Collaboration of skill and ideas is presented in this afternoon sharing an experimental art history in Vietnam. The afternoon will begin with a documentary film on the history of Nha San Studio, Vietnam’s first experimental art space in Hanoi.

With key interviews of its founders Tran Luong and Duc Luong, Nguyen Manh Hung provides a window onto how artists in Hanoi have worked together to create exhibitions, performances, music recitals, theatre and dance. Featuring footage of previous shows of pioneering artists Truong Tan, Nguyen Minh Phuoc, Nguyen Minh Thanh alongside younger artists such as Nguyen Phuong Linh and Kim Ngoc, this documentary is a unique opportunity to hear of how artists have discovered their own methods of realizing their dreams in Vietnam.

Following this screening will be recent short film works produced by The Propeller Group. A Vietnamese artist collective based in Ho Chi Minh City who have been collaborating with Danish artist collective, Superflex, since 2004. In these three works, a McDonald’s shop slowly floods, a car self combusts and a man slowly hypnotizes the public. The Propeller Group will share their experiences of working between the world of ‘art’ and ‘entertainment’, sharing their views on why art should be available for a mass audience.

This will be an afternoon sharing two very different, yet important scenes of artistic experimentation in Vietnam. We hope you will join in subsequent discussion.