BackSneaky Week
A series of performance art related events
in Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and Hanoi, Vietnam
Submitted by Pham Duc T_ng
Summary of the project:
Phase 1: 7 performing days in public spaces
Phase 2: editing recorded images/videos and Hue-Saigon artists start to travel to Hanoi
Phase 3: screening - discussion - finalization of the project
Form of project: performance art - screening – discussion
Project Purpose:
- To promote discussion and practicing performance art space in community space through the context that contemporary art is in need of encouragement and interaction from local and international community.
- To promote and practice performance art in different public spaces, for example: train stations, parks, streets, etc.
- To provide opportunity of communication and exchange idea, experience, feedback after the project.
- To call for co-operation and contribution of ideas from arts students and young artists for projects afterwards.
- To increase cultural communication and discussion among different areas/cities in Vietnam.
- To increase and develop interaction in performance work, and search for different reactions between performer and people of public spaces.
- To make continuous steps that help performance art be adapted with public spaces and unofficial artistic spaces in Vietnam.
- To create inspiration of discussing and constructing art projects which are able to be adapted with public spaces.
Project form:
- Performance
- Screening
- Discussion
Time frame:
Phase 1: 7 performing days in public spaces (from 10 to 17 November 2007)
Students- artists from Hue-Saigon-Hanoi will select one appropriate
space (in their local) and do their performances (this week we do not
publicize and distribute invitations)
Phase 2: editing recorded images/videos (from 18 to 25 November 2007)
and Hue-Saigon artists start to travel to Hanoi (from 26 to 29 November 2007): transportation: train in 3 days.
We will arrange accommodation, transportation for them in city in 5 days
29 November 2007: students-artists from Hanoi-Hue-Saigon meet and discuss
30 November 2007: students-artists from Hanoi-Hue-Saigon finish preparation for screening
Phase 3: screening- discussion-concluding project (1 to 2 December 2007)
1 to 2 December 2007 5PM: launching screening program "Sneaky Week" of performance in Hanoi-Hue-Saigon
Venue: Studio Duc's House, Hoang Hoa Tham, Hanoi
Equipment: DVD players and projector (duration: 2 days)
2 December 2007 9AM: conclusion of project and discussion
Venue: Studio Duc's house, Hoang Hoa Tham, Hanoi
Content: exchange idea and experience of taking illicitly in performance art in public spaces & party
Some proposed ideas of participants (for reference):
Truong Thien: ‘RED PARTY - BLUE PARTY - YELLOW PARTY’
"I am the organizer, any meal, small party, I can always manage to make it happen, with or without earlier preparation.
I can organize one RED PARTY, with dishes that I cook, reserved canned food or cake.
I can organize BLUE PARTY, with anything blue, edible or inedible
I can organize YELLOW PARTY, small party without cost any coin just as the ancient story "cooking axe soup", I only need 1 table then I would be able to arrange something.
Tien Trong Nghia: ‘Private Perceiving Point’
Each person always has particular personal view about 1 other person,
1 circumstance, 1 social case… In private perceiving point, they may have obvious and proper vision on individual, however may not be accurate in general. At the moment when perceiving one issue, I will look at it directly into its innermost for the most accurate result.
How about you?
Le Thi Minh Nguyet:
Original idea: I have heard about 2 persons after one funny story, they lead to argument, and finally one person had injured face.
I know one girl who was killed by her boyfriend's murder to her neck
Game over
and I would like to do that performance about what remains after "Game Over"
Performance description:
I stand on the 30-metre-long white cloth, on my forehead is written
"Game Over" and I perform movements of a human being in lonely and shameful life.
Le Viet Trung:
Original idea: you will encounter in yourself the pressure of emotions, ideas, sayings… Because of lack of self-confidence, hesitation or being warned… that you do not dare to release all of your emotion or speak out the truth in life. The pressure until one highest point will be like full-blown balloon, it will be exploded
Performance description: I will wrestle with a bottle of water (full water PET bottle) until its cap is flew away and water is poured out (other ideas are under construction and supplement)
Audience:
Public audience in public spaces
Professionals
People who care about arts
Communication:
Our project will be announced on website, blog of young participating artists. Our project will be announced through email.
Our project will be announced through posters, flyers, invitations, etc.
Impact of the project:
At first, project is culturally discerned by participants. Its beginning point is from culture concern that whether culture remains frankly in the positive way in each cultural project or activities (particularly in this ‘Sneaky Project’)
Through the period of non-profit cultural activities in Vietnam, we are conscious that many are out of arts world when the artists have not recognized that they need to put their arts into real life much more directly. Or saying in different way, they are still waiting for the form of "level", in which the gap between artists-artworks and audience is very obvious.
We are looking forward to this project. Because when the artists are positioned in life-real cultural atmosphere, they realize themselves in the unfamiliar context where they are not considered in artist role. In such difficult circumstances when there is no glow of being artists, how they will behave with culture and public? In the environment among equal people, the artists will be conceal, comprehend and reflex the culture.
Culture is to qualify the people, therefore they can understand 'culture’ in different meanings. And, in this ‘Sneaky Week" project, we hope it will indicate the characteristic of participating artists.
When their role of being artists is taken away but to be the medium of
art activities, we had indeed several results during project constructing process. The fact is that many artists were very eager to participate on receiving invitation; however, some showed their hesitation after they were clarified its format/structure. We have positive view on this, since it can be considered as filter in young artist community. This process certainly contributes essential meaning to the long-run step of performance arts and other forms of arts in general. Moreover, it is possibly to confirm the survival of performance arts in this difficult-for-art land.
This project's name also expresses its high adaptation, that all the values we can imagine and make it visual through communication. And the consciousness of artist role is automatically being absorbed. This leads to the appearance of criterion: culture (to assess human being).