but I love how this one looks parked in front of the mural. It’s like a living gallery wall where the traditional meets the modern street scene.