Thao Nguyen Phan's 'Becoming Alluvium' at Fundació Joan Miró

Vietnamese artist Thao Nguyen Phan's exhibition, 'Becoming Alluvium,' is currently on display at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona until January 6, 2020. This exhibition is the final segment of her trilogy titled 'Monsoon River,' showcasing three videos that intertwine elements of reality and fiction with Vietnamese history and folklore from the Mekong River. Drawing inspiration from Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Joan Jonas, the video illustrates the Mekong Delta with themes of reincarnation, referencing a flood from 2018. Additionally, it features six watercolor drawings depicting rituals of Mekong fishermen. The first video, 'Monsoon River. Tropical Siesta' (2017), presents children interpreting texts from Alexandre de Rhodes' 1650 publication, while the second, 'Mute Grain,' explores the famine during the Japanese occupation (1940-45). Phan received the Han Nefkens Foundation-LOOP Video Art Award in 2018, and her exhibition will move to Wiels Contemporary Art Centre in February and Chisenhale Gallery in June. The 2019 award was granted to Taiwanese artist Musquiqui Chihying. Han Nefkens, who won the Montblanc Patron of the Arts award, donated it to Afghan artist Aziz Hazara for new works for the Biennale of Sydney and Fundació Antoni Tàpies in October 2020.