#Time: 09:30 – 20:30, March 7th, 2025

#Location: AirHue, 4/15 Nguyễn Hữu Dật, Hương Long, Huế

#Coordinators: Vân Đỗ, Linh Lê

#Program

Á Space delightfully invites you to take part in our public community program tomorrow on March 7th at AirHue as a part of ‘Connecting Ecological Grief’ initiated by Heart of Glass (UK) in cooperation with Á Space, AirHue from Vietnam and Gerimis from Malaysia, supported by British Council. The project aims to interweave artistic research, transnational narratives, and community knowledge between Vietnam, Malaysia, and the UK.

Taking place in Huế and Hà Tĩnh since early March 2025, the project seeks to explore the concept of living memorial through an artist field-residency program and a series of open activities such as peer-to-peer workshops, discussions, film screenings, and rituals. It hopes to find answers to the question: what kind of research, processes, alternative methods, projections, or community connections are needed for humans to express their grievances and mark the loss when facing ecological crises?

Phase I (09:30 – 11:30, AirHue):
Talkshow: Art and life, with artists Trần Tuấn and Nguyễn Văn Hè

Art, in its many different forms of expression, has always been an essential part of our spiritual lives. Moving beyond just enriching our existence, art helps expand our knowledge and fosters empathy with people and cultures outside our own communities. Through this session with artists Nguyễn Văn Hè and Trần Tuấn, we will explore how both artists use art to interpret the anxieties of life within the context of Huế, and more broadly, the Central region of Vietnam.

Phase II (18:30 – 20:30, AirHue):
Not This Future
Screening and discussion with artist Youngsook Choi

How do we begin to mourn departures that, though natural, remain completely incomprehensible? How do we recognize and sit with wounds when tragedy is so easily taken for granted?. In the project ‘Not This Future’, supported by Heart of Glass UK, artist Youngsook Choi explores environments where social action weaves together scientific research with folklore, mythology, and performance.

#Biographies

From 2010, the artworks of Trần Tuấn take inspiration from his own family’s untold stories. He has opened Then Studio, an artspace that would later became Then Café in Huế.

Born and raised during the post-war era, Nguyễn Văn Hè shows his profound concern of memories and remarks of wartime through paintings, sculptures and installations.

Youngsook Choi is an artist and researcher with a Doctorate Certificate in Human Geography. Their works focus on the subjective position of women, mothers and working-class Korean immigrants.

#With the participation of two artists from Hue

Aiming to learn from artists currently practicing and invested in topics of climate change and the water-sea-river ecosystem of the Central region, our project sent out an open call through AirHue’s network, through which we found two companions: Miss Giang, a sound practitioner who teaches guitar, composes, and shows a profound love for Huế; and Bùi Ánh, a young figure currently studying at the Huế University of Fine Arts, but has already been actively participating in art activities across the North, Central, and South.

In Huế, Giang and Ánh led the project team to Tam Giang Lagoon and Cái Rìu Lake to share about the core interests in their practices and the way they connect with the project. Over the next few days, Á hopes to share more with you about this recent journey from the perspective of these two artists. This collective journey, hopefully, is just the beginning of cherished plans in the Central region.

Giang was born and raised in Huế. Drawn to artistic activities, Giang chose music as her linguistic medium for personal expression. She also carries out the project ‘Một Bức Tranh Nhiều Hy Vọng’, seeking to bring art into the Huế Hospital with the hope to soothe the inner pain of cancer patients. Since 2022, Giang has dedicated much of her time to observing the direct impacts of climate change on her local environment by recording sounds and capturing images at various locations, including Tam Giang Lagoon, Lộc Bình coast, along the Perfume River, and Thuận An beach… This project remains an ongoing, self-directed endeavor.

Bùi Ánh was born in 2002 in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam, currently based in Huế. At the age of 7, Ánh and her family relocated to A Lưới, Huế. Encouraged by her father, Ánh embarked on her artistic journey at the Huế University of Fine Arts. Guided by a mindset of constantly questioning and seeking answers from multiple perspectives, she has actively experimented and delved deeper into contemporary art. She has also participated in various art events, including: Nổ Cái Bùm Art Week 2024, LIM DIM (APD) Archive Opening, ‘Sắpppp’ with Thì Collective, Open Studio with artist Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, CHAM – CAM with artists Nguyen + Transitory, Extended Artists at PINGPONG 2024, Research on the City 2024 with Antonín Brinda, and the ‘Đo Đạc’ Project with curator Linh Lê and Phụ Lục Collective in Thủ Thiêm.