Invisible Freedom: Conversation with Nguyen Nhu Huy

Unique not only in the art world, but an almost unfathomable entity in Vietnam, ZeroStation, established in 2011, is an art residency program, event space and curatorial platform based in Ho Chi Minh City. In May the organization was awarded a very generous one-time grant from the Japan Foundation Asia Center, to help foster inter-Asian relationships via cultural exchange; it was one of only two winners within the contemporary arts along with Chiang Mai Art Conversation. ZeroStation has named its grant project Asian In/VISIBLE Station (AIS) and has broken it into a four-quarter program that will consist of two to five events that range from discussions and exhibitions to film festivals. Running from 2016 to 2017, the multi-national, multi-platform program plays on the ideas of being “visible invisibly” and “visibly invisible.” ZeroStation founder Nguyen Nhu Huy explains that the idea of “visible invisibly” is meant to escape the traditional framework of exhibition-making by using various mediums and unconventional spaces to show the works, which include coffee shops, street walls and cinemas; while “visibly invisible” is intended to define ZeroStation’s position of championing continued artistic connections beyond its own programs and by taking a laissez-faire approach to curating the events in the AIS project.

• Vietnam