My Art Shows Here 2007
On the summer solstice of 2007, Van Nguyen and I decided to take a trip across Vietnam to travel and exhibit art simultaneously. After a year of working as a HanoiLink group in an unofficial contemporary art scene, we always have to rely on the help of foreign embassies in Hanoi for funding and space. In addition, censorship by the Vietnamese communist government meant that almost no contemporary exhibitions were licensed then. We want to eliminate censorship and bring art out to the community. Therefore, Van and I designed a 90x90x90cm white block that is quick to assemble and has holes to see through to function as windows. All five pieces fit in a military canvas bag. We ordered a custom-made one from a store on Ha Trung Street, Hanoi. That red summer, we went to the following places:
Hue - Hoi An - Nha Trang - Da Lat - Sai Gon.
Late in 2007, Bui Hoang Duong took the canvas bag with him for his tour in South China.
Cho Lon - Sai Gon, Vietnam
Art for Freedom 2017
5 years ago, I had set up the social network page called "Art for Freedom" to share my interest in Protest Art, but only 1 year recently, I started to post actively.
All articles and translations on this site, in part, are dedicated to my close friend Pham Doan Trang, the international awarded journalist and the author of the book "Virtuous But Real Society", "Non-Violent Resistance", "Red Propaganda" ", a brave and knowledgeable woman being held in detention centre No. 1 (Hoa Lo) in Hanoi.
2019-2020-2021; The world witnessed the movement for democracy, freedom and human rights boiling in Hong Kong, Myanmar and Thailand; in Vietnam, it was suppressed to zero. While fellow artists in three countries show their bravery and active companionship with their people, artists in Vietnam seem to be silent.
As an artist myself, banned from exhibiting in Vietnam since 2008 to the point that I had to leave the country to immigrate to Australia and become an Australian citizen, my pain for Vietnam remains fresh cut.
# Art for Freedom is dedicated to my beloved colleagues in the movement to fight for democracy, human rights and freedom in Vietnam and the world.
Not Being Brainwashed 2017
It is a private chat group of Vietnamese artists who exchange daily thoughts about current political issues and contemporary art.
This project will last until all members turn 70 and will publish the above discussions in a book.
Image of the painting "The Awakened One", oil on canvas, 100x100cm by Hoa Nguyen, 2009.
Champa's Viet music appropriation 2020-2025
In 2020, while searching the soundtrack for the movie "Mother", I fell in love with a Cham folk song sung by a Cham singer. After a lot of searching, I found the singer and his manager. They are two friends working as workers in an industrial park near Ho Chi Minh City. This was the beginning of the project when we discovered that the folk song was actually a Vietnamese song with Champa lyrics and was used by the Champa people as a lullaby during the FULRO period (after 1975, survivors of the South Vietnamese Republic escaped into the jungle and continued to fight against the North Vietnamese Communists, with the support of the Champa people until 1992).
The Kingdom of Champa was wiped out by King Le of the Vietnamese in 1471. 120,000 people were either captured or killed. 50 members of the Cham royal family and some 20–30,000 were taken prisoners and deported, including the king of Champa Tra Toan, who died along his way to the north in captivity.
Today, the Cham are seen as one minority group within the unnoticeable multi-ethnic Vietnam, and their legacy is just only incorporated into the Vietnamese national heritage.
As a descendant of Viet people, I overcame the guilt of my ancestors to publicly apologize to the Cham people in 2007 despite the objections of my fellow artists, including my close friend.
In this project, I participate as a financial and legal sponsor for the artists to deal with copyright issues with Vietnamese authors, and as an art consultant. Up to now, we have made seven songs of Vietnamese bolero music with Cham lyrics. These 2 Champa artists are also the admins of the Vietnam Cham Music Community forum with more than 1000 members.
Link to listen to 1 song:
https://www.facebook.com/100009271911202/videos/290707706358930/
