Thuy Quynh Chu is a visual artist and is mainly working in the field of graphics and painting. Quynh studied and graduated from Vietnam Fine Arts University in 2014. The image of women surrounding with life relations is always her composing inspiration.
The events and unhappiness in Kieu's life are a seemingly endless series of repetitions. From the perspective of modern psychology, encapsulated in three story frames is the association and empathy for the characters' thoughts and behaviors. Specifically, it's the contradiction of the existential value of the individual as well as how she decided to end it (suicide but unsuccessfully). Thereby, it relates to issues which still present in individual in modern society.
Chi L. Nguyen (b.1992) studied Illustration - Visual Communication at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. She often creates work with mixed-media approach, such as collage and installation. Recently she participated in Month of Arts Practice 2019 and is currently a part of Citizen Earth project by Six Space.
Chi created a series of collage in which the recurrent material is edible rice sheets that she used as tracing paper. A ubiquitous ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine, the said rice paper is often packaged in plastic bags labelled with illustrations of Vietnamese women and is often advertised with terms translated as "delicious & durable". Whether with traced elements from "Surname Viet, Given Name Nam" (the feature-length film by female director Trinh T. Minh-ha) or extracted lines from Kraftwerk and Hoang Thuy Linh's songs, the audience can fill in their own interpretations of Kieu and women's image in current time.
Lien Huong Nguyen, 32 years old, was born and grew up in Hanoi. Now she is a Deputy Head of Editor in Culture and Art Magazine, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam. After graduating from USSH, VNU, Hanoi, majoring in Linguistics, she continued to study PhD and obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Contrastive and Comparative Linguistics in 2018. Language is the door that gives her opportunities to introduce to foreigners about Vietnamese culture. She love literature and want to learn about all forms of art. Her hobbies are collecting and reading beautifully illustrated picture books. Drawing picture has been my passion since my childhood. However, she has not been trained in any art schools. Women, children and flowers are three of my favorite drawing subjects.
It’s so lucky to her to join in Goethe’s press conference of Nang K... on October 8th, 2019. She really admire Mr. Wilfried Eckstein – Director of Goethe Institute in Hanoi’s plan to find a new way to connect a dialogue with Kieu. She also watched 4 plays at The Youth Theatre of Vietnam. The article interviewed Mr. Wilfried Eckstein on Cong An Nhan Dan and these plays inspired a number of ideas on her mind. That’s the reason why she decided to join in this competition. The story which she would like to tell you is about 3 Nang K…: one in the past, one at the present and one in the future.
1. Nàng K... in the past
Nàng K... in the past appears in her works with three-dropping-tear on her beautiful face looking like a flower. Her sorrow life with a number of troubles made her find the way to the river to be near her end. However, there was a lot of “prejudice rope” on the river which prevents her to be died.
2. Nàng K... at the present
Nàng K… at the present is still facing up with “prejudice rope”. However, Nàng K… has tried a lot to cut these ropes from the man by herself. Two-dropping-tear on her face with the appearance of wifi, mobiphone… shows that Nàng K… currently has been stressed not only from the society’s prejudice but also from communication pressure.
3. Nàng K... in the future
She imagines Nàng K… in the future will be independent with her freedom. In the future, there will be no more prejudice, no more gender discrimination, no more sexual harassment, no more violence against women, no more drunken men... and so on. She does believe that women would be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men. All the “prejudice rope” will tie the bad men who brought prejudice and sorrow for women. However, woman is still a human so Nàng K… is still crying with one-dropping tear. It can be the tear of happiness or sorrow.
Last but not least, whatever happened, the women are always pure and beautiful in her soul. That's the reason why Huong always put the Moraceae leaf at the center of each painting which is a symbol of heart and soul. She would like to send a message through the moon, too. In her opinion, the moon is the symbol of women's happiness. From the past to the future, the moon becomes rounder and rounder like the happiness of women. As a young woman also a mother of a little girl in our modern life, she strongly believes that our women will be respected and be loved more!
Nguyen The Linh (LinhRab), 35, is a freelance illustrator and comic artist who currently lives and works in Hanoi. Linh loves drawing and comics from a young age, starting with the doodles in the yard and on the walls. Linh drew the first comic strips when he was in elementary school.
From 2009 up to now, Linh has drawn periodic comics for children's newspapers, such as Thiếu niên Tiền phong, Mặt trời nhỏ, Nhi đồng cười, Nhi đồng Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, etc. Linh also composes independent comics and Zine comic; participates in exchange workshops with international comic artists and community accommodation projects; lives with Hmong, Pakoh ethnic and organizes comic exhibitions in Hanoi.
Linh enjoys reading postmodern literature and Kafka so he combines these two elements to make the character K from the masterpiece of classical poetry by Nguyen Du.
Ngoc Ha Ninh Pham (born 1991) is an artist from Hanoi, Vietnam, who works primarily in drawing and sculpture. His work explores the way in which we construct an understanding of territories from afar. Hà Ninh Pham is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2018), and the Vietnam University of Fine Arts (2014). His work has been reviewed on Hyperallergic and in New American Paintings. Hà Ninh has been in residence at the Corporation of Yaddo (New York, US), Wassaic Project (New York, US), Marble House Project (Vermont, US), and PLOP (London, UK). He has received the Silver Medal for Young Talents of Vietnamese Fine Arts Universities in 2015 and the Murray Dessner Travel Award in 2018. His work has been shown in New York, London, Philadelphia, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
This illustration is a map that depicts three stages of maturity, in which three decision-making mechanisms are employed by Thuy Kieu, the protagonist of Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du.
The first part on the left corresponds to the first stage, when Thuy Kieu still lives with her parents. Apart from her fall in love with Kim Trong, Kieu does not make any other autonomous decisions. Her life is arranged in the order of Confucian beliefs.
The second part corresponds to the stage of breakdown and collapse, when Kieu is betrayed many times by many people and many beliefs she follows. When Kieu decides to believe in Buddism, it is the moment when the world can no longer provide her anything reliable. Only religion can save her from the meaninglessness of life.
The third part corresponds to the last stage when Kieu meets Tu Hai and the judgment. By now, Kieu has understood that life is essentially unfair, she makes the most of her own power, which is her intelligence and beauty. The fact that she makes pragmatist decisions, contrary to the young Kieu, indicates that she has grown up. Kieu understands morality and belief are individual constructs of an autonomous self. She is determined to build her world from her own decisions.
In the illustration, he does not depict each character in detail, because he considers the characters in Truyen Kieu not real people but living concepts. Because he thinks these concepts are ahistorical and somewhat transcendent, he creates architecture and landscape in a way that prevents the viewer from recognizing them as from a specific era and culture.
Vuong Anh Kiet is 28 years old and a freelance painting artist living and working in Quang Ngai city. He started learning to draw at a young age at Quang Ngai Children's Cultural Palace and took a long break until he took the college entrance exam in H sector (specialized in painting). At this time, he started practicing portrait drawing and color painting. After becoming a student of the Van Lang University, he continued to study figure drawing and color layout.
In 2012, he was introduced to the famous Korean artist Kim Jung Gi by 3D Goldfish painting artist Dinh Tuan Anh and started to follow his style of painting - the Fisheye painting school (maybe this school of art is not popular yet). In 2017, he went to Hanoi to study acrylic painting at Mr. Ta Ton's painting class and developed his career here for 1 year with sketch paintings of Hanoi’s landscape. From 2018 to now, he has been a freelance painting artist and has carried out the Vietnamese superhero comic project "Five-Pointed Star Association".
In der Vergangenheit: Kieu schreitet in eine chaotische Welt mit einem unschuldigen und bedenklichen Gesichtsausdruck. Beschreibung: Vuong Thuy Kieu ist besorgt über die nichtveränderbare Vergangenheit.
Gegenwart: “Kieu Mädchen” im zeitgenössischen sozialen Kontext sind gefangen in Restaurants, Bars, Karaoke-Bars, etc. Die Kunden, welche Kieu umtanzen, repräsentieren drei Klassen: den Arbeiter, den Playboy und den Businessmann. Beschreibung: Das Schicksal der modernen Frau ist immer noch düster und wird kontrolliert von außen.
Zukunft: Eine übernatürliche Macht befreit Kieu von ihren Fesseln. Beschreibung: Die Frauen in der Zukunft werden befreit durch eine Bewegung oder eine vorwärtsgewandte Gesellschaft, welche Frauen als gleichwertig und mit Respekt betrachtet.
