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VIETNAM, SAIGON,
PRESIDENT
HOTEL: A CITY WITHIN THE CITY An imposing structure built for the US army in the 70’s, the Hotel President was for years the biggest and most modern building in Saigon. Up to 2500 people lived in it at its peak. This witness to the last half century of Vietnamese history, this decaying architectural carcass, will soon be destroyed to make room for new projects, thus turning and erasing a page of History. Time runs layer after layer in this building. « These dilapidated walls hold signs of past lives, visually inspiring memories, moods, and emotions. The fragments of the last inhabitants’ lives seem frozen in time and yet, in the hallways, shadows play games, re-animating the past. » (Sabrina Rouillé, journalist) « Through the history of this building and the stories of its inhabitants I wanted to reveal fifty years of Viet Nam History » (Laurent Weyl, photographer) Representative photographs from the book « President Hotel » will be exhibited on the opening night in the presence of the photographer Laurent Weyl and the writer Sabrina Rouillé. For this body of work Laurent Weyl received two prestigious prizes in 2014 : – The Prix documentaire VIPA (Vienna International Photo Award), professional category – Noticed portfolio for the Scam Roger Pic Prize (France) The book and the exhibition are carried out with the support of Institut Français du Vietnam under the high patronage of the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City.
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