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Podcast: Freedom for Artistic Expressions in Vietnam

Researcher Linh Le interviews artist-curator Bill Nguyễn, in a wide ranging conversation about historical and contemporary censorship in Vietnam.

Bill Nguyễn is an artist-curator committed to nurturing alternative, locally-driven methods and platforms for curation and art education in Vietnam. He is Director of the Nguyen Art Foundation (HCMC) and co-founder of Manzi Art Space,Hanoi. His select curatorial works include: ‘Realigning the Cosmos’ (2020–ongoing), ‘We’re in this, together’—a ‘Pollination’ project (2018), ‘Spirit of Friendship’ (2017) and ‘0395A.ĐC’ (2017).

Linh Le (b.1993) is a curator, researcher and writer from Vietnam.

Listen to the podcast below or on Spotify.

For more information on the artists, events and studios mentioned in this podcast, please refer to the links below.

The Nguyen Art Foundation: https://nguyenartfoundation.com/

“Flying Up” / “Bay lên”, a performance by artist Lại Diệu Hà. Link: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/terrifying-performance-by-vietnamese-artist-E4939.html 

In:Act : https://inactevent2010.wordpress.com/

Nhà Sàn studio: https://nhasan.org/introduces [The same collective that Bill mentioned at 28:30]

38.00 — Bùi Quang Viễn’s case: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/culture/artist-forced-to-destroy-paintings-for-unlicensed-exhibition-4500695.html

41:00 – artists work that is not shown and posting of “Excuse Me” posts. → Trương Tân: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/truong-tan

The SEA Artistic Freedom RADAR was launched in 2021 by ArtsEquator, in collaboration with Five Arts Centre. In August 2026, Five Arts Centre assumed the management of the programme. Learn more about RADAR here.

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