Dear readers,

At first glance, the relationship between image and text appears to be one of a contesting nature, contingent on different modi operandi and primarily deployed in service of diverging strands of art: the pictorial versus the literary; the immersive versus the discursive. And yet, taking a sweeping view across histories of civilisations, text and image have been made intimate companions in their joint imperatives of reality-constituting and power-making. Within the genealogy of Vietnamese art, language has never occupied the visual field as a mere passive vessel of documentation. From early carvings that preserve traces of spiritual life, to Sino-Nom inscriptions woven into painting across delicate royal artefacts, to woodblock printing and the folk traditions of Dong Ho and Hang Trong, the textual has long operated in symbiosis with the figurative in Vietnamese art, forging an artistic whole of remarkable aesthetic refinement and cultural depth.

In that spirit, Art Nation presents issue #12 under the theme “Of Diction and Nation”. The issue opens with an essay by Dao Hoa, laying the theoretical groundwork for an inquiry into the resonances between image and text. [Art]Salon begins with a dialogue with calligrapher Xuan Nhu on seal carving and the philosophy of literati painting within the national aesthetic, before moving towards contemporary signifiers in an exchange with art historian Pamela N. Corey. From a practice-based standpoint, writing is deployed as a constituent image-making in strikingly varied ways, foregrounding both art’s intertextuality and its capacity to move between forms: Nguyen Quang Huy’s indecipherable characters; Ha Manh Thang’s landscapes infused with classical poetry; the sounds of memory carried through Thuy Tien Nguyen’s kinetic installations; and exhibition designer Laura Miotto’s discussion on how text can be projected into and through space.

Expanding the dialogue, the [Art]natomy section opens with evocative retrospections on antiquities from the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History, selected and presented by Tran Nguyen Tuan. The relentless cultural transitions spanning across the 20th century left distinct imprints throughout the visual systems of press graphics during the French-colonial period and revolutionary propaganda posters of the Resistance era, sharply dissected in essays by Dr Nguyen Hong Ngoc, Nguyen Hoang Gia Bao and Cao Quoc Huy. Approaching language from distinct vantage points, Dr Iola Lenzi interrogates the catalysts behind the hybrid text-image impulse characteristic of Hanoi’s 1990s avant garde, while Vinh Phu Pham deconstructs exhibition text and curatorial discourse in domestic and international contexts through the lens of post-continental philosophy. Finally, the [Art]jacent section presents two studies that situate theater (cai luong) and craft (lantern making) at the intersection of linguistic and visual modalities across creative disciplines.

This issue occupies a singular position when viewed against the contextual expectations of an art publication – a domain inherently exists at the critical intersection of text and visuality. Language constitutes the soul of a nation, and it is our hope that “Of Diction and Nation” illuminates the investigative imperative and value of language – in its disparate configurations and contingencies – within Vietnamese visual art.

Faithfully,
Ace Le
Editor-in-Chief

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ace Lê
Trần Thảo Nguyên
Tăng Bảo Quyên

EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief: Ace Lê
Managing Editor: ChuKim
Editors: Nhật Anh, Mary Lê, Dao Hoa, Hồng Ánh, Bảo Ngân

CONTRIBUTORS
Writers & Translators: Erika Chandra, Weiqin Chay, Iola Lenzi, Nguyễn Hoàng Gia Bảo, Nguyễn Hồng Ngọc, Nguyễn Nguyệt Tóc Tiên, Trinh Nguyễn, Nhật Anh, Tâm Phạm, Vinh Phú Phạm, Trần Nguyễn Tuấn, Xuân Quỳnh

CREATIVE
Studio Manager: Cao Quốc Huy
Graphic Designer: Ngọc Hân, Nguyễn Danh Khôi

MEDIA
Media Executive: Trinh Nguyễn

REPRESENTATIVES
Hanoi: Tâm Phạm
Bangkok: Mary Lê
Singapore: Nguyễn Lê Thủy Tiên
Taipei (China): Xuân Quỳnh
Tokyo: Hà Châu Bảo Nhi
Berlin: Lưu Bích Ngọc
Brussels: Trọng Gia Nguyễn
Paris: Thảo Trần
Los Angeles: Brian Đoàn
New York: Ally Lê