The NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) presents the first Asian institutional exhibition of noted Vietnamese-American filmmaker, music composer, writer, and academic Trinh T. Minh-ha as its final presentation in its current Gillman Barracks exhibition space.
Titled Trinh T. Minh-ha. Films., the exhibition features five feature length films—Shoot for the Contents (1991), A Tale of Love (1995), The Fourth Dimension (2001), Night Passage (2004), and Forgetting Vietnam (2015)—which are available for viewing simultaneously in five small-scale theatrical set-up inside the Centre’s exhibition hall, with Trinh’s latest filmic work, What about China? (Part I of II, 2020–21) showing from 31 October onwards at Single Screen, the CCA’s dedicated auditorium for time-based media work.
Co-commissioned with the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) in Shanghai, China, What about China? explores the idea of harmony in modern China as a locus of interpretation, drawing from footage shot in 1993 and 1994, in Eastern and Southern China.
The exhibition includes Trinh T. Minh-ha. Writings., a series of reading platforms showcasing Trinh’s textual works, available for reading in the exhibition hall space, and Why are they so afraid of a lotus?, a research showcase by the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts (Wattis), San Francisco that focuses on Trinh’s multifaceted creative practice.
The exhibition is supported by an online film programme, Speaking / Thinking Nearby, which features both archival titles by Trinh and films from other filmmakers that resonate with certain recurring themes in Trinh’s oeuvre; Mother Always Has a Mother, an online convening presented by the Centre, Wattis, and RAM; and “There is no such thing as documentary”, a conference bringing together filmmakers, film historians, and curators that will close the exhibition.
Currently the Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, Trinh T. Minh-ha is an award-winning artist and filmmaker. She grew up in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and pursued her education at the National Conservatory of Music and Theater in Ho Chi Minh City. In 1970, she migrated to the United States where she continued her studies in music composition, ethnomusicology, and French literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She embarked on a career as an educator and has taught in diverse disciplines which brought her to the National Conservatory of Music in Dakar, Senegal, where she shot her first film, Reassemblage. Trinh’s cinematic oeuvre has been featured in numerous exhibitions and film festivals. She has participated in biennales across the globe including Documenta11, Kassel (2002), and most recently at Manifesta 13, Marseille (2020). A prolific writer, she has authored nine books.
Curated by Ute Meta Bauer, Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore, Trinh T. Minh-ha. Films. runs from 17 October 2020 till 28 February 2021, more information available here.