Tuan Mami

Tuan Mami has participated in international art events and exhibitions including Plastic Myths, Asian Culture Center, Korea (2015) Changwon Sculpture Biennale (2014); Pharmacide Project, Traveling Between Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, And France (2012) ; Beyond Pressure; Burma (2011), The 7th Asia-Europe Art Camp – Art Workshop Luxembourg/Shanghai (2009-2010); Institute of Contemporary art in Singapore(2011); A Crossroads At The Institute Of Contemporary Art Singapore (2011); Utopia, Japan Foundation, Hanoi, (2012); Celebration Of Our Moment And Farewell Party, Halle 6, Munich (2011); And What Is Mom Waiting For?, Hooyong Art Center, South Korea (2011); Hà nội- Berlin, Berlin(2009). He has been an artist-in-residence at Hoyoong performing arts center in South Korea, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo; Organhaus Art Space, China, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 934 Studio, China; Sàn Art, Vietnam

Myth in East Mist is a project based on research about the Vietnamese community in South Korea, where about 65,000 multicultural Vietnamese–Korean families live. Most of the families consist of Vietnamese brides who have come to South Korea to marry a Korean man. Many brides bring their mothers from Vietnam to stay with them, most of which cannot speak Korean, have no friends, and remain isolated. This artwork is a way of remedying dismissed cultures, pressures from non-stop journeying to find a better life, and of filling the borders between geographical gaps, spaces, times and different cultures. To express feelings such as absence, love or remembrance, Tuan Mami chose to use the ritual and hobby of knitting - inspired by a lot of stories and old myths of Vietnamese women who stayed quiet and lonely waiting for their beloved ones to come back home from the battle zone safely. These were women who knitted sweaters and scarves to send to their men as a symbol of protection and as a love message. By utilizing the old myths, Tuan Mami creates a platform in the gallery space for Vietnamese women in South Korea where they not only enact a knitting ritual, but also where they can meet each other and share their stories.

Tuan Mami graduated from Hanoi Fine Art University in 2006. He was Visiting Faculty at San Francisco Art Institute in 2013. He founded MAC-Hanoi, a Mobile Art Center in 2012 and co-founded of Nha San Collective in 2013 - a group of young artists who dedicate ourselves to pushing boundaries for freedom of expression within the Vietnam context in relation to globalization.

Tuan Mami (born 1981) is a Vietnamese conceptual artist based in Hanoi. Tuan Mami's works are often based on site-specific and re-constructional concepts to deal with questions about art, life, meaning and social interactions between people. Constantly exploring new mediums and methods of expression, Tuan Mami is known for his daring, and increasingly meditative experimentations with installation, video, performance and conceptual art.

The artwork is based on research done at Room 1, Nha San Collective space at Zone 9, Hanoi - the former Central Pharmaceutical Factory II, which originated from Army Medical Department Pharmaceutical Factory (established in 1947 with the purpose of producing medicines for the army). The permeation of perennial chemicals makes the room reeked of medicines and it is deeply ingrained in the humid walls, creating a haunting atmosphere about life, death and the invisible existence of the physical world. Tuan Mami chose the most suitable cacti to grow in boxes filled with of humid wall mortar from Room 1 itself to and then put the cacti there right in the room. Through the retention and transformation of material, the material itself becomes a historical existence.