The Vietnamese filmmaker is the first recipient of the Han Nefkens Foundation’s new prize, organised in collaboration with M+ museum in Hong Kong, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and the Singapore Art Museum
Nguyễn Trinh Thi is the inaugural winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation’s award for moving-image work by Asian artists. The Moving Image Commission prize, which comes with $100,000, is organised in collaboration with M+ museum in Hong Kong, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and the Singapore Art Museum – funding the artist to produce new work over the course of 18 months which will be shown at the participating museums.
The Hanoi-based documentarian said: ‘Thank you so much for creating such a generous commission for Asia and Southeast Asia, where non-commercial experimental art practices still receive so little acknowledgement and attention.’
‘Nguyễn Trinh Thi was selected for her compelling video works that weave unspoken stories about Vietnam within the broader historical, cultural and political realities of Southeast Asia,’ the jury members – comprised of the museums’ directors (the Mori Art Museum’s Kataoka Mami, M+’s Suhanya Raffel and Singapore Art Museum’s Eugene Tan) – said. ‘We believe it is imperative for Nguyễn to show these perspectives from the region and we are enthusiastic about the use of listening as a methodology, especially in terms of perceiving history in Nguyễn’s works.’
