“Hi there, My name is Nikolaj and I’m the founder of Traveling Village. We are 20 families traveling together for 4 months and we will come to Hoi An for 5 weeks starting January 15th. I’m looking for a local artist for a project. On January 20th we will have our welcome party at Roving Chillhouse. I would love to hire a young, local artist who could paint some art from our welcome party. I’m imagining rice fields, lots of people, lanterns and “Traveling Village” written over it …”
Nikolaj emailed Bridget March—an artist who owned a gallery in Hoi An—and she kindly put us in touch.
We met at a restaurant near the rice fields — a place that feels half indoors, half outdoors.
That’s where I first saw the Traveling Village: kids running, parents talking, everyone moving in their own rhythm but still connected.
I set stretched a blank canvas on sight as my wife, friend and I had to bring all the materials on our motorbikes.
This was a 4 hour, both long and short afternoon — me channeling the nerves and joy in my painting while the families spent their time getting to know each other more, as the children started making friends while they played. Nothing staged. Just the beginning of a wonderful experiment and a long lasting friendship.
By the end of the afternoon, the composition was set in my mind and the canvas had the first main marks and backgrounds in it.
Traveling Village stayed in Hoi An for four weeks.
During that time, I worked on the painting at home and also spent time with them. My wife and I joined some of their gatherings, and we offered art workshops and a cooking lesson for the kids and families.
It was my first time being close to a community traveling together with such intention — supporting each other, learning as a group, and creating a different rhythm for themselves.Those experiences naturally shaped the painting.It became not just a commission, but a reflection of the atmosphere around them.
At the end of their stay we met again for one last communal lunch. That was the day I brought the finished painting.
I still remember placing it in the room and watching everyone gather around it. Kids pointed at details and adults recognized moments and gestures from their time in Hoi An. Seeing their reactions and their recognition meant everything to me.
We made printed copies for each family, something they could carry with them as they continued their journey.
Here is the finished piece —
the one that began with a blank canvas at a communal lunch, and slowly grew over the next four weeks.
Everything I saw during that month found its way in here:
the way the kids XXXXXX,
the gentle light of late afternoons,
the rhythm of shared meals,
the feeling of being welcomed into something larger than myself.
This painting was my way of holding all of that in one place. A moment, a community, a story unfolding over four weeks in Hoi An — captured in one canvas.
Traveling Village 2024,
Acrylic on Canvas
After Traveling Village left Hoi An, Nikolaj and I stayed in touch.
A little later, he reached out again — this time asking me to design the icons and the logo for their website.
Because I already understood their values, the energy, and the feeling they wanted to communicate, it felt natural to continue the collaboration.
