An Exhibition by Le Giang
“Vestige of a Land” explores the life of communal houses in Northern Vietnam along the Red River. The exhibition is the result of six months joint cooperation between the artist
Lê Giang, Sino-Nom researcher
Nguyễn Đình Hưng, vernacular architect
Phạm Thanh Thủy and environmental consultant
Nguyễn Thùy Dương.
The body of the show reflects the cyclical fluctuations of the Red River and how they influence relocations and modifications of spiritual monuments. Throughout the research process, such sites were visited and investigated. We must acknowledge that social and cultural changes have loosened bonds between past and present. Social activities that used to take place within the walls of such monuments have drastically altered to the point that many of the surviving structures are falling into decay and are perpetually losing their architectural identities.
Recognizing the eventual disappearance of spiritual relics, the exhibition raises the question how we can draw lines from our life today to visions about our future. Recognizing the eventual disappearance of spiritual relics, we must ask ourselves where we stand today and which visions we have. We may not have definite answers, but unearthing artefacts from the past may give us some clues to our quest.
Lê Giang
Photo: Le Giang
After completing her MA in Fine Art degree in London Lê Giang returned to her native Hanoi to set up an independent art and education space as well as continue her mixed media practice. Her works range from installations to illustration, often feature fragile materials like ash, glass, coal, plaster… and explore the questions on human existence and condition not only in contemporary landscape of Vietnam but elsewhere. Giang has exhibited in groups and solo in the UK, Singapore, Japan, Philippines and Vietnam.
Nguyễn Đình Hưng
Photo: Nguyen Dinh Hung
Graduated from University of Social Sciences and Humanities with a degree in Sino-Nom, Nguyễn Đình Hưng works at Institute of Sino-Nom, Hanoi, Vietnam. His researches focus on Sino-Nom text in Buddhism and other traditional Vietnamese religions. Hưng has done field trips to collect documents and relic, vestige research in Red River delta.
ABOUT THE PROJECT "SHAPING THE FUTURE - A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE"
The exhibition "Vestige of a land" by Lê Giang will be shown as part of the project "Shaping the future - A cultural perspective", which was founded and supported by the Goethe-Institut Hanoi.
"Shaping the Future – A cultural perspective" is a topic which allows a wide range of responses. It invites for example to think about the relation between our species and nature, or the effects of digitalization, or the relation between future and presence, or the notion of learning and preparedness for the future etc. All the applicants are having their own thoughts about what they want to make the public in Vietnam aware through the medium of the arts.
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