Skylines With Flying People 3 (hereafter SKYLINES 3) is an interdisciplinary art project set out to portray the landscape of contemporary Việt Nam through the lens of local artists who were born and have grown up in the period of Đổi Mới (the economic reform policy leading to Việt Nam’s ‘socialist-led market economy’).

Following the success of SKYLINES 1 (2010, London) and SKYLINES 2 (2012, Hà Nội), SKYLINES 3 was initiated in 2014 and takes as its starting point notions of ‘journeying’ and ‘border’. 14 artists, 6 curators, numerous scholars and various museums, institutes and education organisations are being brought together to collaborate. 11 sub-projects dealing with Việt Nam’s complicated history, fragmented culture and issues such as migration, exploitation of humans and nature, urbanisation and gender, have been realised across the country. Between October 2016 and January 2017, 6 solo, duo and group exhibitions will take place consecutively.

EXHIBITION

DAY BY DAY – Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai

“Day by Day” explores issues of identitylessness and rootlessness experienced by people who are Vietnamese by birth or ancestry, but presently live or have lived on Cambodian territory. During several research trips to the border areas between Việt Nam and Cambodia throughout 2014, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai listened and recorded people sharing their intimate memories and speaking of their lives – lives that are ephemeral and uncertain. Their stories are personal yet intersect with universal questions of citizenship and migration.

Day by Day is the result of Thanh Mai’s two-month Pisaot residency with Sa Sa Art Projects in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in early 2014. The project is supported by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Danish Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) and SA SA BASSAC Gallery.

FILM No.2 – Tạ Minh Đức

“Film No. 2” is the latest volume in Tạ Minh Đức’s series of five experimental films. While the first one depicts the lives of all members of a typical Hanoian family, this second delves into the mind of the son, who is its main protagonist. The film is set in a narrow and cramped house shared by generations of the same family. In this mise-en-scène, hidden corners hold haunting memories and suppressed emotions and even the most mundane occurrence and subtle details reflect the wider context of urban North Việt Nam, where a society with conflicts is caught in a constant flux of modernisation and capitalization.

Artists’ Profile

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai

Born in 1983 in Hà Nội, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai graduated from Huế College of Arts in 2006 and completed her M.A in Visual Arts at the Mahasarakham University, Thailand in 2012. Thanh Mai works with a variety of media, including photography and video. Her earlier works concentrated on issues relating to women’s experiences and rights in Asian social contexts. Recently, her practice has turned to questions of identity, both personal and collective, including issues of migrants’ experiences and rights. She explores the complex relationships between individuals and society, and the role of fantasy and imagination in people’s conception of their existence.

In 2014 Thanh Mai was awarded the Pollock-Krasner grant. Notable exhibitions of her work include Another World (Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Germany, 2016), Scars (Gallery PM, Croatia, 2016) and Day By Day (Sao La Art Space, Hồ Chí Minh City, Việt Nam and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2015).

Tạ Minh Đức

Born in 1991 in Hà Nội, Tạ Minh Đức graduated from the Hà Nội Academy of Theatre and Cinema in 2014. His work questions notions of existence, human relationships, isolation of the individual, latent violence and domination.

Minh Đức’s recent projects have been featured in notable projects including Choose to move (Sàn Art, HCMC, 2015), Mini DOCFEST (Hà Nội DOCLAB, Goethe Institut, Hà Nội, 2014), Pettie and Smooth (Nhà Sàn Studio, Hà Nội, 2014), Autopsy of the Day (Goethe Institut, Hà Nội, 2013). One of his films was screened at Escape Mobile Gallery, initiated by artist Nguyễn Trần Nam for Skylines with Flying People 2 (Japan Foundation, Hà Nội, 2012).

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KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE – a series of public seminars aiming to broaden the parameters of artistic practices by extending them to and having exchanges with the social and human sciences, is taking place between March and December 2016. Joining in this series are SKYLINE 3’s participating artists as well as scholars in the fields of history, literature, anthropology, archaeology and sociology from Vietnam, Hong Kong, Denmark, Germany and the US.

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE SEMINAR SERIES

SKYLINES 3 is inaugurated by Nhà Sàn Collective, a non-profit artist-run art space based in Hà Nội promoting contemporary and experimental creative practices.