Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai
Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai (b. 1983 in Hanoi) graduated from Hue University of Arts in 2006 and completed her MA in Visual Arts at the Mahasarakham University, Thailand in 2012. Working across drawing, sculpture, photography, performance, installation and video, her art reflects the experiences of various marginalized communities – the war widow, the migrant laborer, the refugee, the transexual and more – questioning the social assumptions that impact their lives. Aiming to prompt sensorial and empathic responses, her earlier works concentrated on issues relating to women’s experiences and rights in Asian social contexts. Recently, Mai’s practice has turned to questions of identity, both personal and collective, including issues of migrants’ experiences and rights.
Mai teaches at Hue University; and is co-founder of No Cai Bum, an artist-initiated, artist-run festival in Hue. In 2021, she received the Artist Excellence Award, initiated by The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre. In 2014, she was awarded the Pollock-Krasner grant. Her notable exhibitions include No more, not yet, Nguyen Art Foundation, HCMC, Vietnam, 2023; Illuminated Curiosities, Nguyen Art Foundation, HCMC, Vietnam, 2022; Another World, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Germany, 2016; Scars, Gallery PM, Croatia, 2016; and Day By Day, Sao La Art Space, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2015.