‘Porcelain’ – an exhibition by the Danish artist group Superflex in collaboration with The Propeller Group will be launched at 6:00pm on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at San Art, 3 Me Linh Street, Binh Thanh District, HCMC.
The exhibition presents key elements in the making of a three-part television series called “Porcelain”, filmed in Vietnam and broadcasted on Vietnamese television in March 2010.
The film was based on actual historical events surrounding a cursed shipment of porcelain from Asia to Europe in the 16th century. Upon arrival in Holland a huge auction of the porcelain was conducted and the profit was phenomenal since Europeans at that point did not know how to make porcelain. The importance of this auction was unprecedented and it provided enormous economic stimulus in the entire region.
This historic event formed the basis for a three-part television series called “Porcelain” – a joint project between the Danish artist group Superflex and The Propeller Group, a collective composed of visual artists from Saigon and Los Angeles. Sponsored by the Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg, The Netherlands – the work’s first showcase was in ‘Porcelain Pirates’ at this museum in October 2009.
Speaking about the project, Rasmus Nielsen of Superflex says: “We wanted to recreate Dutch history from a Vietnamese perspective using authentic historic objects and adding a disturbing layer of constructed props to the official memory of the Dutch”.
The exhibition was jointly supported by the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) and the Danish Arts Council with the objective to increase critical dialogue and recognition of the creative relationship between visual art, film and the consumer media industry in Vietnam.
As part of the exhibition, Rasmus Nielsen of Superflex will be giving a talk about their recents works @ 3:00pm Friday, August 13, 2010 at San Art.
The exhibition continues through September 20, 2010
