albb reading room

albb’s major project this year was the re-location and re-organization of albb reading room. The reading room is now housed in a cosy and comfortable alcove in the newly-established OUT2-STUDIO, a hub of design and creativity that runs workshops, talks and a retail shop, supporting the work of young and experimental local designers and artists. Located right in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, the reading room is open for all visitors to use on a drop-in basis.

The albb reading room was first established in 2006 in response to the difficulties that many artists in Vietnam face with lack of access to resources about contemporary art. With no arts library in the city, and contemporary, post-modern and conceptual practices under-represented in university courses, albb reading room is a valuable, tangible and user-friendly resource.

Address: OUT2-STUDIO, Fafilm courtyard, 6 Thai Van Lung, District 1
Opening hours: Tues - Sat, 10AM - 6PM

The bulk of the collection comprises catalogues by contemporary artists in Asia, although it covers all regions of the world. It also contains books, magazines, zines, guides, programs and reports covering contemporary art, photography, design, architecture, performing arts, craft and Vietnamese culture.

One unique feature of albb reading room is its extensive collection of art ephemera–invitations, fliers, posters and other printed material from all around the world—that gives artists, graphic designers and researchers a quick overview of what others have done in the past in addition to providing inspiration for invitation design, printing methods and paper stocks.

All materials in the collection are now catalogued on a database. Visitors interested in finding out more about a particular area – such as a particular medium, the work of a Vietnamese artist, recent biennales or so forth, can talk to staff who can guide them to relevant materials in the collection.

Every month or so, new materials are featured in the collection and all donations are acknowledged.

albb reading room was initially established in 2006 and was first run as a one year-long monthly program. For details on its history, please visit the open archive and reading room section of this web blog.

albb reading room was established through the generous donations of materials from many people and organizations in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and around the world. We would like this valuable resource to keep growing. If you would like to make a donation to the reading room, please contact us on albbsaigonatgmaildotcom