Spirit of Friendship

“Spirit of Friendship,” an exhibition at The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, shed light on how camaraderie has shaped the country’s contemporary art scene. Embracing a period of more than 40 years of practices—from the nation’s reunification and birth of contemporary art in 1975, to present day—the exhibition showcased diverse archival materials and video documentaries alongside a few artworks to propose a new way of looking at Vietnam’s art history of the past four decades. With Zoe Butt, Bill Nguyễn and Lê Thiên Bảo as curators, the show was conceived as a starting point for future exhibitions and discussions, and offered new keys to unpack the past and frame today’s artistic practices beyond the official narrative.

In The Factory, a timeline, set up along a corridor, detailed the developments of artist collectives since 1975, and charted the rise of 22 artist groups in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. The forerunners—such as the Gang of Five that was formed in 1983, the Group of 10 six years later, and Salon Natasha in 1990—were instrumental in developing Vietnam’s art scene. This led to the emergence of a new crop of collaborators; notably, in 2006, four collectives were established—The Propeller Group, Wonderful District, Zenei Gang of Five and Hanoilink. With limited arts funding and education; a lack of museums, galleries and other art spaces; and strong governmental censorship in place, these artists survived by building resilient creative networks, rooted in their desire for experimentation and reciprocity.

One section in the exhibition was dedicated to those artist collectives that left enduring imprints on younger artists in the country, drastically influencing their understanding of art as well as their practices. In particular, the exhibition acknowledged the influence of the Group of 10 (1989–1996), whose non-figurative and experimental artistic language paved the way for the recognition of abstract art in Vietnam. The paintings featured in “Spirit of Friendship” were part of exhibitions that the group managed to organize annually when art was meant to serve the state’s ideology under the form of social realism.

Tapping into the collaborative nature that is prevalent in Vietnam’s contemporary art scene, some of the artist collectives were asked to curate sub-sections in the show. Nhà Sàn collective, for instance, presented the kitchenware and cookbook of Me Luong, the wife of Nguyễn Mạnh Đức who co-founded Nhà Sàn Studio in 1998. This reflected the importance of the kitchen in this familial and open group, which is thought of as a “home” for the artists. The group’s ups and downs, such as having to relocate their studio four times in nearly two decades, are revealed in another section of the exhibition dedicated to film documentaries made by artists about other artists—a precious perspective to understand their motivations and state of mind, and a channel to hear their testimonies about constant struggles of practicing visual art in a restrictive environment.

The exhibition provided the opportunity to assess the present state of Vietnam’s contemporary art scene, whose constraints have barely changed in the past four decades. To foster further collaboration, and to bring the public into the fold, the three curators of “Spirit of Friendship”—Butt, Nguyễn and Lê—have invited the public to contribute their ideas through a dedicated website. This is a meaningful initiative, considering that there is no public archive of contemporary art in the country.

Despite this initiative, the exhibition was staged in a manner that was too structured and driven by discourse. This led to a feeling of confinement that contradicted the creative energy and loose organization of the organic collectives that were at the heart of the show. While their approach shaped a meaningful educational experience for visitors, the academic approach to tackling the bonds of friendship shared by these artists is one that must be questioned.

“Spirit of Friendship” is on view at The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City, until November 26, 2017.

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