[QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY – GALLERY OF MODERN ART] Việt Nam and the Asia Pacific Triennial

Articles & Posts (EN)

URL: https://apap.qagoma.qld.gov.au/viet-nam-and-the-asia-pacific-triennial/

Abigail Bernal

The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9, 2018): Nguyễn Trinh Thi and Ly Hoàng Ly

The ninth Triennial (APT9) offered an opportunity to work with two Vietnamese artists who introduced a feminist perspective to the exhibition. Independent filmmaker and moving-image artist Nguyễn Trinh Thi’s subtle and brilliant installations juxtaposed non-fiction with popular movies, found photographs and her own recorded footage. Acknowledging the artist’s position of power behind the lens, Nguyễn’s practice addresses overlooked or misinterpreted histories. She focuses on the individuals from the Đạo Mẫu and Cham communities, as well as those oppressed by structures of power and patriarchy, including women, minorities and the colonised. In APT9, she premiered Fifth Cinema 2018, an important theorisation of an indigenous cinema combining her own moving images with found footage. Nguyễn explained the impetus for her works as empowerment:

I just want to give agency to the suppressed voices. So I think the most important gesture in this work is that of giving a woman a chance to speak.27

Ly Hoàng Ly presented a group of works in various media that addressed experiences of motherhood, domestic life, immigration and displacement. An artist ‘book’, boat home boat 2016 — part of her series of works titled 0395A.ĐC 2011–ongoing — took on the sculptural form of a concertinaed book, and was shown alongside Ashes 2013, a poetic collection of sculptures and paintings reflecting on essence, which used cow bones from Phð soup as a point of departure.

Ly Hoang Ly installation process GOMA L3 THE 9TH ASIA PACIFIC TRIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART (APT9) 24 NOV 2018 – 28 APR 2019 QAGOMA | FREE The hugely ambitious APT series returns to QAGOMA this summer, bringing significant art from across the Asia Pacific to Brisbane. Overflowing with colour and life, this free contemporary art exhibition presents a unique mix of creativity and cross-cultural insight. Featuring more than 80 artists and groups from over 30 countries, APT9 challenges conventional definitions of contemporary art by asking us to consider its relationship to shifting social structures across the region. Explore a number of never-before-seen installations, paintings, sculptures, photographs and video from emerging and senior artists, together with leading works from Indigenous communities and artists. Alongside the exhibition will be a thought-provoking cinema program, academic symposium, creative hands-on experiences for kids, tours, programs and special events for all ages, kicking off with opening weekend festivities 24–25 November. We look forward to welcoming you to APT9.

Ly Hoàng Ly, Việt Nam b.1975 / Ashes (installation view, with the artist, APT9, Gallery of Modern Art, 2018) 2013 / Cow bone, iron, ceramic, wood, canvas / 21 parts: 9 x 28 x 28 (each) / Courtesy: The artist / Photograph: C Callistemon, QAGOMA