Nghe Exhibition
Nghe Exhibition is where art meets culture and history, connecting young souls
with the long-established traditional craft villages in Da Nang, Central Regions, Vietnam,
some of which is on the verge of being forgotten.
Nam O Fish Sauce Making Village
Tra Que Vegetable Village
Ban Thach Sedge Mat Village
Thanh Ha Pottery Village
The physical exhibition was held in Oct 30th - Nov 1st, 2020 in Da Nang, Vietnam. Below is the digital presentation of the artworks.
Dripping
Animation
Artists: Bun Xuong Tai, Nguyen Van Binh Minh, Nguyen Duc Hau, Nguyen Duc Hoang Vy, Luu Thuy Linh
Inspired by the combination of Fish and Salt - Yin and Yang, “Dripping” animation demonstrates the procedures of making traditional fish sauces at Nam O village, from catching the anchovies and salting the fish to fermenting the sauces. Everything disintegrates, then inter- weaves again and waits for months and years to one more time combine together. Like life itself the process reflects nature and the process of time needed.
Copper Vegetables Field
Wire Art
Artist: Neit- Tran Dinh Thuy Tien
Five different vegetables have five associated tastes from Tra Que village with five distinct textures. Each of the Five Elements is connect- ed with each of these Five of vegetables, which means the harmony and unification with Five types of tastes Sour - Savory - Salty - Sweet - Bitter to be found in Vietnamese cuisine.
A day in the field feels like a lifetime
Digital Painting/ Rear Projection
Artists: Nguyen Quoc Hoang, Vuu Triet
The Five digital paintings illustrate Five distinct activities in Five different time-periods in a typical day of the Tra Que’s farmers working in the vegetable fields. Each of the small paintings corresponds to one of the Five Elements, which has deep meaning in the cycle of life and an intrinsic Asian Cosmology is enfolded in this whole process, thus historically demonstrating a practical interaction with the Five Major Constituents of Life as their ancestors conceived the Five Elements.
Rear projection technique was employed, in which artworks were projected from behind onto the "screen" made of translucent vellum paper. This provided spectators with an unhindered view of the arts when standing in front of them.
Tam Tang - The Queen of Silk
Watercolor Painting
Artist: Phan Phan
The Four Ceremonies of the Queen Tam Tang (Doan Thi Ngoc), who was credited with developing the craft of silk weaving in the Dang Trong region. The image of sedge mats appears throughout each stage of the Queen’s life: “Quan - Hon - Tang - Te” - demonstrating a strong spiritual bond between a person’s life and a mat’s life cycle being explicitly demonstrated and portrayed.
Humorous Events
Watercolor Painting
Artist: Là Bự Nè
Four daily life scenes on sedge mats that capture a rich and unique spiritual life of the Vietnamese, along with humorous illustrations that add the mischievousness and a light-hearted tone to the pictures.
Peaceful Life
Watercolor Painting
Artist: Con Cá
The four pictures depict four typical scenes of life in the Vietnamese countryside. The recurrent image of a mat appearing in each painting evokes in us a deep feeling of the bond and connection between people by using a simple traditional item to convey that communal aspect.
Miniature of Sedge Mat Village
Miniature
Artists: Bao Han X2
Inspired by the original house of Ban Thach village craftsmen and craftswomen, the mini model captures the true feeling of living space, a small corner of the house, as well as the place where the mats are woven and allows for all the care, meticulous attention to detail and affection of the artists to be put into the work.
Wooden Mat Loom
Model/ Miniature
Artists: Tran Viet Huy, Tran Viet Hoang
A 1: 2 scale model of a wooden mat loom providing an authentic experience of traditional mat weaving.
Twenty-eight Mansions
Design x Ceramic Products
Artists: Tran Viet Huy, Tuyen Dang, Tran Viet Hai
Four sets of wind chimes, each set has 7 constellations totalling 28 constellations that are based on the concept of Twenty-Eight Moon Mansions linked to the 28 constellations.
Each set is named after Four Sacred Animals - Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Turtle and Vermilion Bird, which are associated with The Four Directions.
Four Grand Sceneries
Digital Painting/ Augmented Reality
Artists: Tran Viet Huy, Nguyen Van Binh Minh, Ngo Duc Tri
Four sets of paintings describe four unique geographical features of Quang Nam - Da Nang. These works express the resonance of four representative places that link with the local customs and history, by using drawing and animation with digital devices combined with the Augmented Reality (AR) technology.
Please use Artivive to scan the monochrome images to see the complete artworks.
Four Seasons Still-life
Arrangement Art/ Photography
Artists: Du Mien; Tran Thu Giang
Four Seasons Still-Life tells the story of four craft villages links in the endless cyclic flow of time - that being Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter as an eternal return.
Final photograph and raw arrangement of the artworks were both displayed in the exhibition. This provided the audience a parallel view on the finished versus un-retouched products, as well as an interactive experience in which they could capture/photograph products in their own way and interpretation.
The beauty of Viet Scents
Fashion Design
Artist: Duyen Super
The main material to make the Ao Dai is sedge plant fibre which is from the Ban Thach Sedge Mat village. This work brings together a particular regional uniqueness combined with a suggestion of the direction it could take for the development of novel ways to utilise indigenous materials in the current climate, thus preserving this cultural artifact and ensuring its continued development, refinement and improvement.
Leaves
Jewelry Design
Artist: Neit - Tran Dinh Thuy Tien
"Leaf" - a set of jewelry - is made from the copper wire art, which acts as a complement to the Ao Dai. Inspired by a rainy day in Tra Que Vegetable Village, this art is the thing that remains when Neit thrills with raindrops touching gently on each leaf, then condensing, falling in secretly and softly.
Special: Nghe Mixtape
Sound/ Music
Artists: Nguyen Duc Hoang Vy, danice.
The mixtape is composed of 3 tracks named after an element of the exhibition: Coi (Sedge), Nhi (Drips, in fish sauce drips) and Nghe (Art - the name of the exhibition). Those tracks were used as background music for animations, trailers and the exhibition ambience music.
Credits:
All artists are credited to their respective artworks above.
Art Director: Tran Viet Huy
Project Coordinator: Nguyen Ngoc Thien Hieu
Marketing & Communications: Ngo Phan Tam Nguyen (Lead), Hoang Minh Thuy, Mai Thi Hong Nhung, Pham Nguyen Bao Uyen (Content Writer); Truong Cong Bao Anh (Designer); Truong Quang Dinh (Web Developer)
Exhibition Content: Dang Tran Nguyen (Lead); Vo Van Anh (Writer); Le Tien Dung; Huynh Van Chanh (Researcher)
External Relations: Nguyen Duc Phuc (Lead); Ho Hoang Nguyen; Pham Le Uyen Nhi ( Assistant)
Finance & Logistics: Nguyen T. Thao Nguyen (Finance); Ho Hoang Minh Anh (Logistics); Dang Huu Thong (Support)
The exhibition was organized by Da Nang tui and Da Nang Business Incubator (DNES); and was supported by the British Council under the Cultual and Creative Hub Vietnam Project, 2018-2021, a project funded by the British Council and European Union, and implemented by the British Council in partnership with VICAS.
Special thanks to TBM and Rainforest Da Nang.
