“Inheritance”
Phuong Ngo
12 Apr → 7 June 2025
Gallery

In Conversation, 7 June, 4 – 5:30 am

Videos displaying on wooden table, mosquito nets against the windows, marble tables, and cabinet at the 'Inheritance' exhibition.
Phuong Ngo, 'Inheritance', 2025, installation view, West Space, Collingwood Yards. Photography by Janelle Low.

West Space is proud to premiere Inheritance, the first in a three-part project by Vietnamese-Australian artist Phuong Ngo.

Inheritance seeks to reframe histories of colonialism, conflict and displacement through material remains of the artist’s ancestral home in Vietnam. In doing so, the project aims to transform suffering and how we relate to it — to re-image what was lost, and gift it to future generations.

The first iteration of the Inheritance project centres on Ngo’s family dining table, a place of gathering and punishment, along with deconstructed familial and ancestral objects.

Through archival materials, video, and performance, Inheritance reconfigures post-colonial, familial and geographical relationships across South Vietnam, Tarntanya/Adelaide, Naarm/Melbourne and Kamberri/Canberra, in an attempt to deepen connections with the past, present and future.

Curated by Amelia Winata.

A photobook by Phuong Ngo and Slow Burn Books accompanies Inheritance.

Phuong Ngo: Inheritance is a three-part project that premieres at West Space, supported by Creative Australia's VACS Major Projects Commission.

Programs

Opening Celebration, Sat 12 April, 4 → 6pm

Featuring a performance by Phuong Ngo.

Divination, Wed 7 May, 11am → 6pm

Spending the day in the space, Phuong Ngo invites visitors to sit with him at his childhood table, and practice divination. Call upon your ancestors to seek clarity on life's questions, big or small.

Photobook Launch, Sat 24 May, 2 → 3.30pm

Join us for a conversation between Phuong Ngo and Nikki Lam to launch the photobook by Slow Burn Books accompanying Inheritance, with a focus on the intimacies and interconnections of a familial archive.

In Conversation, Sat 7 June, 2 → 3.30pm

A conversation between Phuong Ngo and Amelia Winata will take place on the final day of the exhibition.

Three marble top tables: a square, a round, and an oval one on a transport cart.
Marble top tables and a wooden table installation with a screen on it.
A stone installation on top of a cabinet.
A cabinet with some objects inside and a photo of a house sticked on the glass.
Installations at 'Inheritance' exhibition at West Space.
A bowl covering a plate on the table in front of the windows.
A bowl covering a plate on the table.
Wooden table installation in front of mosquito nets against the gallery windows.
Videos displaying on wooden table and mosquito nets against the windows, at 'Inheritance' exhibition.
Videos displaying on wooden tables at an art space.
People watching videos displaying on wooden tables at an exhibition.
Videos displaying on wooden table, mosquito nets against the windows, marble tables, and cabinet at the 'Inheritance' exhibition.
Videos displaying on wooden tables at an art space.
The artist, Ngo, is kneeling behind large tainted orange, died mosquito nets, jammed between the window and the net. However, Ngo faces the wall with their back to the net, in a prayer-like stance with a bowed head and hands neatly in front of them.
A close up of the artists portrait, as they kneel behind large tainted orange, died mosquito nets, jammed between the window and the net. However, Ngo faces the wall with their back to the net, in a prayer-like stance with a bowed head and hands neatly in front of them.
Mosquito nets dyed with pigment.
The artist, Ngo, is kneeling behind large tainted orange, died mosquito nets, jammed between the window and the net. However, Ngo faces the wall with their back to the net, in a prayer-like stance with a bowed head and hands neatly in front of them. In the foreground of the image is a segment of a decadent wooden table leg, apart of the larger exhibition.
A subtle, muted image of the artist, Ngo, behind the died mosquito nets in the exhibition. They are spraying the nets with a thin, short hose attached to a medium metalic can. Ngo stares intensely at the net. The image is of a beautiful haze.
A subtle, muted image of the artist, Ngo, behind the died mosquito nets in the exhibition. They are spraying the nets with a thin, short hose attached to a medium metalic can. Ngo stares upward, intensely at the net. The image is of a beautiful haze.

Phuong Ngo is an artist and curator in Naarm/Melbourne. Ngo's practice is concerned with the interpretation of history, memory, and place as a form of comprehension for the present. Through an archival process rooted in a conceptual practice, Ngo seeks to find linkages between culture, politics, public and private histories.

Related

Some large leafy palms in foregrounding an old heritage manner. potentially the front of the house, it has 3 rounded gate ways and is one story. The colour of the building is murky and worn.

Amelia Winata, Phuong Ngo: Inheritance
2025