Welcome to the first newsletter from Post Vidai (PVD), updating you on a select number of activities concerning the artists in its collection and further projects afield within and beyond Vietnam.

(If you would like to be added to our email list for this newsletter in the future, please contact: postvidai@gmail.com)

On Monday August 8, at the home of the Dutch Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, PVD artist Dinh Q Le was awarded the Prince Claus Laureate Prize in recognition of his art and commitment to supporting the local arts community in Vietnam through his activities with independent art space, San Art.

_{Dinh Q Le receiving his Prince Claus Award at the home of the Dutch Consul in Ho Chi Minh City. August 8, 2011}

In early July, the Dogma Art Prize in Self Portraiture was held at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, with prize winner Nguyen Can Cuong taking first place, awarded with USD5000.

Zerostation, an artist-intiated in Ho Chi Minh City held a graffiti project with local outfit, 'Click 9', turning a local alleyway into a vibrant scene of painted activity.

San Art opened ‘Shaping a line’ on July 28, showcasing the art of drawing through the talent of artists with various backgrounds, such as fashion design, illustration, silk painting, printmaking, theatre and science. This exhibition includes the work of PVD artist Vu Dan Tan, borrowed from the Post Vidai Collection, and is the first time his work has been shown in Ho Chi Minh City, since 1992.

_{Artist, Le Thanh Tung, creating his work for 'Shaping a line' (Vu Dan Tan's lithographs are hung beside him)}

Further afield in Hanoi, Art Vietnam Gallery founded by Suzanne Lecht in 1994 was forced to move out of its Nguyen Khac Nhu location and subsequently change its method of business to appointment only consultation, working from Lecht’s personal home. Lecht endeavors to continue supporting her artists through various international projects.

OM Studio, an artist project initiated by Nguyen Xuan Hoang, opened their second exhibition on the 7 July on the outskirts of Hanoi. Hoang utilizes his own studio for this event, inviting other local artists to work with him in exhibiting their experimental work.

_{Installation view of 'Một gang tay' (A Span)', OM Studio's second exhibition, opened July 7, 2011}

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Crossing the seas, Hanoi-based PVD artist Nguyen Phuong Linh curated ‘Skylines without Flying People: Contemporary Art from Hanoi’ for Rory Gill Fine Art in London (22 June – 5 August), including the work of PVD artist Nguyen Manh Hung and other notorieties Nguyen Trinh Thi and Nguyen Huy An.

‘Erasure: Dinh Q Le’, a commissioned project by the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF), Sydney opened on the 7 July. Co-curated by Zoe Butt and SCAF, this is PVD artist Dinh Q Le’s largest installation to date, referring to the plight of the thousands of boat refugees and asylum seekers across the globe, this single channel sculptural installation was met with critical acclaim in Australia for its comment on current local controversy concerning immigration policy.

_{Installation view of 'Erasure: Dinh Q Le', Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia (on view til 9 September, 2011)}

‘Video, An Art, A History 1965-2010: A Selection from the Centre Pompidou and Singapore Art Museum Collections (10 June – 18 September) is currently on view at the Singapore Art Museum and including the work of PVD artists Dinh Q Le and Tuan Andrew Nguyen (in collaboration with ‘The Propeller Group’). This exhibition is a rare opportunity to view the development of video art history in parallel with the birthing of video art across the diverse region of Asia (though of course it is a selected view dependent on works in the collection of these prestigious institutions).