Cambodia – Open Studio with artist Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai
Friday, 28 February 2014, 6-8pm
Sa Sa Art Projects, the White Building, Sothearos Blvd
From the artist:
As part of Pisaot residency with Sa Sa Art Projects, Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai has done research at a Vietnamese fishing village near Tonle Sap lake in Siem Reap province. Exploring notions of identity and territory, Mai investigated different cultural, social and political issues confronted by this 400-household community, some of whom have been living there for the last two or three generations. She looked closely at the meaning and the agency of an ID card, and its impact on knowledge and lives of this community. According to Mai, “an ID card is like the key for change in the life of some people: it could be identity, it could be power, it might be a matter of classification, it could be their dream…” Mai’s project during Pisaot residency marked an expansion of the artist’s practice from studio-based to community-oriented, and from topics that usually concern with women to notions of identity and displacement.
About Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai
Employing various media, Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai’s (b. Hanoi, Vietnam, 1983) practice has been largely centering on issues of female body, sex, and constructed social values that affect women. Mai’s works usually challenge and open up these issues, confronting power relations, fears and desires through experimentations with materiality and evocation of bodily transgression. Mai’s most recent solo exhibitions includeThe Scar, Craig Thomas Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City (2012). Group exhibitions include XEM, Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City (2013), Riverscapes IN FLUX, Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Manila (2012) and Time and The Return, New Space Art Foundation Gallery, Hue (2011). Mai has undertaken residency at HIVE Studio, Cheongju city, South Korea (2013), New Space Arts Foundation, Hue city, Vietnam (2013) and Sàn Art Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2012). Mai lives and works in Hue, Vietnam. More about Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai at nguyenthithanhmai.tumblr.com
About Pisaot
Pisaot is an experimental art residency program for Cambodian artists, as well as selected international guests, to undertake a period of usually six weeks living and working in the Sa Sa Art Projects space, in the White Building of central Phnom Penh. During each residency, artists are encouraged to experiment in their practice. Pisaot does not ask artists to make work for an exhibition. In fact, the program gives selected artists freedom to do anything they want. Artists-in-residence will be encouraged to try new ways to use different media and/or to explore new ideas that expand the artists’ current practices and challenge the possibility of art.
Thanks to the following for making Pisaot possible: Pedro de Almeida, Anonymous (11), ErynMark Begley, Olivia Bernard, Nikola Errington, James Fritsch, David Gunn, Christopher Heynen, Stephane Janin, Danni Jarrett, Viet Le, Geoff Pyle, Christine McCracken, Clare McCracken, Hung Nguyen Manh, Monika Nowaczyk, Anna Olsen, Gemma Peckham, Lori Peterson, Martin Potter, Adrian Potts, Claudia Prestel, Liz Reed, Eliza Roberts, Lana Sinclair, Francesca Sonara, Miwa Takamura, Charles Todd, Jane Torney, Vandy Rattana, Van Cleve Fine Art, Lisa Warbrick, Charlotte St Clair Wilson
Support Us
Sa Sa Art Projects is the only not-for-profit artist-run space in Phnom Penh and is dedicated to experimental art practices. Our programs operate solely based on donated funds, grants and support from the public. We welcome and appreciate public contributions; to support Sa Sa Art Projects, please contact us at [email protected].
