Monthly Archives: March, 2019
Art as Weaponry: Phung Huynh in Conversation with Rocky Rivera
Artist and educator Phung Huynh was introduced to Rocky Rivera’s music when she heard her guest feature in Ruby Ibarra’s song, Us. Moved by the song’s themes about sisterhood, empowerment and transforming the challenges of the immigrant experience, colonialism, and cultural assimilation, Phung played the song over and over again in her car.
Book Review: Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers
“Ahhh, giống chúng mình quá,” my mother said when I finished the book. “I don’t eat fried grasshoppers but I understand.” It’s this cross-cultural understanding that Vilayvanh Bender seeks to establish in her children’s book. The wish for parents and children to connect is as ancient as language itself, breaking cultural barriers and generational barriers...
Book Review: Things to Make and Break
Whereas the short story of the 1980s was the province of straight white Americans, Tan is something different: multi-national, sometimes queer, not white. In short, Tan writes into new territory, exciting territory.
In the Diaspora: March 20, 2019
Socio-cultural, literary, and political news and events relating to Việt Nam and to the Vietnamese diaspora. ■ News from the Diaspora ■ Malaysian Bar chief asks why Vietnamese suspect in Kim Jong Nam murder case was not freed ■ “Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past Is Prologue” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum ■ ...
On Remembering: Viet Thanh Nguyen, An-My Lê & Vietnamese American Arts
On February 19, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of San Francisco State University's Third World Liberation Strike, writer Viet Thanh Nguyen and photographer An-My Lê were in conversation about what Vietnamese American art means to their practice.
A Safe Space in Nature: Andrew Nguyen, Environmental Scientist
It's the difference between a legacy of interacting with the natural world through a series of violent acts with the purpose of domination over a space, versus interacting with the natural world as a means of avoiding acts of violence, and trying to reach a safer place.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Artist Profile of Rocky Rivera
Rocky’s music is a journey into the spirit of resistance in the form of loud bass, energetic anthems, and subversive takedowns of the status quo.
Vườn Rau Lộc Hưng ~ a story about “Land Use Rights”
An exploration of how a photo contest preserves proof of the Vietnamese communist government’s brutality and manipulation regarding “Land Use Rights” for citizens in Vietnam.