Exhibition Vernissage: Kvet Nguyen

A comprehensive monographic exhibition presenting the latest work of the Slovak-Vietnamese artist Kvet Nguyen.

It is conceived as a visual reading of chapters in the story of the Vietnamese diaspora in the former Czechoslovakia – from post-war migration during the era of socialist internationalism, through the pivotal moment of the Velvet Revolution, to the present day.

A fundamentally historical moment to which the exhibition returns is the so-called "Chrastava children" from 1956. Their arrival in Chrastava near Liberec marked the beginning of the story of the Vietnamese community in Czechoslovakia, which has continued to develop across generations. The connection to this location creates a unique context that still resonates today in collective memory and in contemporary discussions about migration, home, and acceptance. Therefore, this exhibition is undoubtedly important for our exhibition and conceptual work. It ties into the context of the local site, while simultaneously supporting and standing in solidarity with the current Slovak art community.

The work of Kvet Nguyen is simultaneously a search for a visual language capable of capturing the tension of collective trauma and transforming it toward a vision of a more just future. Her works programmatically open up space for dreaming, hope, and the expression of desires that can act as catalysts for change. The exhibition includes various media, including installation, objects, video, textile photography, photographic archives, and documentary photography. In her work, Nguyen often refers to archival materials—official documents and contemporary media that were heavily colored by racist and xenophobic narratives. This material, which challenges the idea of the "colonial innocence" of Central European post-socialist countries, becomes a starting point for the artist. By searching for and presenting suppressed voices, she pays tribute to the resilience of marginalized communities and opens space for collective and individual resistance. The exhibition is the second loose continuation of the exhibition *Until the Water Washes Away the Shore* (Kým voda nezmyje breh) from the Bratislava City Gallery, adapted to the context of Liberec through the Chrastava children.