Let’s talk about how we understand what it takes to be a woman.
A CURATORIAL TOUR OF HƯƠNG NGÔ’S EXHIBITION ‘LOST FROM VIEW’ WITH CURATOR ZOE BUTT
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‘Lost from View’ is an exhibition inspired by, for, and about, the complexities of womanhood. It presents a select number of artworks by Hương Ngô whose practice is conceptual in its approach – meaning the artworks embrace technique that communicates an idea, as opposed to communicating an assumed ‘image’. So while you may not find many pictures of women within, you will however find their opinions, their experience and their significance.
Influenced by the life of Vietnamese revolutionary hero Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai and her navigation around the French colonial occupation and its control of the Vietnamese people, artist Hương Ngô presents archival documents relevant to her life alongside fictional and factual stories of other women, then and now.
What is the role of images in determining our understanding of what it means to be a woman? What historical events shaped the need for equal rights between men and women? What words and stories are associated with gender equality? How have such tales (and thus attitude) circulated in society?
About the speaker:
Zoe Butt is the Artistic Director of The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre. She is a curator and writer who lives in Vietnam. Her curatorial practice centres on building critically thinking and historically conscious artistic communities, fostering dialogue among countries of the global south. Zoe formerly served as Executive Director and Curator, Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City (2009–2016); Director, International Programs, Long March Project, Beijing (2007–2009); and Assistant Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (2001–2007) – this latter post particularly focused on the development of its Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Her work has been published by Hatje Cantz; ArtReview; Independent Curators International; ArtAsiaPacific; Printed Project; Lalit Kala Akademi; JRP-Ringier; Routledge; and Sternberg Press, among others. Her curatorial projects include interdisciplinary dialogue platforms such as Conscious Realities (2013-2016); the online exhibition Embedded South(s) (2016); and group exhibitions of Vietnamese and international artists at various international venues. Recent exhibitions include Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber – Journey Beyond The Arrow, (2019); Empty Forest: Tuan Andrew Nguyen (2018); Spirit of Friendship and Poetic Amnesia: Phan Thao Nguyen (both 2017); Dislocate: Bui Cong Khanh (2016), Conjuring Capital (2015). Zoe is a member of the Asian Art Council for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and in 2015 was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.
Participating fee:
_ Adult: 100,000VND (online) / 130,000VND (at door)
_ Inner Circle member or Student: 40,000VND (with your member or student card)
*Participants of the event allow The Factory and co-organizer (if applicable) to use their images and statements as a documentary for the program, for non-commercial purposes such as archive, press, media, promotion on our website, Facebook etc.