Jameel Arts Centre presents Tầm Tã – Soaked in the Long Rain, a solo exhibition by renowned Vietnamese artist Trần Lương, whose work advocates for freedom of expression, justice, and resilience against systemic oppression. Organised in collaboration with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre in New Zealand and The Art Gallery of Western Australia, the show will remain open until 25 May 2025 and tour internationally between 2025 and 2027.
Curated by Biljana Ciric, the exhibition examines Trần’s many-sided practice, spanning painting, installation, performance, and community-oriented projects. It offers visitors a look at his evolution from a classically trained painter to a conceptual and performance artist who has played a pivotal role in shaping Vietnam’s contemporary art scene and influencing artistic discourse across Southeast Asia.
Soaked in the Long Rain showcases Trần’s major artworks that reflect his deep engagement with personal memory, historical trauma, and social activism. His lyrical paintings recall vivid childhood memories of seeking refuge during the American bombing of North Vietnam. Meanwhile, his three-channel video installation Lập Lòe (2012), presented on three large screens, derives from a 2007 performance that later evolved into the Welts series. In these performances, Trần invited the public to whip a red scarf against his bare torso, creating a visceral metaphor for collective violence and the dynamics of authoritarianism.
About the artist
Trần Lương (b. 1960, Hanoi, Vietnam), who resides in his hometown, graduated from the Hanoi University of Fine Arts in 1983 and emerged in the 1990s as a leader of Vietnam’s avant-garde art movement. He was a founding member of the Gang of Five (1983-1996), a pioneering collective that challenged traditional aesthetics through monthly exhibitions in alternative spaces. Trần later co-founded Nhà Sàn Studio (1998), Hanoi’s first artist-led experimental art space, and played a crucial role in establishing the Hanoi Contemporary Art Centre (2000), where he served as director until his resignation in 2003 in protest against government corruption.
Throughout his career, Trần has initiated and organised significant collaborative projects such as the Mao Khe Art Project (2001), where artists travelled to the mining town of Mao Khe to conduct workshops, make art, and engage with the local community, and On the Banks of Red River (2001), a site-specific and performance art project. In 2004, he organised Lim Dim, an international performance art event in Hanoi.
Trần has also taken part in multiple notable international festivals, including Future of Imagination (Singapore, 2006 and 2012) and Beyond Pressure International Performance Art Festival (Yangon, Myanmar, 2008). His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including the Taipei Biennial (Optical Feedback from the Mausoleum, Taiwan, 2016), No Country: Contemporary Art from South and Southeast Asia (Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2013), and his solo exhibition Up to Paradise (Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, 2003).
To get more information about Soaked in the Long Rain, please go to the exhibition’s official web page.
While at Jameel Arts Centre, you might be interested in viewing Lines of Flight by Shilpa Gupta.
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