b. 1960, Hanoi

Trần Lương is a visual artist, independent curator and a pioneer in creating space for critical contemporary art in Vietnam. Among the first local artists to experiment with performance and video, his artwork is grounded in local experience. Active in making opportunities for artists, Trần Lương co-founded the ‘Gang of Five’ (1983-1996), which organized monthly exhibitions in alternative spaces. In 1998, he co-founded Nhà Sàn Studio, the country’s first, artist-led, experimental art space, and curated the majority of its exhibitions in the initial four years. He was also the founding director of the Hanoi Contemporary Art Centre in 2000, resigning in 2003 in protest of government corruption. A generous mentor of youth, Trần Lương goes beyond presumed ideas of curating, encouraging performers to push the boundaries, negotiating with the authorities, creating exchanges between North, Centre and South Vietnam, bringing artists of the diaspora back to Vietnam, and hosting international artists. In addition, he also manage many community development projects in multiple regions in Vietnam. His art critiques repression, emphasising human resilience as an empowering of the individual through personal action and self-reflection. His dedicated energy in developing spaces, initiatives, networks and communities for performance and video arts in Vietnam, alongside his questioning of dominant norms is all towards supporting alternative visions in a context of ideological conformity.