ABOUT US

a little blah blah (albb) is an artist-run initiative based in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Established in 2004, we are the first initiative of our kind in Vietnam. albb is a platform for the development of visual art and creative practices through a range of art-related activities that are much-needed in the Vietnamese context. The driving force behind albb is its founding directors, Sue Hajdu and Motoko Uda, both of whom trained as visual artists, but also actively write and curate.

For our delightful name we owe thanks to Hou Hanru, who unwittingly christened us one night on his visit to Saigon in 2004.

albb functions as a dynamic platform for a wide range of art-related activities. We currently operate out of an office that also doubles as a space for talks, gatherings and screenings and holds our extensive archive of art books and catalogues. Our program has evolved in a pioneering spirit, in response to the gaps and needs of the Vietnamese art scene.

Our constantly-evolving program currently includes exhibitions, art events, talks, presentations, albb reading room, a residency program, research, network-building, capacity-building, the running of an open-access archive, and the establishment of artists files. Both albb co-directors also write about art and happenings in Vietnam for publications inside and outside of Vietnam and have their own creative practices.

a little blah blah's mission is to be a dynamic, stimulating and professionally-run platform for artistic and intellectual dialogue, reflection, and an appreciation of the role of visual art and creative practices in contemporary life.

The impetus to establish a little blah blah arose from a series of passionate talks between three Saigon-based artists during 2004, Sue Hajdu, Nguyen Nhu Huy and Motoko Uda. These talks were focused on our needs and desires as visual artists working in this particular community and context at this point in time.

After an intensive 6-month period of talks, research and the establishment of regional networks, the albb concept was developed, and we launched our activities in January 2005. albb quickly initiated a regular series of talks and presentations by visiting international artists, curators, academics and critics. These are integral to albb's mission of making a difference in the local art scene, by creating information flow in and out of the country.

In 2005, we also ran our first residency, with a four-month stay by Czech Republic-based butoh dancer, Ryuzo Fukhara. The program comprised a series of performances, workshops, talks and presentations to children and adults across a diverse social spectrum. Later in the year, albb became a member of RESARTIS.

Other areas of focused activity in 2005 were research into artist's initiatives and alternative spaces, primarily in three cities in Asia (Kong Kong, Tokyo and Yogyakarta) through our Asian Bridges research program, generously supported by Arts Network Asia (ANA). Networking and attending conferences and the acquisition of catalogues and monographs to form an open-access collection were also important focuses during this first year. It was with regret that our co-founder, Nguyen Nhu Huy left us in mid-2005.

Our exhibition and art events program was launched in 2006 with Video Art Party, a one night event of video art by young and emerging artists from Australia. Following more or less bi-monthly came 600 Images, MAGMA, Trans-Splash 2006: Jouissance and The Dream Collector with A+A Public Art Unit, our second residency. Each project aimed to present something new, something that had never been done before in the local context. Meanwhile, through the networks that we had developed over two years of activity, albb started building towards further international collaborative projects with artists and curators. Some of these, such as SHELTER and Free New Zealand Art, were realized in 2006 while others will form the basis of our 2007 and future programs.

After consolidating our collection of catalogs, books and art ephemera, we launched our reading room program in November 2006. Capacity-building with young Vietnamese artists and students through our talks and exhibitions program also became an aim at this time, and remains an on-going concern towards building arts management in Vietnam. albb worked with a variety of assistants and volunteers throughout 2005-2006, and launched its internship program in early 2007 in a more concerted effort towards capacity-building. In early 2007 we also established a residency program, which offers 2-week-2-month residencies to overseas-based artists, curators, writers and researchers.

Operating as an initiative, a little blah blah works out of an office, and is currently not linked to a physical exhibition space.

albb locates itself as an alternative to the existing gallery and institutional structure in Vietnam. Working in an environment in which the “alternative” is very much the arena in which a true difference can be made, albb seeks to remain constantly responsive to the changing landscape of opportunities and possibilities available in Ho Chi Minh City or that can be brought to this city. In a challenging environment with scarce funding and limited familiarity with contemporary art, this necessitates a tactical and highly sensitive approach.

Exhibitions and art projects are curated by albb co-directors, developed in collaboration with others or curated by guest-curators. While a lot of traffic does indeed travel in and out of Vietnam, until albb was launched, talks by curators or artists were extremely rare. albb makes a conscious effort to form connections and cross-roads in this area, and create a forum in which ideas, practices and news from outside can be shared with the local community. These regular gatherings also work to bring the community together in a context of intellectual challenge and engagement, another area that is in need of development.

a little blah blah operates as an information point, whether for locally-based artists who want to engage more deeply with the global community through our talks or archive, or for overseas artists, curators, writers or researchers who want to know what is going on in Vietnam. One step towards strengthening this role is the establishment of our residency program in early 2007 and the up-coming creation of an archive of artist's files.

Our core program has been entirely self-funded over two years of activity, while projects and exhibitions are funded through grants or corporate sponsorship.