Hồi Sóng

Posted on 21/10/2021

Online website: hoisong.art
Physical counterpart: to be announced
Sàn Art
132 Bến Vân Đồn, Ward 6, District 4, HCMC

“Hồi Sóng” is a research and creative project implemented/undertaken by two Vietnam-based sound artists, Nhung Nguyen and Zach Sch. The on-going project comprises of the archival research and a sound installation under the format of a public exhibition. The project currently consists of two versions: online website at the address hoisong.art and its physical counterpart at Sàn Art, an art space in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Detailed information regarding the exact physical exhibition will be announced shortly.

The sound installation seeks to explore the relationships between archival materials and sound art. They serve as the output of a research on oral history conducted through archival research as well as sonic techniques. The project aims to explore the non-objective histories of African peoples (largely from Algeria, Egypt, Mali and Martinique) and Indochinese peoples (including Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) through oral narratives (the stories, songs and interview excerpts). More specifically, the artists demonstrate a profound interest in the lives of the African and Vietnamese soldiers during the World War I and Indochinese workers in World War II, as reflected in their wartime activities, living conditions as well as their emotions, their memories reminisced around 60 years later.

The installation works will vary in expression medium, ranging from music composition to sound designs, through which Nhung Nguyen and Zach Sch evaluate the socio-cultural contexts with literary and musical accompaniments making up the archival recordings’ structures. While Nhung places her focus on the voices, Zach directs his attention to sonic experiments.

This project is funded by:

– Goethe-Institut Ho Chi Minh City
– Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
– Nguyen Thien Dao Foundation
– Sàn Art
– Humboldt University of Berlin