The 2-channel video of the Mao Khe Coal Mine Project was produced from the field trip of 11 artists in October 2001, at Mao Khe coal mine, Quang Ninh province. During over half of a month, together with the miners in the pit, the artists lived, worked, and witnessed the reality of life—naked and harsh but also generous and humane.

The trip is also “the artists’ journey to bring art to a specific community so that together they co-construct an alternative art besides a one-way representation” – said Trần Lương, the initiator and organizer of the trip. “The involvement of contemporary art forms in the local context contributes to reducing the current passive behavior in art practice and appreciation, through which promotes social awareness of both artists and the general audience. This is one of the essential contributions of the Vietnamese contemporary art to social awareness improvement.”

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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.

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This screenings series is a part of APD Art Library Project’s Open Archive Program, with in-depth data collected, restored and conserved systematically by APD, which aims to widely provide information about Vietnamese contemporary art to professionals and the general public.

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