A Night of Performances:
CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI
(with the VLC Band and Invited Friends)
2024Live performance, 60 mins
HD video, stereo sound, 10 min
Participants: Koa Pham, Trâm Nguyen, VLC Band (Dan Tran, Doc Ngo, Thanh Long, Frankie, Hung, Hùng, Quang, Ngọc Nga, Quyen).
Commissioned by Asymmetry Art Foundation on Friday 23rd February 2024, ‘A Night of Performances with bones tan jones, Will Pham & VLC Band, 6:30pm-9pm to inaugurate Asymmetry’s new public space.
This continues the engagement with the Vietnamese Mental Health Services because the Vietnamese community used music, community events, and festivals, to combat sense of isolation and fragmentation when resettling into the UK. The themes of loneliness, idleness, and processing of traumatic experiences found a release in singing, community bands and joyful celebrations.
A live performance of nostalgic songs by the VLC band from Centre 151, a Hackney-based community centre set up in 1985, formerly known as the Community Centre for Refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (VLC).
Evoking memories of the artist’s experience attending events at the VLC Centre when he was little, Pham brings together the band with invited friends, Koa Pham and Trâm Nguyen.
Photo credit: Vero Chen, Courtesy of Asymmetry
Film stills from performance documentation on Friday 23rd February 2024, 6:30-9pm at Asymmetry Art Foundation
Rehearsal photos with Mr Lai and Koa Pham at Centre 151 on Saturday 10th February 2024. Photos by Will Pham.
Asia Art Pacific May/June 2024 publication mentioning the performance and launch of Asymmetry Art Foundations new space.