Garden Grove, CA – (November 15, 2024) – The Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) proudly presents here/there: chúng tôi, its 2024 Gallery Beyond Walls Exhibition curated by Audrey Bùi. The exhibition examines the transformative power of care within one’s community, expressed through various artistic mediums, and the way in which art can both simultaneously challenge and nurture tradition. Featured artists include Anh Nguyễn, Anh Thy Hoang, Ann Phong, Chau Nguyễn, Julia Huỳnh, Michael Thế Khôi Trần, Nguyễn Thị Phương-Lan, and Veronica Y Phạm.
Here/there: chúng tôi will run from December 6th to 16th at the Black Umbrella Gallery in Garden Grove, California. An opening night reception will launch the exhibition on December 6th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, with special workshops and community events. Admission is free and open to the public.
“As a multi-media show, here/there: chúng tôi is a reflection of community based archival work in contemporary art practices. The methodology of preserving, creating, and transforming the interstices of culture and care is done through the interjecting of personal histories, readjusting, and championing alternate narratives in which reinvigorates communal memory and autonomy. Culture making and community building, shown through this show, is done through the active practice of art making which relies simultaneously on the past and present” says curator Audrey Bùi.
About the Curator: Audrey Bùi is a contemporary art historian with a focus in ethical curation through an analysis of trans-cultural interconnectivity, relational work, and an emphasis on the potential for recomposition and transformative change in regards to contemporaneity. She also champions methods of compassionate archiving by re-working daily practices of display and representation. Her work foregrounds rethinking the impacts of looking, while also championing personhood over subjecthood. With a BA in Political Science emphasizing Cultural Politics and Jurisprudence, a BA in Contemporary Art History from California State University, Long Beach, as well as a MA in Museum Studies from New York University, Audrey Bùi specializes in Contemporary Asian Art History and affective ontologies of place, being, and culture making. Her research hones in on relationships between queerness, contemporary hyphenate identities, atavism, and communal citational practices in regards to exhibition practices.
December 6, 2024 to December 16, 2024
Gallery hours: Monday to Saturday, from 12pm to 8 pm
Black Umbrella Gallery: 12951 Main Street Garden Grove, California 92840
Visit us at https://vaala.org/art-exhibitions/here-there-chung-toi/
Special Exhibition Programming includes:
- Opening Night Reception – Friday, December 6th from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
- Community Circle + Cyanotype Workshop – Saturday, December 7th from 1:00pm to 4:00 pm
- Southeast Asian Makers Market – Saturday, December 14th from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- Seed Library – Saturday, December 14th from 2:00 pm to 5:00pm
here/there: chúng tôi is made possible by Stop The Hate Program Funding from The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Civil Rights, Accessibility and Racial Equity (CARE) Office.
####
Gallery Beyond Walls (GBW) is a multi-faceted, visual arts program focused on engaging the community in the arts, facilitating dialogue, revitalizing marginalized communities, and highlighting freedom of expression. Creative projects can be created by the community themselves, as a collaboration between the community and professional artists, or solely by professional artists with input from the community. The projects can result in small-scale art projects (such as paintings), exhibitions, large-scale permanent interventions (such as murals or public art “sculptures”), or temporary installations.
About the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA): VAALA was founded in 1991 by a group of Vietnamese American journalists, artists, and friends to fill a void in the community and provide a space for newly resettled immigrant artists to express themselves. VAALA’s mission is to connect and enrich communities through Vietnamese art and culture. Historically run entirely by volunteers, VAALA is a community-based non-profit organization. Over the years, VAALA has collaborated with diverse community partners to organize numerous cultural and artistic events. VAALA’s four core programs include the annual Viet Film Fest and Viet Book Fest, the Gallery Beyond Walls program featuring art exhibitions, and free art and film workshops for youth, such as Youth in Motion: A Filmmaking Workshop for Emerging Filmmakers.
Contact Info:
Audrey Bùi
Curator
audreybui@vaala.org
Corey Linh
Communication Specialist
Ysa Le
Executive Director
ysale@vaala.org