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| Artists - Tam Ta |
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Vu Hong Ninh
I was born and grew up in Hanoi. My parents are both workers. My father was called “the man with golden hands.” He has gone through many jobs to be able to take care of the family, and art is one of his side jobs.
When I was little, I often destroyed my own toys and then reconstructed them into another product. I loved to explore their structure rather than use it as it was designed. I was obsessed with structure and tried to understand how the toy operated. That habit introduced me to engineering and how to operate machines.
I never thought I would be an artist. My dream was to become a soldier (!?).
My path to art was unexpected; it happened thanks to a friend who made me join a rock club! There, I discovered myself, and that I had desires, issues, and ideas. I didn’t know how to share those emotions and ideas. I soon realized that I was not gifted at music. I found fine art as a savior with whom I could share my deepest thoughts and emotions.
In 2003, I entered Hanoi Fine Art University after three years of training for the entrance exam. Art was not what I initially imagined. Education did not satisfy me! Questions without answers forced me to venture into the outside world.
I started participating in curator Trần Lương’s projects such as Pictures’ Voice, Lim Dim and Ping Pong. I asked myself: What is art? Who is the artist? What is the relationship between artists and their community, and between the community and the artist’s artwork? What are the roles of the artists? These questions were revealed gradually to me and helped me to identify which path I was on. To me, art was no longer one single path as I was trained it was before.
I started practicing other types of arts that are experimental and flexible such as installation, performance and video art. With these types of art, the artist has to confront the audience or the community with the art’s problems. Proposed messages, the artist, and the audience are vital agents deciding the art’s own values. Timing and flexibility are important to this type of art. However, I think it comes to the community directly and straightforward. The message is delivered and replied. Thus, art comes to the community and contributes to social development, which classical arts have never been able to accomplish directly.
Today, when Vietnamese people are not worried so much about finding meals and having enough clothes, accessing knowledge and discovering the value of art is important to perfect one’s personality – to become a person who is engaged with both material and culture.
Nguyen Van Phuc
Born in 1978, Nguyen Van Phuc graduated from Hanoi Fine Art University in 2003 and is currently working in Hanoi. He works on paintings, installation art, and mixed media arts.
I was born in a family with no tradition in art. My parents are both government officials. In 1996, I entered the Hanoi Fine Art University, encouraged by my own passion for contemporary art that I learned about from the media and from leading contemporary artists in Vietnam. In 2000, I had my first installation displayed at an exhibition entitled The Wound, another at the group exhibition Today and Other Days, and another geographical installation at the exhibition S.E.A. when I was a student. Since then, I am interested in installation art. Along with installations, I also continued working on painting and tried to make a connection between painting and installation, even as there are differences between the two. The two most important exhibitions I participated in were New Faces – Young Vietnamese Contemporary Art in 2007 at Hanoi Fine Art University and Lim Dim: Contemporary Art in Vietnam – Behind the Scenes at Stenersen in Oslo, Norway in 2009, curated by artist Tran Luong. In my opinion, these are the two biggest events that opened up a new direction for my career because I had the chance to interact with both national and international young artists. In 2009, I traveled to Norway, Germany, and France, where art has its own history. Through what I saw there, I gained more knowledge about art. My main interest is installation and painting and to produce artworks which are conceptual, and to mix media using cheap and available materials. This direction is appropriate with Vietnam’s art and cultural context.
Nguyen Huy An
I was born in 1982 in Hanoi. My father is an artist so I was acquainted with the artistic environment when I was little. In 1997, I started secondary school for art at Hanoi’s College of Arts and continued my study at the Fine Art College. During this time, I had ideas for painting but they were not developed.
I entered the Vietnam Fine Art University in 2004. This time, I was introduced to and practiced new types of art in Vietnam such as installation and performance. During the early stages (2004-2005), my work at Nhà Sàn Studio was small-scale and semi-publicized. I participated in bigger events such as New Faces – a national art festival for young artists in 2007, and then abroad in events such as NIPAF in Japan in 2007 and Lim Dim in Norway in 2009.
My artworks often are simple and focus on dark and raw materials such as charcoal and mud. I love dark and quiet spaces, like the place I live. They always help me to recall memories from my childhood, in the quiet, and in safe feelings. These are important in my artwork. It’s hard to talk about the development of my own artwork in the future. However, I have the feeling that soon my works will become more open and gentle.
Nguyen Tran Nam
Nguyen Tran Nam was born in 1979 in Hung Yen, North Vietnam. He graduated from Vietnam Fine Art University in 2003 and is one of the few experimental video artists in Vietnam. His work focuses on his personal stories and feeling rather than the social issues. In "Crescent" or "Gap", Nam chooses familiar materials in the rural areas that recall memories of his childhood. With other video artists, he organizes a group called Hanoilink. Nam’s works often turn into macro objects, creates very strong feelings about sexual representation. Nam participated in important exhibitions such as X seconds at the Goethe-Institute (2009), 10 +, 10th year anniversary of the Nha San studio (2008), and L’espace (2007, 2008), and conduct his solo exhibition Indefinitely at Ryllega Gallery. His newest solo exhibit entitled “Gap” is at Nha San Studio (2010).
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