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About this talk

While it has become increasingly common for contemporary artists to emphasize polyvocality in historical representation and to test the possibilities of giving form to memory, this essay examines specific approaches to historical narration in the context of postsocialist Vietnam. I use parahistory to describe artistic strategies that emphasize movement and affect, and operate crossings of one time and place with another to unsettle the teleological closures of the national narrative. Such crossings include historical episodes of famine and food rationing in Bengal, Japan, and Vietnam, as captured in films and performance works by Thảo Nguyên Phan (b. 1987) and Tiffany Chung (b. 1969). What is striking in this comparison of artworks is the way they parallel and intersect with the state’s own memory projects, particularly in their creative and curatorial staging of popular history. At the same time, they illuminate how difficult histories are rendered both present and indeterminate, placed yet displaced through their periodization as bridges within a developmental timeline. As such, these artworks reflect but also mediate the politicized logic of history, and its deliberate rehabilitations, as it has informed public understandings of the past in postsocialist Vietnam. Registration This event is free to attend, but registration is required. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Organisers This event is jointly organised by the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies and the School of Arts South and Southeast Asia Research Seminar. Contact centres@soas.ac.uk Header image: Florian Wehde via Unsplash

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