Designer Thuy Nguyen brings 'An everyday dream' exhibition to Hanoi

The exhibition "An everydream" by designer Thuy Nguyen is an intersection between folk culture and contemporary art.

After nearly a month of construction and installation, Thuy Nguyen introduced the exhibition in Hanoi on the evening of February 16th. Compared to its launch in Ho Chi Minh City in 2021, this time "An everyday dream" is more neatly decorated, changing some of the scenes.

The exhibition, which lasts until March 26th, is inspired by the song Ngậm Ngùi (composer Pham Duy). The event brings together more than 100 artifacts, including 60 costumes that recreate Thuy Nguyen's mark over more than 10 years of working. The designs revolve around her stories about motherhood, homeland, spirituality and nature. Images in proverbs, rhymes, legends, and Vietnamese folk art combine innovative lines and modern material processing techniques, creating impressive designs.

Inspired by the Cai Luong play My Chau, the designer set up the stage in the style of an ancient opera, displaying two embroidered shirts embossed on non-raw fabric in the 2019 collection.

The exhibition mainly focuses on ao dai of various styles and materials. The designer brings new breath to the traditional ao dai through cut, material, pattern and color.

Highlights are the brocade ao dai in 2015 and the innovative shoulderless ao dai, similar to the strapless dress launched in Rome the same year. In addition, the audience can admire the minimalist ao dai in the collections Gio Mua Ve, Vien Man, Tinh Tang, Mong Mi. Most outfits come with brocade accessories, pearl earrings, and wooden clogs.

 

The theme Light and Shadow is an interference between light and darkness, black and white. Contrasting concepts are expressed on Thuy Nguyen's ao dai through the attachment of beads, stones, and sequins, creating natural motifs on the taffeta fabric background.

The streets and alleys recreate memories of old Hanoi. The patches and blocks on the ao dai resemble bricks. Some designs are inspired by the curved roofs in temples or the shutters at Thuy Nguyen's house in the old winter days. Materials including brocade, non-plastic, organza and digital printing methods are fully exploited.

Thuy Nguyen's play of colors is clearly shown in the exhibition room of the Wrapped in Color. "I see color as a means to express thoughts in a discreet yet passionate way, as a metaphor for emotions," she said. Each color blue, red, pink, yellow, purple, orange... has its own meaning and can send messages about individuality, freedom and strength.

In addition to color, in this section, taking advantage of excess fabric, Thuy Nguyen creates puffy shapes and curved cuts to express romance and softness.

Australian curator - Dolla Merrillees - selected the works in the exhibition. She commented: "Thuy Nguyen focuses on shaping, decorative or exaggerated techniques, drama and brilliant color harmony. The designs show an understanding of the symbiosis between tradition and development, between East and West".

Thuy Nguyen was born in 1981 in Hanoi, graduated from Vietnam University of Fine Arts, and received a doctorate from Kiev National Academy of Arts and Architecture, Ukraine. She has 20 years of practicing painting on many materials. In 2016, she founded The Factory Contemporary Art Center, to connect the community of artists, designers, and creatives.

In 2019, Forbes magazine honored her as one of the 50 most influential women in Vietnam. In addition to painting, Thuy Nguyen develops fashion design in parallel, releasing regular collections every year.

 

Photo: Giang Huy

Content: Ý Ly