In 2003, the Goethe-Institut prepared for a new home in Hanoi: at 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc. It was an ensemble of three French villas from 1935 which had been used as a Russian school in the 1990s. The renovation (of initially two buildings) and the conversion to the German language and culture center Goethe-Institut took place. Financing was advanced from private donors. The architect and German alumnus responsible for the planning and construction supervision was Trung Ly Dung. (In 2017, the third villa at 60 Nguyen Thai Hoc was also rented, protected from decay and fully renovated.)
When the renovation work was almost completed, the director of the institute at the time, Franz Xaver Augustin, invited artists to take over the building with art. The exhibition sent a clear signal of the Goethe-Institut's commitment to artistic freedom and artistic exchange.
Veronika Radulovic recalls one work in particular:
“Minh Phuc's contribution focused on the migrant workers who were everywhere at the time. They mostly came from the countryside and lived on the construction sites in really disastrous conditions. Phuc filmed them. A number of video documentaries were produced. His attitude towards them changed due to the ever closer contact with the migrant workers. Before, they were "just" objects for an interesting video work in Goethe-Institut, over time they became "human beings", friends with needs, feelings, fears, illnesses and worries. In the course of this work, he decided to let the migrant workers themselves act in the Goethe-Institut. His video showroom was theirs. The workers lived there and wrote their needs and dreams and whatever was on their minds on the walls in the showroom. He gave them a forum. In doing so, Minh Phuc clearly exceeded all the rules of art that were common at the time. That would not have been possible anywhere else in Vietnam.” (Veronika Radulovic)
