'ROUND THE EXIT LINE
DAT VU
Dat Vu, Round the exit line 6, 2015, digital photograph
Dat Vu is an emerging artist working primarily with photography and currently based in Saigon as the recipient of a Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship. He has exhibited in Vietnam and the United States after completing his Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors in Art Studio from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT, USA) in 2015.
In showing at Tributary Projects Dat aims to continue exploring themes and strategies he has been developing in his recent exhibition Muted Conversations. Held at The Factory Contemporary Art Space, Saigon it explored the spirituality and superstitions of contemporary ritual in Vietnam and aimed to speak to the importance of traditional cultural practices in its contemporary society. These photographs, taken widely throughout travels around Vietnam, hint at subtle differences in the way urban and rural people live. By displaying the performance of everyday rituals Vu blurs boundaries between private and public space as well as that of observers and participants. As Vietnam transitions into a new economic era these elements of their older and continuing practices and systems of belief are brought into question. Where is identity located in this historical context? Where is the overlap between old and new in the context of an individual life?
‘Round the Exit Line was facilitated and curated by Patrick Larmour in remote communication with Dat Vu.
