Skylines With Flying People is a multiplex project of contemporary art in which art practitioners collectively work for achieving one primal mission: To explore the alternative methods of art-creation and team-working.

Yuichiro Tamura, “NIGHTLESS”

Jamie Maxtone-Graham,“The Desiring Garden”

Curated by Nguyen Phuong Linh, various projects will go on simultaneously, ranging from renovation of space, open-studios, exhibitions, performances to artist talks and documentation of the whole projects.

One of the highlights in this event is the open-studio project. In this open-studio project, which is widely known in the world but rarely practiced in Vietnam, around 10 participating artists will stay and work at each “dream-come-true” studio constructed in the Japan Foundation to present archives of past works as well as “work-in-progress” productions. For those enthusiastic visitors, you can enjoy conversations with each artist to know further about their inspirations for creating arts, as well as to discuss about future creative plans.

The other side of the highlight is the exclusively constructed studios for the participating artists. Tsuneo Noda, a first-grade architect from Japan who successfully renovated old buildings into sustainable collective studios for all kinds of creators in Japan, will smartly renovate existing rooms and cleverly construct structures in the Japan Foundation, to realize the ideal studios which the participating artists discuss about and dream to work at.

We do hope that the uniquely constructed studios will become stimulating platforms to inspire not only the art practitioners involved but also all visitors to communicate with each other and exchange ideas and thoughts on contemporary arts in Vietnam.

For more information and the most updated schedule, please visit us at:
http://swfp.org/s/
www.jpf.org.vn

■ CREDIT:

Contributors/Speakers (Some of the participating artists will be also speakers):

The Curator’s message is available here.

The each artist’s profiles is available here.

 ■ PROJECTS:

Remark:
High heels are not recommended when you visit the Japan Foundation as the whole spaces are covered with wooden pallets during the project period.

1. Renovation of spaces

Duration: Tuesday 20 – Friday 30 November 2012
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

Tsuneo Noda (Architect) will renovate existing spaces and construct structures in several areas of the Japan Foundation in order to create studios for the participating artists. He will basically cover the whole spaces of the Japan Foundation with simple wooden pallets which can symbolize the platform to connect each studio and visitors. Interviews with Mr. Noda, photo takings, TV recordings are welcome during the process of renovation.

2. Open Skylines

Date & Time: 18:00 – Tuesday 4 December 2012
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

“Open Skylines” is the official opening to introduce the whole project to the public and media reporters. This event includes (but is not limited to): opening remarks, introduction of each open studio and a studio tour. The works which will be presented in studios are;
– “Laying Down” (2012), a photo series by Jamie Maxtone-Graham
– “The World Is Continuous or Not” (2011), a video work by Yuichiro Tamura
– “Lake” (2012), a video work by Nguyen Tran Nam
– A video screening of past performances by Appendix
– Five art dolls created in 2010 – 2012 by Tran Thu Hang
– Dresses designed by Lai Dieu Ha
And more

3. Open Studio

Duration: Wednesday 5 – Friday 21 December 2012
Open hours: 10:00 – 22:00 (no closed days)
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

The participating artists will stay and work at each studio to present the archives of past works, to show “work-in-progress” productions, as well as to communicate with visitors. You can visit anytime at any of the studios during their opening hours.

The line ups of the studios are as follows:

Information Center
This room includes: an office for curators, a public space for all the visitors, for coffee, tea and snacks, schedule boards of the whole projects, displays by Lai Dieu Ha, Nguyen Quoc Thanh, art doll decorations by Tran Thu Hang and creative products from Tohoku region in Japan through Tohoku-Kyushu Project (*).

*Tohoku-Kyushu Project is a 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake reconstruction support project which aims to create jobs for artists and designers in Tohoku region (northeast of Japan) who lost most opportunities and channels to sell their creative products after the Earthquake. The project members in Kyushu region (southwest of Japan) have invited creators from Tohoku to several cities in Kyushu in order to promote and sell their products as well as to hold a series of talks by cultural experts from Tohoku region. Some of such products from Tohoku will be exhibited and sold at this Information Center for Skylines With Flying People project.

MAC (Mami Art Center) Hanoi
This room is run by Tuan Mami and Hiroyuki Hattori. It aims to be an experimental and alternative space for contemporary art by conducting the following activities: artist talks, dialogues, presentations and recordings/archives.

Media Lab
This studio is shared by 3 artists in media art, Nguyen Trinh Thi, Jamie Maxtone-Graham and Yuichiro Tamura. They will shoot the videos & photos with visitors and show the process of editing their videos & photos. The following video and photo works will be also screened regularly:
“Unsubtitled” (2010), a video work by Nguyen Trinh Thi
“Laying Down” (2012), a photo series by Jamie Maxtone-Graham
“The World Is Continuous or Not” (2012), a video work by Yuichiro Tamura

Mini Theatre
This small theatre is run by the artist collective, Appendix. Appendix designed a simple theater by using Vietnamese traditional mattress as a measuring unit. They will carefully construct meditative, near theatrical scenes. They will screen the video of their past performances.

Family Kitchen
This studio with cooking facilities is run by Nguyen Hong Ngoc. She will cook and serve foods to her selected visitors every day.

Sewing Factory
This studio with sewing equipment is run by Lai Dieu Ha and Nguyen Quoc Thanh. Lai Dieu Ha will carefully make sculptural white dresses in great detail, while Nguyen Quoc Thanh will create a series of uniforms which are used for different functions and contexts.

Mobile Gallery “ESCAPE”
A 3-wheels car is transformed into a mobile gallery at which Nguyen Tran Nam will work and exhibit his works. Some of his video works will be installed inside the car and this mobile gallery will go around Hanoi.

Gymnastic Field
One area of the courtyard in the Japan Foundation will be used by Kumpei Miyata for his physical exercise. He will vault over a self-made jumping box every day, making the box higher and higher by piling up more boxes on each day.

4. Exhibitions

Exhibition I: Measuring the World

The three artists are different in selected media and usages of materials, but their creations all move towards the same direction: Measuring and grasping the world by their own units and re-building the world in their own interpreted ways.

Nguyen Huy An measures the height of the Hanoi’s tallest skyscraper with pieces of paper and folds the pieces of paper into simple shapes. A newly-made paper installation will be exhibited.

Kumpei Miyata, meanwhile, tries to feel the world through his own eyes and with his whole body. In 31 October 2010, he left his home in Fukuoka for Lulea City in Sweden, telling his friend in Lulea by phone that he is coming to Lulea. Finally in 3 December 2010, via 18 countries without taking any airplanes, he arrived at the final destination. He will share this long journey with you through his video installation “I’m sorry for being late”.

Yuichiro Tamura, on the other hand, creates a video work without shooting any images but with using available online images from the Google Street View site. This award-winning road movie “NIGHTLESS” will be shown.

The past but representative works of these three artists will provoke you to re-think about the size and scale of the world around us.

Exhibition II: UTOPIA

This exhibition is an installation by Tuan Mami who creates a new land in the Japan Foundation Library by covering its floor with 100 kg of rice seeds and a thick sheet of glass. This installation aims to create a utopia space within a normal library. This large-scale installation is a part of his on-going project “Untouched Paradise” which aims to invite the visitors to come close to the created paradise resulting in irritation with not being able to touch it.

Mami provokes the visitors to look back at our current behavior. Aren’t we always looking forward to a better future but regretting our past at the same time? How wonderful, how beautifully difficult, how sane and therefore real: a field of rice plant existing in a library. The pressed rice seeds by glass will grow even without water and soil day by day throughout the exhibition duration. The visitors might paradoxically feel the freedom of the rice plants that grow in such difficult conditions as well as the risky and impossible temptation of touching to feel the rice plant. This installation is conducted specially for elder mothers who live in Hanoi. By inviting them to this exhibition to enjoy arts, Tuan Mami would like to show to the audiences the definition of social view while explaining the “appearance/disappearance’ structure of an artwork.

Exhibition III: FLYING SKYLINES – The Final Day (the beginning of the ending) at Open Studio

In FLYING SKYLINES, as equally important as OPEN SKYLINES, the participating artists will exhibit their final productions (or “work-in-progress” productions) which they have created at each studio during their stay there for three weeks. The artists’ stay at studios will end on this day but the final productions will be exhibited until Sunday 6 January 2013.

5. Performance

“Clinging Hybrid”

By: Lai Dieu Ha
Date & Time: 18:00 – Tuesday 18 December 2012
Venue: Goethe Institute Hanoi (56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi)

Lai Dieu Ha is one of the most promising and energetic female performance artists in Vietnam, who strongly, bravely and directly expresses the female identity and sexuality. In this performance at the Goethe Institute’s garden, she will create her own imaginary space all covered with white creatures – a place where chaos and tranquility, sorrow and contentment, vigor and delicacy, ephemeral and immortality coexist.

6. Talks

Various issues and experiences on contemporary art will be intensively discussed during the talk sessions.

Day I
Date & Time: 18:00 – Wednesday 5 December 2012
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

Each speaker’s title will be confirmed later. Speakers on the day include:

Nguyen Phuong Linh Artist / Director of Nhasan Studio Vietnam
Nguyen Manh Duc Founder of Nhasan Studio Vietnam
Nguyen Trinh Thi Artist / Director of Hanoi DOCLAB Vietnam
Nguyen Huy An Artist Vietnam
Appendix Artist Collective Vietnam

Day II
Date & Time: 18:00 – Thursday 6 December 2012
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

Each speaker’s title will be confirmed later. Speakers on the day include:

Hiroyuki Hattori –  Curator of Aomori Contemporary Art Center Japan
Tuan Mami –  Artist Vietnam
Susanne Husse – Curator of Note On & The District Berlin Germany
Tran Luong – Independent curator Vietnam

Day III
Date & Time: 18:00 – Friday 7 December 2012
Venue: The Japan Foundation (27 Quang Trung, Hanoi)

Each speaker’s title will be confirmed later. Speakers on the day include:

Kumpei Miyata –  Artist Japan
Yuichiro Tamura –  Artist Japan
Jayeong Park –  Curator of Work on Work South Korea
Hyejin Jang –  Curator of Work on Work South Korea

■ For more information please download press release:

English

Vietnamese

■ For inquiries on the events and the interviews with the participants, please contact us at:

Ms. Ha Nguyen (Ext. 113) / Mr. Yoshioka (0123 384 4138)
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam TEL 04 3944 7419 www.jpf.org.vn