The exhibition, titled Peugeot and the Memories of Hanoi, is being held at the Hanoi Centre for Arts and Culture on Hang Buom Street in the capital’s Old Quarter.
The display features items from the private collection of Vietnamese record holder Dao Xuan Tinh, transforming the exhibition space into what organisers described as a cultural journey through old Hanoi.
According to organisers, the exhibition drew more than 8,000 visitors, an unusually high figure for a private collection display.
The event attracted both local and international visitors, including French tourists, overseas Vietnamese families and foreign journalists.
Many elderly visitors came to revisit memories associated with their youth, while younger visitors had a chance to see classic Peugeot bicycles and sewing machines that were once prized possessions in many Hanoi households.
Dao Xuan Tinh said the objects carried emotional and cultural significance for many Vietnamese families, particularly in Hanoi, where bicycles and sewing machines were once considered valuable assets and symbols of family pride.
“The exhibition is not only about displaying a collection, but also about reviving memories of Hanoi’s lifestyle, aesthetics and cultural depth during a particular historical period,” he said.
The exhibition is designed not as a static display of old objects, but as a narrative about urban memory and cultural exchange.
Set against Hanoi’s Old Quarter, the French-made bicycles and antique sewing machines reflected long-standing cultural ties between Vietnam and France and their influence on urban life.
One of the exhibition’s distinctive features was the restoration of antique sewing machines. Tinh said many machine parts had been collected separately over time before being carefully reassembled.
He also used reclaimed wood from shipwrecks found near Vietnam’s river mouths and coastal areas to create sewing machine tabletops, linking historical materials with restored objects.
Artist Nguyen Manh Duc described the collection as carefully curated and emotionally rich, saying it helped preserve memories of Hanoi’s urban culture.
The exhibition runs from April 4 to May 20 and showcases vintage Peugeot bicycles, sewing machines and other objects associated with everyday life in old Hanoi.
