February 15, 2007

Aart in Vietnam

By Jon Dillingham

Aart, a new publication chronicling and promoting contemporary art in Viet Nam, has been released in HCM City by Mogas Station, a collective of international artists based in the city.

Published in Singapore and distributed in Viet Nam by the Goethe Institute Ha Noi in co-operation with Singapore Biennale, Aart presents sections on visual art, music, fashion, architecture, society, exhibitions and reviews.

The first issue features the work of Mogas Station Members Hoang Duong Cam (Vietnamese) and Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Vietnamese-Japanese-American) as well as other artists and writers based in Viet Nam, France, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, and the US.

The publication aspires to improve "the quality of cultural discourse and exchange of information within Viet Nam while sharing Viet Nam’s own contemporary arts practice with a larger international audience," said a group statement accompanying the publication.

With articles in both English and Vietnamese, Aart aims to bring foreigners and Vietnamese together through a greater appreciation of art in Viet Nam.

Mogas Station, whose members have exhibited throughout Asia and Europe, launched Aart at the Goethe Institut in Ha Noi last November hot off their LZ installation at the Singapore Biennale 2006.

The publication’s release party, held at the Khanh Casa showroom (11 Mai Thi Luu, District 1) last Friday, also hosted the opening of a photo-collage exhibit by Mogas Station’s Gulschan Gothel (German), which will show until Friday. — VNS

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