2 Vietnam Artists to do Residency at Worcester Art Museum

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

Two artists from Vietnam will spend a month at the Worcester Art Museum as part of a new Southeast Asia Artist-in-Residency.

From August 20 to September 21 artists Nguyễn Thế Sơn of Hanoi and Nguyễn Kim Tố Lan of Ho Chi Minh City will work in studio space provided by the Museum. In addition, they will do research, give talks, participate in workshops, and attend other local art events.

“While it is important for Southeast Asians here in Worcester to assimilate into American mainstream society, it is vital to also stay connected with our cultural roots. Engaging with the visiting artists—sharing ideas, experiences, and perspectives—will bridge the new and old worlds and bring healing to many in our community,” said Anh Vu Sawyer, executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts.

The public will be invited to meet the artists in weekly, drop-in open studios.

The residency will include participating in Worcester’s StART on the Street event on September 16, 2018.

About the Artists

Nguyễn Thế Sơn, who studied photography in Beijing, is a professor of fine arts in Hanoi. Fascinated by life on the streets, especially the ubiquitous, ever-toiling, low-wage earners who are so easily overlooked, Thế Sơn uses his photography to create large-scale, layered and sculptural dioramas that reflect his street experiences. He intends to do similar work once he arrives in Worcester. This trip is his first to the United States.

Nguyễn Kim Tố Lan is a multidisciplinary artist in Ho Chi Minh City. She helped found Sao La Collective, an independent art collective in the southern region of Vietnam. Community-oriented, she and fellow artists have been working towards a multi-form “art” approach and creating more public engagement.

Artists in Residency

The artist residency program is organized in collaboration with the Indochina Arts Partnership and the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts.

The program’s objectives are threefold: to support emerging artists from Southeast Asia, where the infrastructure and institutional support for contemporary artists are scarce, or in some extreme cases nonexistent; to create meaningful connections between the community of artists, Southeast Asians, and the general public in Worcester with the art and culture of Southeast Asia; and to focus on the internationally diverse connections within Worcester and the vital global role an encyclopedic museum, such as the Worcester Art Museum, plays in its community.