The Summer of 2015 the Swedish museum Bildmuseet has chosen Contemporary Vietnamese art as main theme. The exhibition is called Mien Meo Mieng, which is translated as “the land of distortion”. So far this is the biggest exhibition of Vietnamese art in Sweden. It consists of sculptures, paintings, drawings, videos and art constellations. One of Vietnam’s most acknowledged curator Tran Luong has coorporated with Bildmuseet to produce Mien Meo Ming.
The exhibition presents work of art by 14 Vietnamese artists. The message in “the land of distortion” is to express a serious and critical Vietnamese point of view of the Vietnamese society by innoscent and sometimes humorous art. It is based on an old Vietnamese phrase “roll your tongue seven times before you speak”.
The art treat issues like aftermath of the war, freedom of speech, economical issues, migration and the vulnerability of the Vietnamese unity. Some of the artwork has been under construction for two years while some has been especially made for this particular exhibition. Among the artists is Bang Nhat Linh, Pham Tran Viet Nam, Nguyen The Son and Nguyen Huy An. This is the first time all of the 14 Vietnamese artists will present their art in Sweden.
The curator Tran Luong has chosen the 14 different artist.
“I want to make a change,” he says. The political censorship in Vietnam makes it very diffucult to work as an artist in Vietnam, and therefore many art pieces are not allowed to be presented in the homecountry. To be shown in public the artist has to cover everything who can be interpreted as an critism to the regime. Tran Luong is happy to give the opportunity to let these 14 artists show their work in public in Sweden.
Mien Meo Mieng will beside being an art exhibition also consist of different activities like artist presentations, lectures, open photo workshop and pedagogical programs are arranged during September and October.
The exhibition began 14 June and will end 1 November 2015.
