Nguyễn Art Foundation is proud to support kulavietnam with An Exercise in Resonance – a response essay to the exhibition In absence, presence

Learn more about the exhibition In absence, presence here

Excerpt from kulavietnam‘s foreword:

“Throughout human history, death has always been a subject that provokes deep contemplation and fuels creative inspiration. Each culture has their own ways to cope and reconcile with death through rituals and beliefs with the aim of ‘communalizing’ and assisting the living in their acceptance of loss. The realm of death never ceases to fascinate us,for it remains a domain that humans have never truly seen or controlled. Perhaps this is why, since ancient times, many cultures have focused on constructing the afterlife as a dwelling place for spirits after they complete their earthly duties. Although concepts of this world differ, they share certain similarities, such as the notion that death is not necessarily an end but the beginning of a new form of existence.

At the exhibition In absence, presence, artists expressed their perspectives on life and death through unique artistic media and languages, bearing strong personal imprints while expanding the boundaries of understanding death in Vietnam’s indigenous cultures. Re-viewing the works in the exhibition through an anthropological lens, Kulavietnam proposes an intercultural perspective to draw resonance beyond the physicality of the exhibition space.”

–

NAF’s Publications foreground the importance of reading and writing about art and culture as modes of knowledge production and transmission. We commission experts and writers, young and established, from both within and outside of Vietnam to develop publications with a local focus, but that embrace regional and international exchange.