connect: is an exhibition series by the ifa-Galleries Stuttgart and Berlin that presents national, regional, or local art scenes which are currently not in the spotlight of the international art world, yet where exciting developments are taking place.
The first exhibition in the connect: series showcases eleven positions by artists from Vietnam who engage with social and societal phenomena in their work and who have made significant contributions to the emergence of a contemporary and relevant art scene in Vietnam. The selection focuses on the cities of Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Until the early 1990s, artistic education in Vietnam was based exclusively on traditional methods and avoided engagement with international or Western art. With the country’s opening and economic growth, more information and visiting lecturers began to enter Vietnam, allowing artistic forms—previously unknown there but now common in international contemporary art—to begin developing.
With artistic contributions by: Hoang Duong Cam, Nguyen Thu Ha, Nguyen Kim Hoang, Nguyen Manh Hung, Nguyen Quang Huy, Dinh Q. Le, Tran Luong, Ly Hoang Ly, Nguyen Minh Phuoc, Truong Tan, and Ha Manh Thang.