Danh Vo
dal 29/5/2009 al 18/7/2009
Segnalato da
29/5/2009
Danh Vo
Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
Les fleurs d'interieur. In his work, the artist has been exploring in different ways the culture and history of his original homeland, Vietnam, which has lead him several times to traces of France's intervention in the country's colonial history. The exhibition presents artworks, artifacts, objects, and documents, which were produced or assembled during Danh Vo's stay in Paris, and that are destined to circulate in other ways and places in the close future.
All that is not Paris being equal in my eyes, I often
regret that wars have spared it, that it has not perished
like so many others. Destroyed, it would have rid me
of the happiness of living here, I could have spent my
days elsewhere, at the ends of the earth. I shall never
forgive Paris for having bound me to space, for making
me from somewhere.
from «Letter to a Faraway Friend», 1957
by E.M. Cioran
Kadist Art Foundation is glad to present Danh Vo’s first solo exhibition in France, entitled "Les fleurs d’in-
térieur" and opening on Saturday, May 30, 2009.
As a structure, Kadist tries to combine as much as possible its different activities —collecting and exhibiting
artworks and accompanying residents in their projects— in order to enable a long-lasting collaboration with
artists. The choice of inviting Danish artist Danh Vo for a residency of five months in Paris was motivated by a
curiosity going beyond a simple interest in his work, namely the will to get an insight of his creative process.
In his work, Danh Vo has been exploring in different ways the culture and history of his original homeland,
Vietnam, which has lead him several times to traces of France’s intervention in the country’s colonial history.
The residency at Kadist thus allowed Danh Vo to investigate further some leads, for instance: the signature
of the Peace Treaty with the USA at Hotel Majestic in Paris in 1973, and botanical species brought back by
French missionaries who had traveled to Vietnam and Asia in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th
century.
The residency was a time of extensive research in archives, looking for original treaties, botanical drawings
and especially going through the Missions Etrangères’ archive, documenting the missionaries presence in
the colonies and the samples, documents, and artifacts they brought back. This investigation was rapidly
digested and gave simultaneously birth to a selection and arrangement of elements, taking into account the
specificity of Kadist’s exhibition space.
The exhibition presented at Kadist Art Foundation thus presents artworks, artifacts, objects, and documents,
which were produced or assembled during Danh Vo’s stay in Paris, and that are destined to circulate in other
ways and places in the close future.
Biography
Born in 1975, Danh Vo is a Danish artist with Vietnamese origins. He lives and works in Berlin.
His work has been shown in several solo exhibitions, including at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 2008 and is
to be presented at Kunsthalle Basel in June, as well as at Hamburger Bahnhof in September 2009.
Danh Vo is represented by the galleries Isabella Bortolozzi in Berlin, Daniel Buchholz in Cologne and ZERO... in Milan.
----
Buenos Aires, April 3rd 2009
To whom it may concern,
Some years ago, I was looking at some old newspapers and found among them ‘The New York Times’ from January
28, 1973. On the front page was written in large letters ‘Vietnam peace pacts signed’. And beneath the headline was
a photo of the ballroom of the former Hotel Majestic, Paris. In the photo there were people sitting in a circle, like in an
arena, discussing the future of Vietnam. Above the arena, the chandeliers of the ballroom were hanging and lightning
up the negotiation table.
As a Vietnamese born in 1975, the year of the Fall of Saigon, I have never had firsthand experiences of the war but
have been raised in the aftermath of the geopolitical conflict. In 1979 my family decided to escape from Vietnam by
boat; and we were among the lucky ones to survive the trip and to receive asylum in the West.
In my practice as an artist I try to research into and work with these historical events in order to understand the cir-
cumstances that have shaped my life.
Some months ago, I heard about the selling and the planned reconstruction of the building of the former Hotel Majes-
tic, and I became very interested in looking into possibilities of exhibiting these chandeliers during the renovation of
the building or acquiring them if possible. My interest for exhibiting these chandeliers is to show them as mute witnes-
ses of an event that was ending the American involvement in the war, the war which at first was initiated by the Ame-
ricans, but wasn’t yet over by the time the peace pacts were signed in Paris. The chandeliers are mute witnesses of
the beginning of a tragedy that affected millions of lives all over South East Asia, and affected my personal story.
I hope for your support and collaboration to make this exhibition idea come true.
Sincerely yours,
Danh Vo
Image: Postcard published by the Mission Etrangères, Paris.
Opening: Saturday, May 30 in the afternoon, from 2pm to 7pm
In presence of Danh Vo and Julie Ault for the presentation of the artist book they collaborated on
Free bus leaving for the Galerie of Noisy-le-Sec from metro Anvers near Kadist at 6:30pm
to see the exhibition "À corps & à textes", curated by Francesco Pedraglio.
Expected to be back in Paris around 10pm.
No reservation needed, depending on the number of seats available.
http://www.noisylesec.fr
Kadist Art Foundation
19 bis - 21 rue des Trois Frères - 75018 Paris
Hours:
From Thursday to Sunday, from 2pm to 7pm or by appointment.