Textures of Remembrance: Vietnamese Artists and Writers Reflect on the Vietnamese Diaspora
- Chandler Museum
Through contemporary art and writings, the traveling exhibit Textures of Remembrance: Vietnamese Artists and Writers Reflect on the Vietnamese Diaspora explored a date that impacts many Vietnamese Americans: April 30, 1975, the end of the Vietnam War. Featuring works by 25 Vietnamese artists and writers, these narratives texturize the Vietnamese diasporic experience, in which refugees are not objects of rescue but instead subjects of artistic and political transformation. Textures of Remembrance was open at the Chandler Museum from January 12, 2024 through March 3, 2024.
April 30 is a date often remembered poignantly, especially by those of South Vietnamese descent; as well, it is a date that denotes new beginnings. On this date in 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, marking the end of the Vietnam War. Reflecting on this day from past to present through written words, visual creations, and audiovisual components, this interdisciplinary exhibit reveals an intimate perspective of the diasporic experience that has been gathered, created, collected and re-collected, and imagined and re-imagined since 1975.
The creative pieces showcased – curated by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network – reveal personal struggles and memories, demonstrating the continued effects of the Vietnam War on identity, sense of family and community, and representation. Importantly, this exhibition shares works made within and for the Vietnamese diasporic community to humanize the refugee experience from the inside-out. The project aims to present a humanities-driven exploration of the impact of the Vietnam War, collect and share stories in the diasporic Vietnamese community to foster healing and connection, build intergenerational and cross-cultural understanding, and counter stereotypes of and racism towards Vietnamese Americans and refugees.
Exhibition Support
Textures of Remembrance is a traveling exhibit created in partnership by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network, Exhibit Envoy, and Oakland Asian Cultural Center. This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and California Arts Council, a state agency with a mission to strengthen arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. Visit http://calhum.org and http://arts.ca.gov .
About Exhibit Envoy
Exhibit Envoy provides traveling exhibitions and professional services to museums throughout California. For more information, visit http://www.exhibitenvoy.org
About the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN)
The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) celebrates and fosters diasporic Vietnamese literary voices. DVAN promotes nonfiction, fiction, and poetry to empower Vietnamese artists in the diaspora to inspire understanding and dialogue within our community, and with others. Our complex and diverse stories must be championed and passed on to current and future generations. We are refugees, immigrants, survivors, and descendants, and our stories must be heard. For more information, visit http://www.dvan.org .