People, Victory and Life after the War
A two-chapter exhibition from the Nguyen Art Foundation collection
26 March – 17 December 2021
Monday to Friday – 8 am to 5 pm
EMASI School Nam Long & Van Phuc Campuses
The Nguyen Art Foundation is proud to present ‘People, Victory and Life after the War’, an art exhibition showcasing war sketches and contemporary artworks from its collection. The exhibition is the first public showing of the collection and marks the opening of two dedicated Art Spaces, an initiative of the Nguyen Art Foundation in partnership with the EMASI Schools.
The exhibition viewed from the garden
In the opening ceremony on 25th March at EMASI Nam Long, attendees were invited to listen to the opening speeches and given a chance to meet many artists whose artwork are featured in the exhibition. NAF’s founder Quynh Nguyen and husband Tuyen Nguyen both spoke on the importance of archiving Vietnam’s history through art, the journey in establishing the Foundation, and their ultimate goal of creating a museum of contemporary art in Vietnam to further this dialogue and mission.
Mr. Tuyen Nguyen and Mrs. Quynh Nguyen making the opening speeches
Curated by Ms Gridthiya Gaweewong and students from Renaissance International School, EMASI International School, Nam Long and Van Phuc Campus, the exhibition aimed to use the curatorial process and exhibition-making as educational tools to engage students participation and ultimately enhance the art appreciation and visual experience. A secondary objective was to work with the collection as a way to encourage students to learn about Vietnam’s art history in association with its social and political context.
This survey show’s title was inspired by EMASI students and encapsulates the sentiments of younger generations towards Vietnamese socio-political history. Sketches of war, life in the war zone and landscapes are juxtaposed with works by contemporary artists reflecting their distant, abstract and spatial memories of the war and its aftermath and reexamines how people continued with their lives and their attempts to move forwards.
‘People, Victory and Life after the War’ focus on the past, present and imagined future of Vietnamese artistic practices and was constructed in two chapters, hosted simultaneously at EMASI Nam Long and Van Phuc campuses throughout 2021.
Visitors were amazed by the AK47 vs M16 by The Propeller Group
The 1st chapter presents a close examination of Vietnamese socio-political history during and after the American war through historical drawings and contemporary artworks that reflect direct experiences of the effects of the war from the perspectives of both North and South. It features the war sketches of Chu Thảo, a former reporter turned army artist who recorded most his subjects’ identity around the Mekong Delta area in the 1970s, and of Phạm Thanh Tâm, who dealt with the war experience, people and operational scenes in outpost stations and the countryside. The contemporary works by Vietnamese and international artists unravel their reflexive memory of the American war and reexamine its remnants and ideologies. The juxtaposition of living war veteran/artists with young artists epitomize Vietnamese history, entangling past and present to make it more visible. The two-chapter exhibition attempts to establish a dialog among trans-generations of artists, art lovers and students and features 24 artists with more than 100 historical war drawings and contemporary art from the Nguyen Art Foundation Collection.
Mr. Chu Thao, an army artist, standing beside his war sketches
Adrift in darkness by Dinh Q. Le
The second chapter of People, Victory and Life after the War and invites students and the public to examine the politics of memory, specifically how history is perceived and remembered by young people and transgeneration artists. The historical war drawings by Trương Hiếu, Phạm Thanh Tâm and Đỗ Thị Ninh represent the humanistic view towards the military and their operations in the outposts along with rural and urban landscapes. The historical works dialogue with those of contemporary artists by focusing on the reaction and sentiments of younger artists towards the war in a very abstract manner. They reflect their distant memories of the war, its remnants, and the trauma. As witnesses to life post- war and in the open door policy, their works have shifted from the close-up perspectives seen in the first chapter to longer shots and panoramic views that manifest their perceptions, imagination and sub-consciousness in a broader context.
Chapter 2 at EMASI Van Phuc
The exhibition is on view from 26 March to 17 December 2021.
Special thanks to the participant students, art teachers, MoT+++ team and to the Post Vidai Collection.
More photos from the opening ceremony.
Featured Artists
Chapter #1:
Bàng Nhất Linh, Chu Thảo, Đỉnh Q. Lê, Laurent Weyl, Lê Quý Tông, Nguyễn Huy An, Nguyễn Quốc Chánh, Phạm Thanh Tâm, The Propeller Group, Trâm Carin Lương, Trương Công Tùng, Võ An Khánh and Vương Duy Khoái.
Chapter #2:
Bùi Duy Khánh, Cian Duggan, Doãn Hoàng Lâm, Đỗ Thị Ninh, Hà Ninh Phạm , Lê Quốc Thành, Lê Quý Tông, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Nguyễn Văn Cường, Phạm Thanh Tâm, Thảo Nguyên Phan, Trương Hiếu and Tuýp Trần.
Venues
Chapter #1: EMASI Nam Long School
Nam Long Residential Area, 147 Street No.8,
Tan Thuan Dong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Chapter #2: EMASI Van Phuc School
2 Street No.5, Van Phuc Residential City 1, Quarter 5,
Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday
8am to 5pm
(photo ID required for access)
For further information, please contact:
Ms Vy Nguyen
artspace@emasi.edu.vn
+84 0979 88 13 06
About the Nguyen Art Foundation
Established in 2018, the Nguyen Art Foundation was born from a desire to better serve the artistic community of Vietnam. It was founded by Quynh Nguyen, under the advisory of Cam Xanh (pseudonym of Thanh Tran Ha), artist and founder of MoT+++. Since its conception, the foundation has worked to build an alternative infrastructure for the arts in Vietnam, and construct the base for what it hopes will form Vietnam’s first museum of contemporary art. The foundation aims to expand the possibilities for contemporary art in Vietnam by facilitating global exchange that enriches not only individual practices but engages the overall growth of the Vietnamese art scene.
Website: nguyenartfoundation.com
Instagram: @nguyenartfoundation
Facebook: /nguyenartfoundation