Press release

Skylines With Flying People 3 (hereafter SKYLINES 3) is an interdisciplinary art project showcasing a sample of the diversity of artistic practices among young artists in Việt Nam today.

Hà Nội, 11 September 2016 – What issues and topics are artists in contemporary Việt Nam concerned with? Which artistic languages and conceptual strategies are being used? What kinds of artistic experimentation are possible? Where are the boundaries? These are some of the questions examined in SKYLINES 3 – an interdisciplinary art project initiated by a group of young curators and artists working together under the umbrella of Nhà Sàn Collective.

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 ‘’. The project’s title references a poem by Trần Dần – a key figure in Vietnamese avant-garde poetry - about a place with no room for imagination and freedom, written in 1988, the early years of Đổi Mới (the economic reform policy leading to Việt Nam’s ‘socialist-led market economy’):

“I cry for skylines which do not have flying people cry again for flying people who do not have skylines”

SKYLINES 3 commences with its participating artists ‘flying out’ of their comfort zones to go on journeys that reflect on and explore issues regarding the country's complicated , fragmented culture, migration, exploitation of humans and nature, urbanisation, gender norms, etc.

Central to the project is an attempt to foster connections and collaborations between and other disciplines. SKYLINES 3 brings together artists and experts and scholars from different branches of social & human sciences. Through a process of dialogue, different modes and methods of knowledge production are unveiled and exchanged, which opens up new possibilities for working and creating.

The final outcome is expected to portray the landscape of contemporary Việt Nam through the lens of artists who were born and have grown up in the period of Đổi Mới. 11 sub-projects have been realised across the country and 6 solo, duo and group exhibitions will take place consecutively between October 2016 and January 2017 at different locations in Hà Nội: the , Nhà Sàn Collective, MAM-Art Projects by CUC Gallery, the Goethe Institut and Heritage Space.

Within the framework of the project, KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE - a series of public seminars given by artists and scholars of history, literature, anthropology, archaeology and sociology from Việt Nam, Hong Kong, Denmark and the US - is taking place between March and December 2016. Understanding that different systems of knowledge can simultaneously relate them to and separate them from each other, KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE offers insight into both creatives’ and academics’ thought processes and work approaches, revealing their similarities as well as their differences.

1/4 Participating in SKYLINES 3 are 14 established and emerging Vietnamese artists - some of whom have exhibited internationally at Singapore Biennale, Istanbul Biennale, SeMA Biennale Media City Seoul, Taipei Biennale, Kuandu Biennale, Asia Culture Center-Gwangju, Carré d’Art - the Museum of Contemporary Art of Nimes, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, etc. SKYLINES 3’s team is comprised of 4 -based curators: Trương Quế Chi (artist/curator, Nhà Sàn Collective), Bill Nguyễn (curator/co-founder Manzi art space), Lê Thuận Uyên (independent curator) and Bùi Kim Đĩnh (co- founder Studio Thọ, independent curator/researcher).

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.

EXHIBITION DETAILS Skylines With Flying People 3 Dates: from October 2016 to January 2017 Venues: All exhibitions will take place in Hà Nội, Việt Nam

Exhibitions schedule:

Japan Foundation Address: 27 Quang Trung, Hoàn Kiếm dist. Duration: 8 – 23 October 2016 9h00 - 18h00 Monday - Sunday Artists: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, Tạ Minh Đức

Nhà Sàn Collective Address: 15th Floor, Hanoi Creative City, 1 Lương Yên, Hai Bà Trưng dist. Duration: 13 October – 6 November 2016 15h00 - 19h00 Wednesday - Sunday Artist: Trương Công Tùng

Nhà Sàn Collective Address: 15th Floor, Hanoi Creative City, 1 Lương Yên, Hai Bà Trưng dist. Duration: 18 November – 18 December 2016 15h00 - 19h00 Wednesday - Sunday Artists: The Appendix Group, Nguyễn Trần Nam, Nguyễn Ban Ga

MAM-Art Projects by CUC Gallery Address: 5th Floor, Women’s Museum, 36 Lý Thường Kiệt, Hoàn Kiếm dist. Duration: 3 – 25 December 2016 8h00 - 17h00 Monday - Sunday Artists: Lêna Bùi, Trương Minh Quý

Heritage Space Address: Dolphin Plaza, 6 Nguyễn Hoàng, Mỹ Đình 2, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội 1 Duration: 6 – 21 January 2017 9h00 - 17h00 Monday - Sunday Artist: Tuấn Mami

Goethe Institut

2/4 Address: 56/58 Nguyễn Thái Học, Ba Đình dist. Date: 7 – 21 January 2017 9h00 - 19h00 Monday - Sunday Artist: Nguyễn Phương Linh

Nguyễn Quốc Thành’s project will take place at various venues during SKYLINES 3

SEMINAR SERIES DETAILS: Knowledge Exchange Venue: Nhà Sàn Collective Address: 15th Floor, Hanoi Creative City, 1 Lương Yên, Hai Bà Trưng dist., Hà Nội Dates: from March to December 2016

28.03.2016: Umbrella Movement: Aestheticization of Protest In conversation: Journalist, researcher and cultural, art reporter Yang Jing (Hong Kong) & artist Tuấn Mami 10.07.2016: Visualizing Vietnam: From the past to the present In conversation: Historian Liam Kelley (University of Hawaii) & The Appendix Group 28.08.2016: Shifts in Vietnamese Conception of Chinese Culture In conversation: Sino-Nom researcher Trần Quang Đức & artist Nguyễn Ban Ga 21.09.2016: Queer & Queer criticism: Possibilities & Challenges In conversation: Trần Ngọc Hiếu, Ph.D in literature (Hanoi National University of Education) & artist Trương Minh Quý 10.2016: Stories of Living Spaces Round table discussion among: Artists Nguyễn Thanh Mai & Tạ Minh Đức & curators Bùi Kim Đĩnh & Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần 12.2016: Tây Nguyên: Lifeworld or Heritage ? In conversation: Prof. in Anthropology Oscar Salemink (University of Copenhagen) & artists Trương Công Tùng and Nguyễn Phương Linh Dressing up, Dressing down In conversation: Prof. Dr. Kirsten Endres (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Salle) & artist Lêna Bùi The Art of Ethnography – the Artist as Ethnographer? In conversation: Prof. Dr. Andrea Lauser (Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Göttingen University) & artist Nguyễn Quốc Thành

Opening times: Please see our website for detailed opening times at each venue Guided tours: Please see our website for up-to-date information regarding tours

* Please note that details are subject to change and follow our Facebook page fb.com/SkylinesWithFlyingPeople3 or our website http://swfp3.org/ to stay informed.

FLYING PEOPLE

Organiser: Nhà Sàn Collective Representatives: Nguyễn Quốc Thành, Trương Quế Chi – members of curatorial board.

Artists: Nguyễn Phương Linh, Nguyễn Trần Nam, Tuấn Mami, Tạ Minh Đức, Nguyễn Ban Ga, Nguyễn Thanh Mai, Lêna Bùi, Trương Công Tùng, Trương Minh Quý, Nguyễn Quốc Thành & Nhóm

3/4 Phụ Lục (The Appendix Group)

Curatorial Team: Trương Quế Chi, Bill Nguyễn, Lê Thuận Uyên & Bùi Kim Đĩnh

Guest curators: Arlette-Quỳnh Anh Trần & Roger Nelson

Coordinators: Nguyễn Quốc Thành & Nguyễn Phương Linh Catalogue: The accompanying catalogue Skylines With Flying People 3, Trương Quế Chi, Bill Nguyễn, Lê Thuận Uyên, Bùi Kim Đĩnh (eds.), available for 350.000VND, is published by SKYLINES 3, Hanoi (100 pages).

The project gratefully acknowledges funding from Danish Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF), Dutch Foundation Art Collaboratory, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung SEA, Foundation for Community Educational Media (FCEM), Abundance Foundation, Green Cities Fund; as well as supports from cultural and academic institutions and individuals including: Japan Foundation, Goethe-Institut, MAM-Art Projects by Cuc Gallery, Manzi Art Space, Heritage Space, Hanoi Creative City, Hanoi Grapevine, Queer Forever!, Hanoi DocLab, Chula; and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, the Exchange Project in Museology between Germany and Vietnam (Mugovie) – the University of Applied Sciences Berlin, programmer Dr. Robin Wolff, Prof. Dr. Oliver Rump, Prof. Dr. Andrea Lauser, graphic designers Yoshi Nego, Nguyễn Anh Cường, Lukas Zerbst and Phan Ngọc Phương Chi, editor Fabiola Büchele, Ngân Nguyễn, Quyên Nguyễn, Nghĩa Đặng, the team at Nhà Sàn Collective including Hoàng Vũ Huyền Châu, Cầm Khánh Linh, Lê Tuấn Phi, Phùng Tiến Sơn and other volunteers, artists, scholars and friends at home and abroad.

Contact: Email: [email protected] Mob: + 84 (0) 975549681 FB: fb.com/SkylinesWithFlyingPeople3 Web: http://swfp3.org/

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