Book Presentation and Discussion: Looking back, Moving forward
06:30 pm, Thurs 15 May 2025
Halle, Goethe-Institut Hanoi
56-60 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hà Nội
Language: Vietnamese and English (with simultaneous translation)
From the organizer:
In recent decades, Southeast Asian contemporary art has gained a strong voice in the global art scene. Only recently have there been publications that take a comprehensive look at this exciting development. This discussion reflects on contemporary art histories and practices in Southeast Asia, with particular attention to Vietnam.
Art historian and curator iola Lenzi presents her latest book Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970 (Lund Humphries, 2024). The presentation explores why, when, and how Southeast Asian contemporary art originated, along with its characteristics, and argues for its voice within global contemporary practice. The emergence of Vietnamese contemporary art is spotlighted within the larger regional history, with a focus on early performance works by Hanoi-based artist and curator Trần Lương, which were historically innovative for their collectivist methods.
In the second part, Trần Lương introduces a new anthology about his artistic and curatorial practice Trần Lương Soaked in the Long Rain, edited by Biljana Ciric (Milan: Mousse Publishing, 2024). He then engages in an open, dynamic conversation about contemporary art—primarily in Vietnam—with iola Lenzi, moderated by independent curator Lê Thuận Uyên and open to the public for lively exchange. The discussion addresses performance art, curatorial methods and histories, current and future contemporary art ecologies, and the global reception of Vietnamese contemporary art.
Speakers and moderator:
Iola Lenzi is a Singapore historian and curator of Southeast Asian contemporary art. She holds an LLB and a PhD in Modern Asian art history, and teaches Southeast Asian Contemporary Art History and curatorial methods at NTU, Singapore, and MA Asian Art Histories, UAS.
She has published extensively on Vietnamese contemporary art, focusing on early contemporary practices in 1990s-2000s Hanoi. She has solo or lead-curated some 40 exhibitions in Asia and Europe, edited six multilingual anthological research publications, and is the author of Museums of Southeast Asia (2004). Her most recent monograph is Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970 (Lund Humphries, 2024).
Trần Lương is an independent curator, visual artist, and major figure in creating space for critical contemporary art in Vietnam. A generous mentor of youth, Tran Luong goes beyond normal curatorship, encouraging performers to push the boundaries, creating exchanges between North, Centre and South Vietnam.
Trần Lương is currently the co-founder of APD Center and member of the Artistic Advisory Council – Asian Cultural Council New York NY. from 2019. He has also participated in many prestigious international art councils such as the Art Network Asia (ANA) (2003 – 2009), International Jury of 59th International Oberhausen film festival in Germany (2013). World prestigious art awards: Prince Claus Prize of the Netherlands (2014), The Andy Warhol Foundation Award for the Visual Arts (1999).
Lê Thuận Uyên is a curator based in Hanoi. She currently holds the position of Curator at Large at The Outpost – a Hanoi-based organisation dedicated to the collection presentation and cultivating different publics for contemporary art in Vietnam. Her practice investigates formal articulations that are rooted in the social context and aesthetic traditions of Vietnam. Uyên is also a keen advocate for alternative modes of art education, as well as building capacity for the Vietnamese art landscape.
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