Thao Nguyen Phan: Monsoon Melody

Talk with Thao Nguyen Phan and Zoë Gray (English): February 1, 2020, 3:30-4:30pm

Curators: Hilde Teerlinck (Han Nefkens Foundation) and Zoë Gray (WIELS)

WIELS presents the largest exhibition to date of work by the Vietnamese artist Thao Nguyen Phan. Titled Monsoon Melody, it features a trilogy of her recent films: Tropical Siesta (2017), Mute Grain (2019) and Becoming Alluvium (2019). Taking different forms and starting points, these recent projects all explore the agricultural, political and social context of the Vietnamese rurality and countryside. However, Phan’s work transgresses a purely historical or political point of view, to incorporate an interest in literature and language. Through storytelling, fiction, official and unofficial history, it subtly reveals the forgotten and the forgettable in poetic recollections.

As the 2018 recipient of the Han Nefkens Foundation – LOOP Barcelona Video Art Production Award, artist Thao Nguyen Phan presents  Becoming Alluvium as part of this exhibition. Phan's latest works builds upon her research into the Mekong River, which runs through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In addition to its environmental and economic significance, the Mekong River has an important cultural significance in many Southeast Asian countries. Becoming Alluvium observes the environmental changes downstream due to the expansion of agriculture, overfishing and the economic migration of farmers to urban areas, exploring the impact of environmental change on nature and on human lives.

This exhibition is a project of the Han Nefkens Foundation, in collaboration with: Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona), WIELS (Brussels), Chisenhale Gallery (London) and Galerie Zink (Waldkirchen). On this occasion, Phan’s first monograph is co-published by the exhibition partners, the Han Nefkens Foundation and Mousse Publishing.