Boarc Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

BOARC Gallery is an unusual art-and-craft space in central Ho Chi Minh City built around miniature and sculptural works made from bamboo toothpicks and acrylic components. The gallery’s current address is 6 Thi Sach in the city center, replacing the older Thao Dien address that still appears on some historical pages. BOARC is most interesting for travelers who enjoy model-making, architecture, material craft and contemporary reinterpretations of traditional bamboo work. It is also a practical family stop because the display is visual, the technique is easy to grasp, and the operator promotes hands-on workshops as well as finished pieces.

BOARC expands the name as Bamboo Acrylic Art. According to the operator, architect Hoang Tuan Long developed the form in 2012 by combining precision laser-cut acrylic elements with traditional Vietnamese bamboo-toothpick work. The result is not simply a collection of small souvenir models. The gallery presents architectural forms and decorative works whose interest comes from the accumulation of many tiny bamboo elements, the geometry of the structure and the contrast between natural bamboo and manufactured acrylic supports.

The current operator site says visitors can see models of well-known architecture from Vietnam and other parts of the world. It also presents the gallery as a place where available works and customized commissions can be purchased. This means the visit sits somewhere between exhibition, studio showcase and specialist shop. People interested only in browsing can focus on construction detail and design, while buyers can ask about existing pieces, custom projects, production time and shipping. Larger commissions naturally require more lead time because much of the work is handmade.

Workshops add another layer to the visit. Older operator material describes ornament-making sessions using bamboo toothpicks, and a February 2026 recruitment notice from Saigon University shows BOARC hiring staff specifically to guide customers through workshops and help make bamboo products at the current 6 Thi Sach address. That recent employment notice is useful evidence that the gallery is not merely an old web listing. It also states that the gallery welcomes the public free of charge, although workshop activities and products are separate commercial offerings.

The move from Thao Dien is important for planning. The legacy Travel S Helper record points to a villa on Street 55 in Thao Dien, and an older BOARC gallery page still describes that location. Current contact information, however, places the Vietnam gallery at 6 Thi Sach, and the 2026 recruitment notice independently matches that central address. Visitors should therefore ignore the old Thao Dien pin for this entity and navigate to Thi Sach. This is exactly the kind of business move that can make older travel articles misleading even when the brand itself remains active.

Thi Sach is in the dense central area around Dong Khoi, the Opera House and major District 1 hotels, so BOARC is easy to combine with other downtown sights. Taxi or ride-hailing drop-off is straightforward, and travelers already walking the central grid can add the gallery without a large detour. The central location also changes the character of the visit compared with the old villa setting: it now works well as a short specialist stop between larger attractions rather than a destination that requires a separate trip to Thao Dien.

Current opening hours need more caution than the address. BOARC’s indexed operator information has shown different schedules, including Monday–Saturday 10:00–18:00 in a recent search snapshot and Monday–Saturday 09:00–19:00 in an opened cached contact page. Because those operator-controlled versions conflict, this record does not pretend that one schedule is definitely current. The safest plan is to contact BOARC before visiting, particularly if arriving late in the day or specifically for a workshop. Sunday opening was not reliably confirmed.

For a gallery-only visit, roughly 30 to 60 minutes is a sensible estimate, depending on how closely you inspect the models and whether staff explain the production method. A workshop will take longer and should be scheduled according to the activity offered at the time. Current accessibility information is not published clearly enough to label the gallery step-free or wheelchair accessible, so visitors with specific mobility needs should ask in advance. Likewise, workshop prices and the availability of English guidance can change and are better confirmed directly.

BOARC is not a conventional painting gallery, and that is precisely why it earns attention. Its appeal comes from seeing a very specific craft system applied to architecture and decorative objects, with the possibility of watching or trying part of the process rather than only looking at finished art. The commercial side is visible—works are sold and custom orders are encouraged—but browsing itself is presented as free. For travelers who want a short, distinctive art stop in central Ho Chi Minh City, the current Thi Sach gallery offers a more unusual experience than another room of canvases, provided they verify the day’s opening time before going.