Art Talk “Story of the Water Puppetry”
Sun 08 Jan 2017, 4 pm
Six Space
From the organizer:
Come to the art talk “Story of the Water Puppetry”, the talk is part of the project “Reimagine Artist/Artisan”, hosted by artist Ngo Thanh Bac and puppet artisan/ performance artist Phan Thanh Liem. Through the conversation, audience would be introduced to mini water puppetry and its value in the field of visual art.
After various field trips to traditional craft villages, artist Ngo Thanh Bac, as a member of the research project, chose water puppets as the main materials for his work “Do I Need to Introduce My Name Here?”, which will be exhibited along with other four art works in Six Space from January 5th to January 12th, 2017. He has learned from and worked together with artisan/artist Ngo Thanh Liem to make the puppets, and then cooperated them into his installment of a mini communal house and pond built within a small crate.
The two artists will share their personal journey in art, talk about the value and structure of water puppets as a mini version, as well as their coordination and roles within the scope of the “Reimagine Artist/Artisan” project.
ABOUT THE ARTIST/ARTISAN
Ngo Thanh Bac
Bac graduated from Fine Art University in 2008. He participated in numerous exhibitions with visual and performance work. He is one of the six members of Annex Group – a performance art group that use daily objects as analogical tools to demonstrate repetitive and somewhat unreasonable behavior over an extended period of time in order to reflect social issues or personal preoccupations.
Phan Thanh Liem
Liem was born in a family with seven generations that have been preserving water puppetry in the northern province of Vietnam. His granfather, Phan Van Huyen, was a puppet craftman and artisan and his father, the famous puppeteer Phan Van Ngai, created the mobile water puppetry stage. He also made chu Teu (a humorous farmer) puppet, which is displayed in France’s Louvre Museum. Phan Thanh Liem is the very first artisan who created mini water puppetry and has been performing both in Vietnam and oversea.
ABOUT PROJECT “REIMAGINE THE ARTIST/ARTISAN”
The project is created and run by a group of multidisciplinary artists and art researchers who are inspired, nostalgic and passionate about the history, knowledge, aesthetics and possibilities of art craftsmanship and craft villages in Vietnam.
Launched in 2016, this participatory art-based research project aims to foster learning, dialogue and collaboration among artists, artisans and the wider public to openly converse on:
• The cultural, aesthetic and social functions of the artist/artisan in the creative process and production
• The present and future relationship as well as shared influence between artists and artisans
• Internal and external factors that influence the aesthetics, creative process and production of craft villages and artisans
• Transformation in ways of seeing and practicing craftsmanship
• Revitalizing and reimagining craftsmanship in handicraft and art production
• Preservation and possibilities, cross-fertilization and innovation in art and crafts
The project includes participatory art-based research; mapping of handicraft villages in North Vietnam; a peer-learning residency program linking artists and artisans in handicraft villages; and a series of public workshops and exhibitions featuring distinguished artisans and innovative artwork inspired by traditional Vietnamese handicrafts.
The project is managed by Six Space with financial sponsorship from Prince Claus Fund “The future is handmade – Redesigning Crafts”.
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The talk will be hosted in Vietnamese.
Free admission
Related posts:
Project “Reimagine The Artist/Artisan” – Event No. 1: “Those Hands that Sew the Leaves”
Project “Reimagine The Artist/Artisan” – Event No. 2: Performance & Talk “The other Vietnamese Puppetry”
Project “Reimagine The Artist/Artisan” – Event No. 3: Talk “Đất xanh gốm sành”
Project “Reimagine The Artist/Artisan” – Event No. 4: “Thin Silk, Iridescent Fibers and Colorful Threads”
| Six Space 6th floor, 94B Tran Hung Dao, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi |
