“House of Mother Tongue, House of Other Tongue”
Hoang Tran Nguyen
29 Oct → 18 Dec 2022
Gallery

A paper poster in English and Vietnamese to save the Vietnamese bilingual program at Footscray Primary School, stuck to a yellow pole.
Hoang Tran Nguyen, ‘House of Mother Tongue, House of Other Tongue’, 2022. Image courtesy of artist.

Presented across West Space and Footscray Community Arts Centre, House of Mother Tongue, House of Other Tongue is a project brought together by Hoang Tran Nguyen that addresses colonial legacies of monolingualism and its impact on minority languages, power and subjectivity.

House of Mother Tongue, House of Other Tongue includes a day-long Language and Community Symposium facilitated by language advocacy group ViệtSpeak at Footscray Community Arts, and Hát Xe Buýt, a ‘singing bus’ hosted by language advocates, musicians, poets, educators and local choirs as audiences are transported between the venues.

Program

Hát Xe Buýt (Singing Bus), 12, 19, 26 Nov

Curated by Hoang Tran Nguyen and Lana Nguyen, Hát Xe Buýt (Singing Bus) is an artist-led bus ride, taking audiences between the two locations of the exhibition.

Each journey was hosted by performers and artists across cultural and social movements, engaging guests on notions of place and practices of language reclamation and justice. Hosts included πO, Timmah Ball, Beth Sometimes, wani toaishara, and Tania Cañas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEii-X5DnUA

Download the Singing Bus catalogue.

ViệtSpeak Language & Community Symposium, Sat 27 Nov

Emerging from the loss of the Vietnamese Bilingual Program and based in Melbourne’s west, this day-long program featured workshops by Đất Nước Collective, Thảo Nguyễn and Kids’ Own Publishing and discussions with leading scholars, educators and artists spoke of localised language practices and forms of language justice, led by Chi Vu, Helen Ngo and Julie Choi.

A West Space Commission, supported by the Australia Council for the Arts. Presented as part of NEIGHBOURHOOD, a celebration of art, music and performance across the western suburbs of Melbourne. Presented by the Substation and Footscray Community Arts, NEIGHBOURHOOD is based around expanded ideas of language and translation, reflects the current moment and highlights artistic practice in Melbourne.

Two individuals sit on fold out chairs. One is sitting crossed-legged speaking into a microphone with a hand out gesturing while speaking. A TV is seen to the far left of him. The other individual sits on the right, intensely listening, with a speaker directly next him. We see the blurred figure of a person in the peripheral listening.
White bus parked on the road in front of a brick building with eighteen windows and trees surrounding. The bus door is open with one person is sitting inside, a woman is leaning on the bus and a man is standing on the left looking at the bus.

Hoang Tran Nguyen is an artist working in social practice to address overlapping cultural histories, politics of place and the role of the art-worker. His work has featured in self-initiated projects arts festivals and galleries. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne).

Related

Two individuals sit on fold out chairs. One is sitting crossed-legged speaking into a microphone with a hand out gesturing while speaking. A TV is seen to the far left of him. The other individual sits on the right, intensely listening, with a speaker directly next him. We see the blurred figure of a person in the peripheral listening.

Hoang Tran Nguyen and Sebastian Henry-Jones, House of Mother Tongue, House of Other Tongue Conversation
2022