Open studio with Tran Minh Duc
Thursday, 7 January 2016, 6:00-8:00 PM
In Khmer and English translation
Sa Sa Art Projects, White Building
Sa Sa Art Projects' Pisaot artist-in-residence Tran Minh Duc will open his studio to share work in progress from his past eight weeks of research. Particularly interested in the entangled and complicated histories of Cambodia and the region, Tran has made a series of new work, exploring these histories and hypotheses for the future.
In a series of collages, Tran presents images of political figures from Cambodian history books, which are increasingly grainy and degraded due to their repeated reproduction as inexpensive photocopies. These are presented in contrast with bright pink curtain lace purchased at Orussey Market. In a Vietnamese proverb, “buông màn nhiếp chính” literally means “release the curtain, hold the power.” Here in Tran’s work, the deteriorated black-and-white images of historical figures are enlarged and presented in front of the curtain, inviting a close scrutiny. A related video work shows a Cambodian student reading and translating with difficulty the descriptions of these historical figures, with clarifications and corrections from an art historian in the background.
While the artist implies a sense of fear for a blurred, fading, perhaps disappearing history, his work also offers more ambiguous attitudes toward possible futures. For another, separate work, Tran has commissioned Cambodian textile weavers to make three separate pieces of four-meter long krama scarf. Their colours are based on the kind of tarpaulin widely used on construction sites in Vietnam and sometimes in Cambodia, while also referencing to the common colours of national flags of Southeast Asian countries. The artist plans to invite participants from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam in join in an ongoing performance work with this krama. In an accompanying series of photographs, this krama is wrapped around different kinds of mysterious objects, as if presenting a gift to be opened. Next to these photos are 20 sets of first-grade Cambodian school uniforms with the Khmer word “anakut” (future) embroidered on them. Tran’s use of newly made materials in these works perhaps points to an opportunity to build a future anew.
Tran Minh Duc’s residency is supported by Foundation for Art Initiatives (FfAI).
About Tran Minh Duc
Tran Minh Duc (b. 1982, Saigon, Vietnam) is drawn to the history of place, how images of the past inspire human action in their appropriated, fragmented and intangible forms such as oral histories, religious calendars, postcards, and found materials/objects. Encompassing performance, photography, collage and installation, Tran’s work specifically examines the character of urban life in Vietnam, studying the interaction between collective and individual, between ideas of what is local and foreign. Tran was artist-in-resident at Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan (2011) and with Creator Beyond Pressures project, Yangon, Myanmar (2012). He is a recipient of Asian Cultural Council Fellowship 2017, to New York City. Tran also works as International Liaison Officer at San Art, an artist-initiated, non-profit contemporary art organisation in Saigon. Tran holds a BA from College of Culture and Arts of Ho Chi Minh City, and currently lives and works in Saigon, Vietnam.
Tran has exhibited widely in Vietnam and internationally. Select solo exhibitions include Happiness Lies Beyond the Clouds at San Art, Saigon (2015) and at ARKUS Exhibition Hall, Sasebo City, Nagasaki (2014). Select recent group exhibitions include howdy cowboy, Dia Projects, Saigon (2015); Spring Watch Pavillion, Void, Ireland (2015); [from.to.], Nhasan Collective, Hanoi (2015); Goodbye to the 40th Anniversary of Vietnam War, Chicago (2015); Global Cities, Center Stage, Baltimore (2014); The Festival of Independents, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London (2013); Beyond Pressure: Festival of Performance Art, Yangon (2012); and Poetic Politic, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco (2012). More about Tran Minh Duc at http://d-u-c.tumblr.com
