Titled Destination II, the exhibition is the second brainchild of Nguyen Tam, a renowned player in Hanoi's artistic industry. The first Destination exhibition was held in 2012 in Hanoi with collaborations between Vietnamese and Malaysian artists.

"I had to consult many foreign friends, to connect with the most active artists in Malaysia and the US, to display their works here," said Tam.

"We hope the next destination for our next joint exhibitions will be in Malaysia, in the US or other countries. That way, I can come up new destinations for domestic and foreign artists to come together, share their views and to reach new audiences."

Themed Inner Freedom, the exhibition includes 38 works of art by three American and Malaysian fine art photographers and seven painters from the US, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The exhibition will see John D'Agostino debut his photographs based on Louis Comfort Tiffany's well know glass work. Tiffany is the US's best known art glass designer.

American photographer Larry D'Attilio will showcase four photographic designs [computer-processed photos], titled Another Way to Go, featuring abstract portrayals of Vietnamese women.

Awang Damit Ahmad, a painter from Malaysia, also said it was his first time coming to Vietnam to display paintings.

Most of the art works in the exhibition reference portraits of people in some degree. Multi-faced portraits by Brant Kingman (US), obsessional eyes by Dang Tu Thu (Vietnam), mask-lie portraits dimmed in context by Yusof Ghani (Malaysia), happy or sad faces by Ngo Van Sac (Vietnam), all aim to resonate strongly with audiences.

The artists will participate in workshops on January 23-24 at the Department of Arts, Hanoi Teachers' Training University, where they will create works such as body paintings and take photographs.