It has been almost 21 years since Mao Khe Coal Mine Project started in October 2001. At that moment, neither the organizers nor the artists who had been involved in the project could have predicted that it would become a part of Southeast Asian and East Asian contemporary art’s history.

Four months after its completion, the project’s exhibition was opened at Hanoi Contemporary Art Center in February 2002. Its video documentary was then largely shown at various locations around the world until recently, right before the outbreak of Covid 19: from the House of World Culture (HKW) in Berlin, Germany to the Havana Biennale in La Havana, Cuba, SEA experimental film festival in Bangkok, Thailand & Redcat L.A., USA, National Gallery Singapore, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, Art Museum Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan…

More than two decades have passed, yet there were not many chances for the project documentary to be shown publicly in Vietnam (only twice and under limited conditions). Therefore, the Vietnamese audience especially the young generation only knows briefly about it.

The Mao Khe Coal Mine Project 2001 Screening and Talk brings an opportunity for participants to meet and discuss with artists from the project and throwback to its memories, hopefully will help young-generation artists and art lovers better understand the transition period of Vietnamese art from Modern to Contemporary and inherit the great creative energy from previous periods of time despite the differences and difficulties.

* This event is moderated by curator Lê Thuận Uyên.

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Mao Khe Coal Mine Project 2001 Video Information:

A 2-channel video

Length: 18 minutes 41 seconds each channel

Ratio: 4:3 per channel

Resolution: HD

Language: Vietnamese (with English subtitles)

The version is supported by National Gallery Singapore, originally created for the exhibition “Between Declarations and Dreams: Art of Southeast Asia since the 19th Century” at Southeast Asia Permanent Galleries / National Gallery Singapore, exhibited from 2015 to 2021.

* The event is organized by APD Center for Art Patronage and Development with the support from Temasek and UPGen Vietnam.