The series Forefinger is rooted in the context of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War (1975–1978), during which many men avoided conscription by cutting off their index fingers – the crucial trigger finger needed to fire a gun. Many were pressured into this act by older family members who had endured the horrors of the earlier Vietnam War and sought to spare the younger generation from the same fate. This history is deeply personal to Tran Tuan, as his father and three uncles had their forefingers severed at the instigation of his grandfather, a former field medic in the Vietnam War.
Today, these visible handicaps serve as an unwelcome reminder of the war, and the story is largely overlooked in Vietnam. Forefinger is emblematic of Tran Tuan’s central concern to mediate and reconcile the baggage of Vietnam’s past with its present. The series of sculptures, while fully functional as furniture, is draped in coverings that evoke high-end designer pieces. This transformation underscores a symbolic exchange: pain for peace, loss for gain – a reminder that there is much to honor in the sacrifices made for today’s peace.
(Edited from text excerpt provided by Roots)
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Exhibition history:
– If the World Changed, Singapore Biennale 2013, curated by a 27-member curatorial team from Southeast Asia, Singapore, 2013.
– Mien Meo Mieng, curated by Tran Luong, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, 2015.
– Polyphony: Southeast Asia, curated by Lin Shuchuan, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China, 2019.
– White Noise, curated by Van Do, Nguyễn Art Foundation, HCMC, Vietnam, 2023.
– Stratum 0, curated by Le Thuan Uyen, The Outpost Art Organisation, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2023.