Saigon Opera House: An Alien, Post-Colonial Building

By Nguyen Do Nguyen | May 29, 2022

Questions from a Vietnamese students learning about Ho Chi Minh City (Sai Gon)

I came to Saigon for higher education when I was 18. I knew nothing about this city. I wondered why people are so obsessed with Saigon?! In literature, in arts, on social media, etc., people seemed to have strong feelings for this city. It wasn't until I took Augustus in Saigon that I joined those people in having affection for Saigon. One of the buildings that I find myself constantly amazed by everytime I walk past, is the Saigon Opera House, located on Công Trường Lam Sơn, district 1, Vietnam (Fig. 1)

After conducting my research, I want to leave you with this question: What makes a building post-colonial? Is it the mere fact that it was built during the colonial period, or is it the colonial legacy that the building left behind?

Constructed in the late 1890s - early 1900s, Saigon Opera House was, and still is, one of the most well-known colonial architectures in Vietnam. This page will explore Saigon Opera House’s complex architecture with its post-colonial implications in modern Vietnam. Saigon Opera House, in essence, is a "renewed barrier" preventing the local people from trespassing, which secures the remnants of colonialism in the modern Vietnam. 

1. Saigon Opera House: Witness of A Changing Vietnam

Ever since its opening, Saigon Opera House has witnessed major historical moments and developments. Officially opened in 1900, Saigon Opera House coincided with the opening time of the Petit Palais in Paris. Under French colonial period in Vietnam, its initial purposes was to entertain the French people living in the colony, including French soldiers. Around 1920s, with the emergence of nightclubs in Saigon, the Opera House lost its appeal and started giving place for more Vietnamese shows (such as Cai Luong) (Vuong 1968, 207). After the establishment of Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam, 1956 - 1975), Saigon Opera House’s function was changed into a National Assembly (Lower House). After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the Opera House returned to its original function as a theater (Corfield 2013, 225-6). Since then, Saigon Opera House has undergone several reconstruction projects and has been hosting concerts and contemporary art shows, targeting mostly foreign audiences.

Saigon Opera House’s architecture also underwent several changes throughout history. In 1943, some of the reliefs and statues on the façade of the building have been removed due to complaints about the costs of the building (see Fig. 2 for original architecture). Under the South Vietnam period, the entire façade of the original Opera House was gone, as can be seen in Fig. 3. During the period of 1945 - 1975, Saigon Opera House was a frequent site of bombings. Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show the astrocities of the civil war, between the Viet Minh and Republic of Vietnam. In the 1990s, to commemorate the 300^th anniversary of the establishment of Saigon, the government launched a costly restoration project, restoring the original façade of the building (Corfield 2013, 225). In the late 2000s, many other restoration projects continued to take place, giving the Opera House the modern look of today (Fig. 1) (Đoan 2007). (See "Of Political and Cultural Importance: Saigon Opera House Then and Now" for more details on the building's architecture)

2. Post-Colonial Opera House: Appropriation and Alienation

In 1954, after the Geneva Treaty had been signed, French soldiers from North Vietnam had to evacuate and the Opera House became their temporary residence (Corfield 2013, 225). This detail is very interesting. Why the Opera House, though? Given that the French influences in the South was still very strong, wasn’t there any other places where the French soldiers could reside? What power did the Opera House hold that it could seemingly provide a sense of protection for these soldiers? One should keep in mind that ultimately, Saigon Opera House was still a French building, made by French colonists, in their colony which was Indochina, with the South, Cochinchina as its core. Thus, it was somehow natural for a French soldier to feel connected to the building on a foreign land. On the other hand, for Vietnamese people at that time, the Opera House represented a culture foreign to them: Western theater arts and Roman architectural style (for example, see Beaux-Arts architecture) were not familiar to native peasants. This strict division between the French colonists and Vietnamese colonized peasants built a barrier which guarded the former and guarded off the latter. This barrier was, and arguably, a colonial legacy that persists until present time.

One can safely assume that the Republic of Vietnam tried to de-colonize Saigon Opera House, or de-colonize this “barrier”. By appropriating the Opera House into the National Assembly, the government of South Vietnam was trying to reclaim agency over the building, thus at the same time erasing its colonial past. As can be seen through archive pictures (Fig. 3), the façade which was packed with classical, Roman symbols and iconographies was gone. Instead, a very plain façade with “LOWER HOUSE” in Vietnamese was visible (not even the Ionic columns remained). It is unclear whether this change happened because the government ordered it, or because the façade itself was destroyed during the bombings and war aftermath. However, one thing is certain: people at that time would mainly remember about, and the Opera House would present itself as, a National Assembly building and not a theater with classical-style architecture. Thus, the barrier between the French and the Vietnamese was replaced by a more complex dynamics between Vietnamese government and Vietnamese people. Essentially, Saigon Opera House was then de-colonized by the South Vietnamese government and for the first time since the region’s past of French colonization, Vietnamese people held power and control over how they wanted to represent the building and its relation to themselves.

But could this power of representation last for long? After the Socialist Republic of Vietnam had launched expensive restoration projects, they essentially re-established the colonial birthmarks of Saigon Opera House. The Opera House restoration projects took place through many years, in many parts, and with costly budget (at some point the project had to rely on foreign, notably French, fundings) (Đoan 2007). Most of the pre-1943 façade has restored during the period of 1997 - 2008, with negligible modifications. For example, the twin Victoria/Nike goddess statues centered on the building have slightly different wings and postures; the same applies to the Apollo’s lyre relief which the goddesses carry. The restored reliefs and sculptures do not just celebrate the original design of Saigon Opera House: they also have erased the memory of the South Vietnamese’s National Assembly and solely remind visitors of the building’s past as a colonial building. In other words, in de-politicizing the Opera House by reversing its function back to being a theater, the Socialist Democratic of Vietnam also re-colonize the building by giving it evocations of French colonialism through the restored architecture.

The question now being is, to what extent Saigon Opera House has been re-colonized? Besides the façade, which bears a direct relationship to the original building by the French, one more important aspect connects the modern, 2022 Saigon Opera House, to the pre-1943 Opera House: the reception of local people. As discussed in more detail in “Inside Saigon Opera House”, most of the shows in the modern Opera House target foreign audience rather than local audience.  This is apparent in the comments on Lune Production’s website (Lune Production n.d.). Although the website appears in both Vietnamese and English, under the review and comment section, mostly English comments are shown. Additionally, the ticket price for a show at the Opera House isn’t the affordable price for an average Vietnamese either, hence the shows here are usually thought of as for elite and middle-to-high class audience. Overall, the building alienates the very people who are now their actual owner: the local Vietnamese residents. Such alienation essentially re-colonizes Saigon Opera House because the power dynamics between the building and local people are re-established: Vietnamese people still are alienated by Saigon Opera House’s architecture and function.

One could question, even counter, if one looks at the name of the contemporary name of the Opera House: Municipal Theater of Ho Chi Minh. This act of re-naming could be seen as an attempt declare power and ownership over the building (like how Opera de Saigon was once renamed into National Assembly by South Vietnam). The one wielding the power now would be the Socialist Democratic of Vietnam, and not French colonists. Thus, there would be no recolonization here. However, naming is only the façade of the whole process. Saigon Opera House still is not a Vietnamese theater: although its name suggests a local ownership, its architecture is nowhere near local; although its theatrical shows draw on local cultures, its target audiences are global and international "elites". Instead, what remains is the alienation that local residents experience: if from 1900 to 1945, Saigon Opera House only served the minor groups of elite and colonist backgrounds and not the majority of regular, working classes, then in the 21^st century these dynamics are not very different. Average Vietnamese people don’t usually go to Saigon Opera House for entertainment due to cultural differences and due to high ticket prices. Saigon Opera House, to a majority of Vietnamese people, is more of a tourist attraction: people go there for photoshoots, for sight-seeing, or a picknick in front of it more than for its theatrical shows (Hahalolo 2021). Hence, although Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater belongs to the modern Vietnam, it exudes the colonial restrictions of Saigon Opera House. 

Conclusion

In sum, Saigon Opera House is a colonial building not just because it was constructed by French colonists: its coloniality can also be found in the complex power dynamics and human interactions with the building itself. The original building represents a foreign culture to local Vietnamese people: French colonialism have brought classical architecture to a land which have long been influenced by Chinese culture. During the period of South Vietnam, people for the first time reverse this dynamic: with the sculptures and reliefs on the façade being removed and with the Opera House’s function being changed, Vietnamese people claimed ownership over the building. In the modern Vietnam, however, barriers between the people and the Opera House have been re-established. To evaluate the level of intentionality, as well as the effects of such re-establishments, further research is needed. 

References

Corfield, Justin. 2013. "O". Historical Dictionary of Ho Chi Minh City. Anthem Press.

Đoan, Linh. 2007. "Sẽ phục hồi Nhà hát thành phố." Last modified March 3, 2007 (12 April 2022).

Hahalolo. 2021 "Muôn góc sống ảo chất ngất tại Nhà hát lớn TP Hồ Chí Minh." Last modified February 04, 2021 (22 May 2022).

Lune Production. n.d. "Comment Section (TripAdvisor)." Last modified n/a (22 May 2022).

Vuong, Hong Sen. 1968. Hồi ký 50 năm cải lương. HCMC: NXB Trẻ.