Born in Hà Nội: the capital's 70th jubilee

by George Burchett

My name is George Burchett. I am an artist and an Australian citizen living in Hà Nội.

When people in Việt Nam ask me where I’m from, I answer “From Hà Nội.”

Then I’m usually asked: “But where are you really from?”

To which I proudly say: “From Hà Nội, I was born in Hà Nội, one year after the victory at Điện Biên Phủ and two days before Uncle Hồ’s birthday.”

I’ll let the readers of Việt Nam News find out…

The reason I was born in Hà Nội is because my father, Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett, crossed Long Biên Bridge on 10 October 1954 with advanced detachments of the Việt Nam People’s Army. He witnessed the French tricolour go down and Việt Nam’s red flag with the golden star go up, warmly welcoming the VPA troops with enthusiastic crowds.

He describes this historic event in his book North of the 17th Parallel, published in Hà Nội in 1955.

"In mid‑May 1955 I was in Haiphong to observe the French Tricolour being lowered for the last time and the last French military and administrative officials embarking on a warship, which was to take them to Saigon. Vessa celebrated the occasion by giving birth to George in a Hanoi hospital."

My father went on to report on Việt Nam’s first years of independence and relative peace, as well as the long and cruel war that followed.

The dominant narrative I grew up with was that of the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people for independence, liberty and unity, which my father famously reported from the 'Hồ Chí Minh side.'

I first returned to Hà Nội in December 2006 to show an Australian documentary about Wilfred Burchett at Hanoi Cinémathèque. The documentary is 'Public Enemy Number One' by Australian documentary film maker David Bradbury.

For the first time in many years, I felt I was home. Even though my family left Việt Nam when I was two years old, everything looked familiar. I was suddenly seeing my father’s black and white photos of wartime Hanoi come alive in colour.

And 'Public Enemy Number One' became Việt Nam’s Number One Friend.

In March 2011, I came to Hà Nội to organise an exhibition of my father’s Việt Nam photographs at the Hồ Chí Minh Museum for his centenary.

I’ve been living in Hà Nội ever since.

So why Hà Nội?

We don’t get to choose where we are born. But, if we are lucky, we get to choose where we live. I am very lucky to have been able to choose to live in the city I love most in the world. And I have lived in some of the world’s most beautiful cities, including Sydney, Paris, Moscow, Phnom Penh and Sofia.

Hà Nội is the city of my heart; I love the people, the city itself, with its bustling streets and French elegance. I love its artistic spirit, its poetry. I love riding my motorbike in Hà Nội and being part of this living, moving, human entity called Hà Nội traffic.

Of course, I love the food, I enjoy bia hơi 'democracy' – in moderation of course.

Hà Nội is a uniquely convivial city, rich in history, traditions, art and so much more.

But most importantly, Hà Nội has a big heart that beats to the rhythm of daily life, but also to the rich and heroic history that every Hanoian is rightly proud of.

And I am proud and grateful to be connected to that history, to that life, to be able to contribute to public art projects, exhibitions, workshops and other artistic and cultural activities.

Thank you, Hà Nội, for being so kind and welcoming to me and my family!