Việt Nam and the Asia Pacific Triennial
Nguyễn Trinh Thi, Việt Nam b.1973 / Fifth Cinema (production still) 2018 / Single-channel video, colour, sound, 57:00 minutes / Courtesy: Nguyễn Trinh Thi / Photograph: Jamie Maxtone-Graham / View full image
When artists from Việt Nam featured in ‘The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, at the Queensland Art Gallery in 1993, both nations were looking outward — Australia to the Asia Pacific region, and Vietnam to a capitalist world, following a period symbolised by the collapse of state-controlled, subsidised systems and the adoption of Doi Moi economic reform policies in 1986.
Over a period of some 30 years, more than 25 artists from Việt Nam have exhibited in the Asia Pacific Triennial, their work offering a snapshot of Vietnamese contemporary art and society, and evolving curatorial and artist relationships.
Abigail Bernal reflects on Vietnamese artists that have participated in the Asia Pacific Triennial on the Asia Pacific Art Papers: Contemporary Contexts, Practices, Ideas website. Read the full essay.