Hammock Cafe

Resting spaces along highways are part of the travel culture in Vietnam, just like they are here. However, you do not sit on a chair, but relax in a hammock. The rocking of the hammock feels like a bumpy road during hours of driving, and creates a state of simultaneously standing still and moving. The hammock is an everyday household item in Vietnam, and even during the Vietnam War, communist soldiers had one in their pockets during their travels through the dense jungle. In the nineteenth century, French missionaries brought the coffee plant with them. Over time, both drinking and growing coffee became a crucial part of Vietnamese culture and the country’s economy. Today the country is the most important Robusta coffee supplier, and the second largest producer of coffee in the world. Contemporary policies in the coffee industry are leading to massive deforestation that threatens the lifestyle and culture of the Jrai community. Progress has not led to a better life, but has pushed people into poverty through wage labour on their own land. 

Vietnamese art collective Art Labor invites you to take a coffee break in their contemplative Hammock Cafe. In the meantime they serve you 100% Robusta coffee. The beans come from a small plantation in the home city of one of the members of the collective in the Central Highlands, where the Jara people have lived their rich culture for centuries. 

Wooden sculptures by Jrai artists Rcham Jeh, Siu Lơn, Puih Hăn, Kpuih Gloh, Rahlan Lơh and Romah Aleo.
Drawn On The Wind, 2018-2019. Bamboo kites by Jrai artists and craftsmen Rcham Jeh, Siu Lơn, Puih Hăn, Kpuih Gloh, Rahlan Lơh and Romah Aleo.
Cross-bred, 2019-2021. Lenticular print
Dripping Soil, 2021. single channel video, colour, sound, 4 minutes 16 seconds. In cooperation with Thy Tran & Trang Doa