Nguyen Manh Duc cuts a stoic, Ghandi-like figure among the art crowd of Hanoi. He lives in a ‘Nha San’ ethnic Thai stilted house made of wood. This rambling house is stacked full of ever changing pantheons of Buddha statues, ceremonial ornaments and ancient minority paintings collected from the northern provinces of Vietnam. Over the years he spent searching he became an authority on the myriad symbolisms and meanings attached to these fragmented artifacts. Duc’s ‘Nha San’ has become a famous focal point for its impromptu avante garde art events, installations and performances by local and international artists and musicians. Duc is always a central figure in the background, which suits his unassuming character. He is the great facilitator who looks at modernity through a forest of traditional symbolism and imagery. In this exhibition Duc’s knowledge and advice has been hugely valuable. He provided the statues and altar frames for the installation of ‘The Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell’. He has also pr oduced a life-size statue of the multi-dimensional shamanist figure associated with Len Dong festivals. The shaman leads the ceremony in temporarily invoking dead souls back to life.