The publication traces the artist’s beginnings as a painter, his subsequent move toward conceptual and performance art, his foundational role in the Vietnamese contemporary art scene, and the complex role he continues to play in Vietnam and Southeast Asia more broadly. A number of commissioned texts by curators, educators, artists, and scholars unpack the myriad roles Trần embodies, and is constantly merging from one to the next: artist, curator, facilitator, mediator, activist, archivist, mentor. An extensive archive of his curatorial work and community-focused projects has been compiled specifically for this publication. The book is conceived by Biljana Ciric, curator of Trần’s multi-venue traveling solo exhibition Soaked in the Long Rain.
About the Artists
Trần Lương (b. Hanoi, 1960) is a performance and visual artist and a major figure in creating space for critical contemporary art in Vietnam. Among the first local artists to experiment with performance and video, his artwork is grounded in local experience. Active in creating opportunities for artists, Trần co-founded the Gang of Five (1983-1996), which organised monthly exhibitions in alternative spaces. In 1998, he co-founded Nhà Sàn Studio, the country’s first artist-led experimental art space, and curated the majority of its exhibitions in the initial four years. He was founding director of the Hanoi Contemporary Art Centre in 2000, a post from which he resigned in 2003 in protest of government corruption. In 2020 he co-founded the Center for Art Patronage and Development (APD), an organisation focusing on artistic development with the orientation of intersecting activities between artistic development and social development.
Biljana Ciric is an interdependent curator. Ciric was curator of the Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, where she presented ‘Walking with Water’, a solo exhibition by Vladimir Nikolic. She conceived of the inquiry for the first Trans-Southeast Asian Triennial in Guangzhou, ‘Repetition as a Gesture Towards Deep Listening’ (2021/2022), which led to a collaboration with Trần Lương and a number of partner institutions, which made this book and exhibition possible. Ciric was the co-curator of the 3rd Ural Industrial Biennale for Contemporary Art (Yekaterinburg, 2015), curator in residence at Kadist Art Foundation (Paris, 2015) and a research fellow at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Høvikodden, 2016).
About Jameel Arts Centre
Jameel Arts Centre is an independent institution dedicated to exhibiting contemporary art to the public and engaging communities through learning, research and commissions. Founded and supported by Art Jameel, the Centre is located in Jaddaf Waterfront, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
About Art Jameel
Art Jameel is an organisation that supports artists and creative communities. Current initiatives include running heritage institutes and restoration programmes, plus a broad range of arts and educational initiatives for all ages. The organisation’s programmes foster the role of the arts in building open, connected communities; at a time of flux and dramatic societal shifts, this role is understood as more crucial than ever.
About the Publisher
Mousse Publishing is an independent publishing house established in 2008, specializing in contemporary art and culture. Born as a spin-off of Mousse, Mousse Publishing develops tailored editorial projects with artists, curators, editors, galleries, museums, biennials, and other cultural institutions, both public and private.
