In March, the Ogden Museum of Southern Artwork opened a bunch present commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. “Hoa Tay (Flower Arms): Southern Artists of the Vietnamese Diaspora”—a mini-survey of works by artists together with Brandon Tho Harris, Christian Ðinh, Millian Pham Lien Giang, Đan Lynh Phạm, Kenny Nguyen, Lien Truong and Loc Huynh—considers complicated themes like displacement and cultural id and, because the exhibition textual content asserts, “these artists parse by way of the nuanced duality of their very own distinctive Vietnamese-American experiences throughout the equally fraught historical past of the American South.” However whereas true to its description, the present comes in need of grappling with that complicated historical past, slipping as an alternative into tenderheartedness for a spot that’s now not house.
The exhibition opens with Kiss My Grits (2024) by MyLoan Dinh. A pair of boxing gloves hold alone on a wall, their floor encrusted with eggshells; the cuffs show the titular phrase, a humorous Southern-ification of a preferred incitement to violence. The aggression evoked by the gloves is tempered by their frail pores and skin—whereas nonetheless attainable to place one’s arms inside these gloves, they will now not be used for his or her authentic goal with out partially destroying them. This art work is that this exhibition at its strongest—a fragile divorce from origin couched within the language of 1’s new house. Right here, diaspora is a verb that describes an lively but delicate relationship between two components of an id.
Sadly, not all of the works on this exhibition so efficiently encapsulate the acknowledged theme. To the left of Kiss My Grits hangs a masterfully executed quartet of pictures: A Household Affair (2022) by Kimberly Ha depicts a recreation of “Bầu cua cá cọp,” often known as “Crown and Anchor” in English. Taken from above and solid in a robust amber glow, with tiles splayed within the foregrounded arms, the viewer turns into a protagonist reveling within the bout. The scene evokes emotions of nostalgia—the art work appears to be much less concerning the integration of two disparate cultures and extra about reminiscing concerning the traditions diasporic people carry with them. Whereas the perpetuation of custom is undeniably a part of the migrant expertise, A Household Affair appears to be like backward whereas Kiss My Grits appears to be like ahead, and it feels adrift from the exhibition’s idea.
On the opposite facet of Kiss My Grits are two video artworks. The primary, enjoying on a cathode-ray tv, is the music video for the music Inform Hanoi I Love Her (2021) by Smithsonian Folkways, accompanied by the music lyrics written on the pedestal supporting the tv. These lyrics start with the strains, “Twice southern with two civil wars / A idiot to assume that this place may ever be yours / The in between, that’s the place we should discover / Inform Hanoi, I really like her.” It’s the nostalgia of A Household Affair continued, although translated by way of the South, uniting Vietnam and America by way of their equally traumatic histories.
Whereas the migration of Vietnamese refugees to the American South resulted from complicated geopolitical forces, it’s no small surprise to comment on the similarities between the 2 areas; the American South and Vietnam are each origin factors for racial diasporas. The interpretation of the Vietnamese migrant’s expertise by way of the South thus makes it a double displacement—a placeless folks coming by way of a spot of placelessness. And maybe for this reason nostalgia is so embedded inside this exhibition. When struggling to grapple with startlingly comparable but fully disparate identities, it’s no surprise one would need to maintain on to the previous.
MyLoan Dinh’s (re)setting up the house in-between (2021) sees quite a lot of hand instruments hold from hooks; the whole lot of their exteriors has been plastered with eggshells, very like Kiss My Grits. As soon as instruments of arduous labor, the hammers and axes at the moment are an train in warning. The trail ahead would require a lightweight contact and a mild hand. However with the fitting contact, one can forge a path.
“Hoa Tay (Flower Arms): Southern Artists of the Vietnamese Diaspora” is on the Ogden Museum of Southern Artwork by way of September 21, 2025.
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