Please allow us to quote the Editor’s Note as the introduction for this issue’s publication:

“Dear readers,

Welcome to a new chapter in our publication’s journey! Commencing with this issue, Art Republik will henceforth be known by a new identity: Art Nation. We would like to express our gratitude for your support over the past five years, which has been instrumental in cultivating a vital discourse on Vietnamese art. After a century, Vietnam’s artistic trajectory has transitioned from modern to contemporary art, forging a confident integration into the global landscape, all the while preserving a distinct collective identity rooted in our unique theoretical and practical manifestations. From the sporadic spontaneity of early post-Renovation initiatives, we have arrived at a moment when Vietnamese art can rightfully take pride in its dynamic community and an increasingly robust domestic market. This marks the perfect time for us to embrace this identity transformation.

“Art Nation” is a community operating along the sole imperative of celebrating art. We seek to continue dismantling barriers to artistic engagement by propagating knowledge and strengthening interdisciplinary connections. Together with the new identity, the publication will increase our frequency to quarterly, and expand our distribution domestically and internationally and digitally. New community-building programmes targeting art collectors, patrons, practitioners, and researchers will also kick start in 2026.

This first Art Nation issue is numbered #9 as a continuation of our commitment to quality and design standards.. Themed “In dawning brilliance,” the issue expands towards a regional coverage that sheds light on cross-cultural and territorial perspectives in Asia, foregrounding the commonalities which too often go unacknowledged. In it, a unifying thread weaves through the findings of Indochinese fine arts by Prof Junquo Nimura (Japan) to the vision of The Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal Carving, Calligraphy and Painting Society (Singapore), and from the latest market developments at Art Jakarta (Indonesia) to the collecting strategy of Vietnam Art Collection (Vietnam, America & China). This cultural denomination also informs the curatorial work on the Imperial Court of Hue by Dr Caroline Herbelin (France), the analysis of Vietnamese identity in “Unfurling Vietnamese portraitures in the bamboo path” by researcher Ha My (China), or the resilient conceptual practice of contemporary art pioneer Tran Luong (Vietnam).

Whether your interests lie in ancient or contemporary art, creative or applied disciplines, may you enjoy the exciting discoveries in this issue, and stay an enthusiastic ambassador of Art Nation!

Faithfully,
Ace Le
Editor-in-Chief”