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This article discusses the Vietnam War. Update: The venue has since issued an apology via its Instagram profile.
A new bar in Richmond has stirred controversy due to its Vietnam War theme.
Rickshaw Bar is helmed by owner David Anderson and creative director Stuart Neil (Black Swan Hospitality), and its Instagram account spruiked images of fallen helicopters, branded dog tags, and food and drinks on fire. The venue s Instagram profile (now deleted after a storm of angry comments) read: “comfortably numb”.
Photograph: Supplied
The original press release for the venue stated that the site was a “dark and grungy space reminiscent of 70s Saigon… exposed concrete floors, charred wood panelling and army green booths suggest what a post-apocalyptic future may have looked like in the 70s; with burnt orange and brushed gold details mirroring the fire that flashes from the kitchen and the bar. The suggestive glow of red-neon light leads to the dark depths of the
Richmond’s Newly Opened Rickshaw Bar Says It Will “Revisit” Vietnam War-Themed Fit-Out After Backlash
“AGENT ORANGE IS NOT A FUCKING AESTHETIC,” one Vietnamese-Australian restaurateur wrote on Instagram. “My family didn’t go through all that trauma (and still is) for your own personal gain. It’s tacky and insensitive af. Do better.”
Photography: Courtesy of Rickshaw
by Nick Connellan
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Rickshaw, a newly opened bar in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, says it will reconsider its Vietnam War-themed concept after receiving significant backlash online.
Commenters accused the bar of capitalising on wartime atrocities and being insensitive to the people who survived the war – many of whom live in Richmond, the state’s de facto home of Vietnamese immigrants since 1976, when the first refugees from that country began arriving in Australia.