WEEK 3: Curatorial Ethics & Practice Aspects

Overview

In the third week of the curatorial course, into the research aspect, curatorial ethics is not a set of fixed rules, but an ongoing, situational practice influenced by power, relationships, labor, politics, and responsibility in every curatorial decision. On the practical level, James Clegg began his discussion from the conceptual origin of the exhibition to the specific skills, covering aspects such as work analysis, target audience, exhibition budget, and required skills.

 

The Exploring of Curatorial Ethics

• Curatorial ethics is non-standard and uncertain.
• In my opinion, this is a non-curator-centered concept.
• When “ethics” becomes the dominant discourse in the field of curating, is it losing its true critical power over power, institutions and capital?
• This requires emphasizing the positionality of the curator.

 

The Suppose of Curatorial Practice

I plan to research and plan an exhibition project focusing on contemporary art from Vietnam. This idea originated from an ECA lecture last semester, where Vietnamese artist Mai Nguyen-Long presented his creations that revolve around the history of the Vietnam War and handmade ceramics.

 

Lam Na’s residency at the open studio “After the Great Harmony, Qian Ting Enters Dreams”

VAC Hanoi, from June 13th to July 6th, 2025

© 2025 Vietnam Art Collection.

Tang Jianrong (KV Duong) is exhibiting at the Open Studio “Welcome Home”

VAC Hanoi, from September 3rd to 14th, 2025

© 2025 Vietnam Art Collection. All rights reserved.

In my opinion, Vietnamese art is still in a state of waiting to be discovered at present. The emergence of the Vietnam Art Collection has made people start to pay attention to the parallelism of Vietnamese narratives. The local narratives and those of the overseas dispersed groups (such as Mai Nguyen-Long) jointly shape the image of Vietnam.

 

Southerness of Contemporary Vietnam

Image by: Tianshun Zhao

• Research Path: The Domestic Southernness and Global Southernness of Vietnamese Art
• Research Perspective: Local Narratives and Overseas Dispersed Narratives (Vietnam War, French Colonization)
• Examine the curatorial presentation methods and narrative frameworks of Vietnamese art in major international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta.
• Place Vietnamese contemporary art within the theoretical discourse of post-colonialism and global south, and investigate its international positioning and agency.

At the same time, from the perspective of the recent hot topic of southernness, how are the differences in the representation of contemporary Vietnamese art in the Global South and the Domestic South? We all know about Vietnam’s north-south issue.

Can it be extended from its domestic southernness to the context of the Global South? This might be what I want to explore in the exhibition.

And given the current state of Vietnamese politics, there has been a shift from a balance between the north and south to a balance among the various institutions. What impact will this have on cultural tendencies?