Opening: 04.12.2014 @7:00 AM
Exhibition on view until 08.12.2014
Location: paddle8.com
paddle8.com/auction/sanart

VIEW AUCTION AND PLACE YOUR BID HERE!

‘Thresholds of Motion’, an ‘exhibition-as-online auction’ with paddle8.com is a Sàn Art fundraising initiative. The success of this auction is crucial to the future sustainability of Sàn Art in Vietnam – a not-for-profit, independent contemporary art organisation whose activities are in serious financial jeopardy. We need your support!

‘Thresholds of Motion’ presents a unique collection of contemporary art composed of photography, printmaking, drawing, oil and silk painting, ceramic, assemblage and sculpture and is but a fraction of the talent that Sàn Art has had the pleasure of working with since it opened its doors in late 2007.

The artworks in this auction are anchored in the vibrant geographies of Sai Gon, Hoi An, Ha Noi, New York, Phnom Penh and Kabul. Such diversity reflects the ambition of Sàn Art, a growing independent arts organization that has succeeded to engage and share these contexts and much more with our community at home and abroad. These artistic voices present cultural memories as historical journeys beyond their own lifetimes; take fantastical voyages into fictions of the past; or speak directly to the dilemmas and contradictions of contemporary life that are mirrored in all of these perspectives of human production. These artworks are thresholds, an aesthetic space of contemplation where the intersection of culture, society, politics and science reflects the depth and complexity of their localities.

It is the activities of artist-initiated organizations like Sàn Art that drive the development of contemporary art and culture in Vietnam to think broadly about the role and responsibilities of artists beyond our immediate realities. At Sàn Art, we consider it our duty to encourage conversations around the need for art and culture in contemporary life, and to help facilitate such dialogues between producers, supporters, educators and the private business sector across our local community. Sadly, Vietnam greatly lacks physical space, expertise and funding support for its cultural producers, largely exacerbated by government bureaucracy.

‘Thresholds of Motion’ is one of the first ‘exhibitions’ that presents international audiences a diversity of age, experience and reputation of the growing landscape of contemporary art from and seen in Vietnam. Though the experience may initially be online, rest assured that these artists are serious, sophisticated, committed and utter experts of their craft. Contemporary Asian Art today is of immense interest to public and private collections, the distinctive character of this interconnected and multifarious cultural landscape offering rich narrative with which to compare, contrast and challenge the structure of an Art History today.

It is with great personal belief, passion, and commitment to the creative practitioners in Vietnam that I ask you to support this ‘exhibition-as-online auction’, to recognize the work of Sàn Art and its desire to nurture critical dialogues of contemporary art and culture in this country.

Zoe Butt
Executive Director and Curator, Sàn Art

Image credit: The Propeller Group, Collision: Urban Sporty Mover 2014

‘Thresholds of Motion’ will be live on paddle8.com from 4th – 18th December 2014. For more information please email to hello@san-art.org, titled ‘Auction’

See here for introduction from Dinh Q Le (artist, co-founder and Chairman of Sàn Art Board of Directors)