When the Loom Becomes the Mourning Cloth
This proposal is for an original group exhibition that explores themes of cultural memory, ritual labour, and the transformation of grief through material practices. It brings together three distinct artistic voices working independently across photography, sound, and textile installation.
Exhibition Concept:
In Ph'c Sen, a village in Northern Vietnam, the N'ng An people practise a unique tradition where a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law weave daily on separate looms. Each day's pattern is different. Upon the elder's death, this collectively woven cloth is repurposed into her funeral garment. After mourning, the garment is dyed with indigo and incorporated back into daily wear, transforming a symbol of loss into one of continuous life.
This exhibition translates this profound philosophy into a contemporary art context. It presents how ritual, time, and memory can be physically woven into the fabric of existence, offering a poignant meditation on cycles of life and death that resonates universally.
Contributing Artists and Works:
The exhibition will feature three independent bodies of work, each engaging with the core theme from a unique disciplinary perspective:
Photographic Series: A collection of large-format photographs documenting the life cycle of the cloth within the N'ng An community. The images will focus on the details of the weaving process, the hands of the women, and the transformed garment in its daily context, presented with ethnographic sensitivity and artistic composition.
Sound Installation: An immersive, multi-channel soundscape built from field recordings captured in Ph'c Sen. The work will weave together the rhythmic sounds of the looms, the natural ambience of the village, and subtle, obscured fragments of oral history, creating an acoustic space for reflection.
Textile-Based Sculpture: A large-scale, suspended installation using indigo-dyed cloth and thread. This work will not replicate the traditional textiles but will respond to them conceptually, exploring ideas of fragility, resilience, and the layering of time through material. It will invite viewers to move through a physical representation of memory and continuity.
Exhibition Layout:
The apexart gallery space will be transformed into a cohesive yet segmented environment. The photographic series will line the walls, establishing a narrative context. The central space will be occupied by the textile sculpture, which visitors can navigate. The sound installation will permeate the entire gallery, uniting the discrete works into a single, immersive sensory experience. This arrangement allows each artist's work to stand alone while engaging in a silent dialogue with the others, reflecting the exhibition's theme of individual contributions to a collective whole.
Rationale:
This exhibition fulfils a critical need for cultural programmes that present specific ethnographic traditions without exoticising them. Instead, it uses them as a starting point for a broader conversation about art, philosophy, and human experience. By presenting three independent artistic interpretations, the exhibition avoids a single, authoritative voice, instead offering a multifaceted perspective on its central theme. It is a project about process, legacy, and the quiet wisdom embedded in often-overlooked forms of women's labour, making it a compelling and timely offering for a New York audience.
This proposal is for an original group exhibition that explores themes of cultural memory, ritual labour, and the transformation of grief through material practices. It brings together three distinct artistic voices working independently across photography, sound, and textile installation.
Exhibition Concept:
In Ph'c Sen, a village in Northern Vietnam, the N'ng An people practise a unique tradition where a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law weave daily on separate looms. Each day's pattern is different. Upon the elder's death, this collectively woven cloth is repurposed into her funeral garment. After mourning, the garment is dyed with indigo and incorporated back into daily wear, transforming a symbol of loss into one of continuous life.
This exhibition translates this profound philosophy into a contemporary art context. It presents how ritual, time, and memory can be physically woven into the fabric of existence, offering a poignant meditation on cycles of life and death that resonates universally.
Contributing Artists and Works:
The exhibition will feature three independent bodies of work, each engaging with the core theme from a unique disciplinary perspective:
Photographic Series: A collection of large-format photographs documenting the life cycle of the cloth within the N'ng An community. The images will focus on the details of the weaving process, the hands of the women, and the transformed garment in its daily context, presented with ethnographic sensitivity and artistic composition.
Sound Installation: An immersive, multi-channel soundscape built from field recordings captured in Ph'c Sen. The work will weave together the rhythmic sounds of the looms, the natural ambience of the village, and subtle, obscured fragments of oral history, creating an acoustic space for reflection.
Textile-Based Sculpture: A large-scale, suspended installation using indigo-dyed cloth and thread. This work will not replicate the traditional textiles but will respond to them conceptually, exploring ideas of fragility, resilience, and the layering of time through material. It will invite viewers to move through a physical representation of memory and continuity.
Exhibition Layout:
The apexart gallery space will be transformed into a cohesive yet segmented environment. The photographic series will line the walls, establishing a narrative context. The central space will be occupied by the textile sculpture, which visitors can navigate. The sound installation will permeate the entire gallery, uniting the discrete works into a single, immersive sensory experience. This arrangement allows each artist's work to stand alone while engaging in a silent dialogue with the others, reflecting the exhibition's theme of individual contributions to a collective whole.
Rationale:
This exhibition fulfils a critical need for cultural programmes that present specific ethnographic traditions without exoticising them. Instead, it uses them as a starting point for a broader conversation about art, philosophy, and human experience. By presenting three independent artistic interpretations, the exhibition avoids a single, authoritative voice, instead offering a multifaceted perspective on its central theme. It is a project about process, legacy, and the quiet wisdom embedded in often-overlooked forms of women's labour, making it a compelling and timely offering for a New York audience.
Dala Nguyen is a Vietnamese visual artist and curator exploring cultural memory, ritual, and transformation through interdisciplinary storytelling.
apexart’s program supporters past and present include the National Endowment for the Arts, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Kettering Family Foundation, the Buhl Foundation, The Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Spencer Brownstone, the Kenneth A. Cowin Foundation, Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., William Talbott Hillman Foundation/Affirmation Arts Fund, the Fifth Floor Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and administered by LMCC, funds from NYSCA Electronic Media/Film in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.