STORYTELLERS
MZUNG NGUYEN
Mzung Nguyen (b. 1982) is an interdisciplinary artist from Vietnam with a background in journalism and filmmaking. Her diverse interests and skills make her a multipotentiality. Mzung Nguyen completed her journalism studies in Hue, Vietnam (2006) and then pursued intensive training in filmmaking, including programs with the Ford Foundation in Hanoi (2007-2008), the University of Southern California in America (2009), and the Asia Film Academy in South Korea (2009). For the first decade of her career, Mzung Nguyen focused on writing and producing documentaries while living in various countries abroad. Her duo of experimental films, "Sleeping in the City" (2016) and "The Light after Life" (2017), were the result of her cross-cultural observations. More recently, Mzung Nguyen has turned her attention to the arts, exploring oil painting, collage, sculpture, and installation. In 2022, she exhibited her art collection for the first time in Vietnam, featuring a unique series of mix-media paintings titled "Movement”. While her art no longer directly reflects the social and cultural complexities of her documentary work, she still aims to capture the essence of transmutation's stillness in her creative output.
Art Exhibition
* Introspection, solo exhibition, 2023 / 11:11D’artistes, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* Movement, solo exhibition, 2022 / Ho Chi Minh city Museum of Fine Arts, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* Movement, solo exhibition, 2022 / Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam Film screening & awards
* Sleeping in the City & The Light after Life, experimental films (p. 2016) / Screening at Carsey- wolf center, UC Santa Barbara, USA, 2018 Screening at Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt, 2017
* When Our Gardens Grow Silent (p. 2015), documentary Golden Kinabalu Award of KKIFF 2017 Special Mention – for Cinematography of KKIFF 2017 Special Jury, Vietnam wildlife film fest, 2015
*Khe Hở, short film (p. 2009) Silver Prize, 2009
Artist Statement
My artworks are an exploration of the concept of liminality - the state of being in-between. I am deeply inspired by the fusion of various creative disciplines, which allows me to transcend the confines of conventional thinking and delve into the realm of the unknown. My perspective is one that embraces the complexity of existence and recognizes the inherent duality that exists within everything. The bustling metropolis, with its vibrant energy and compressed spaces, embodies the essence of this duality - the interplay between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, growth and stillness. Through my art, I seek to capture the beauty and poignancy of these transitional moments, where change is imminent and uncertainty reigns. By embracing the transitory nature of existence, I hope to offer viewers a glimpse into the profound interconnectedness of all things.
TRA NGUYEN
Tra Nguyen experiments with theater and builds frameworks to transfer such capacity.
Former Acting Director of Sàn Art, the longest-running independent art space in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), she has contributed to various educational programs for visual art.
Trà has earned her MFA in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon University (US) on Fulbright scholarship. Her theater works, typically extremely slow-pacing, seek to opens up and resides in the quieting space of attention. Her screenplays on the other hand reflect the osmosis of sciences in modern life, portraying the human struggle to connect in the digitally webbed world. She is currently based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where her independent initiative, The Run - A Theater Project, seeks to build infrastructure for experimental theater-making via production, training, and critical discourse.
CURATOR
Irene Öhler - Founder of Lightpath Leadership, is passionate about leadership development and women's empowerment. Irene has more than 20 years of international experience in HR development, having worked with Fortune 500 corporates and governments in Europe, China, Brazil, New Zealand, and Vietnam as an executive coach and consultant, Her mission is to ignite leadership and support organizations to nurture talent, through executive coaching and delivery of programs designed especially for female executives.
Since her arrival in Vietnam in 2012, Irene has become a sought-after expert in Vietnam for her work to promote women's leadership. she is the co-author of a best-selling book on Vietnamese women leaders, Ba Trieu's 21st Century Daughters, Stories of Remarkable Vietnamese Women. She also curates the unique live event series, the Women's Storytelling Salon in Hanoi and HCMC.
Since 2014, Irene has organized 31 Women's Storytelling Salons in Hanoi, HCMC as well as tailored SALONS for Flinders University's Women's Leadership Development Programmes.
