Vietnam Art Collection Opens Shanghai Space
By ANNETTE MEIER
Installation view of "A Beginning: Launching VAC Shanghai" at VAC Shanghai, 2024. Courtesy the Vietnam Art Collection, Hanoi/Shanghai/New York.
On December 7, 2024, the Hanoi-based nonprofit arts organization Vietnam Art Collection (VAC) opened its third space, VAC Shanghai, in the Chinese megacity. The new venue is located in Zhongcheng Valley, a former industrial site turned cultural complex in the Baoshan district, northern Shanghai.
Founded in 2021 in New York by Chinese American collector Muchun Niu, the VAC originally centered on 20th-century Vietnamese art but has since extended its focus to contemporary art practices in Hanoi, with a long-term vision of “supporting artists in production, exhibition, and network opportunities on a global stage.” The organization launched its first archival research projects in early 2023 to study Vietnam’s modern and contemporary art history beyond the umbrella of postcolonialism and Southeast Asian studies.
Modeled after its home base in Hanoi, the VAC Shanghai will organize seasonal exhibitions, educational programs, and short-term residencies for emerging artists of Vietnamese descent to promote networking and cross-cultural dialogues.
The new branch opened with an inaugural group exhibition on December 8, 2024, titled “A Beginning: Launching VAC Shanghai,” which will run until January 5. The show spotlights six artists from the organization’s Hanoi residency program, who are presenting their works for the first time in Shanghai: London-based multidisciplinary artist KV Duong, Ho Chi Minh City-based painter Mai Tạ, Chinese Vietnamese multimedia artist Mr.Bambii, Vinh-born ceramicist Lâm Na, Ho Chi Minh City-based self-taught artist Võ Huỳnh Phú, and Hanoi-based painters Trịnh Cẩm Nhi and Hà Ninh Pham.
Following its China debut, the VAC hopes to establish itself as a unique hub for Southeast Asian art and artists in Shanghai, and will also activate a series of programs in Seoul, New York, and Toronto.
Annette Meier is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.
