Nguyen Phuong Linh's Rubber Plantation Research and Artistic Evolution

Hanoi artist Nguyen Phuong Linh explores the legacy of colonial rubber plantations in Central and Southern Vietnam, tracing its history from Doctor Alexandre Yersin's late nineteenth-century introduction to modern global supply chains. Her project, initiated two years ago after discovering a rubber tree forest with unmarked graves, ignited her interest in the red basalt soil and the ghostly tales of laborers who perished during French colonization. In 2013, she co-founded the Nhà Sàn Collective, an experimental art group linked to Hanoi's Nhà Sàn Studio, where she grew up immersed in Vietnam's early contemporary art. Her notable works include Salt (2009) and Dust (2011), and she established the IN:ACT performance art festival in 2010. Findings from her rubber research were slated for display in 2016 and 2017. This profile, chosen by Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran, first appeared in ArtReview's January & February 2016 issue.