„The Return“ the latest art project of the Le Brothers
“The Return” is the latest art project of Le Brothers with the support of Nguyen Dang Truong Lam (camera) and Dang Hoang Anh (technical), following their previous art project that begins by “The Bridge” (2010), a series of on-site performances from the Hien Luong Bridge, which divided Vietnam into the two regions of the North and the South, to the North-South Korean border near Panmunjom, and the Berlin Wall that divided Germany for nearly half a century. "Separation and Reunion" became one of the major topics of the twin artists for more than a decade when arts became a channel to reveal the individual history, memories, and the past with many layers and unknown meanderings.
During the two residency months of March-April 2023 in Germany, Le Brothers met and talked with many people in the Vietnamese expatriate community living in cities such as Halle, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, and Leipzig. They come from various historical periods and backgrounds: international students and labor exchange workers in the 70s and 80s, immigrant workers after Doi Moi (Renovation period, 1990s), second-generation young people born and raised in Germany, and other Vietnamese students studying abroad in recent years. This visual exhibition is a multimedia installation built by hundreds of photo documents selected from more than 1,500 images, and a video of the twin artists in conversation with Vietnamese people in Germany. The photos printed in different dimensions and hung on large-scale nets in the gallery create a multi-layered visual installation. The pictures are both separated and overlapped on each other like layers of memory that time can hardly erase as a colorful collage panorama of the diaspora. The single conversation, image, and video record is a metaphor for leaving and returning in many twists and turns, feelings, desires, and ambiguities about the future where memories and reality blur into one.
The exhibition is the result of a three-month residency of the Le Brothers in Halle with the support of the
Goethe-Institut Hanoi and the
Art Foundation Sachsen-Anhalt.
Bio of Le Brothers
© Private
Thanh Le Ngoc and
Hai Le Duc (Le Brothers), born in 1975 in Quang Binh province, graduated from the Hue College of Arts in 2000. The twin artists are known for their performances and video works highlighting the metaphor of similarity. Their works reflect the issue of Southern and Northern Vietnam, and other divided places to indicate the unique approach to history, identity, and interpretations of the past in the present.
Le Brothers have exhibited and performed in internationally prestigious art events and locations, including B3 film Biennale Frankfurt (2023), The Nord Gallerie in Berlin (2018), Vietnam Eye in START at Saatchi Gallery in London (2017) The Jim Thompson Art Center in Bangkok (2016), Gwangju Museum of Art (2016), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2015), Iran CP Biennale (2014), Singapore Biennale (2013), Cheongju Complex Cultural Center, Korea (2012), Saigon Open City, Vietnam (2006) among others.
Their works are collected by numerous national and international museums and private collections. Currently, they are based in Hue City, Vietnam.
Back
