Made Elsewhere 2018 Sculpture
On Display at Montserrat College of Art's 301 Gallery / November 19, 2020
Grateful to have #MadeElsewhereProject on display now at Montserrat College of Art from November 16-December 13, 2020. As part of Open Wall/Open Concept, the installation explores issues of migration and displacement - still an on-going reality and predicament for many families and individuals.
Please visit www.montserrat.edu/portfolio-item/ngoc-tran-vu/ for more info and do stop by!
301 Cabot St in Beverly, Massachusetts
Inside view at #MadeElsewhereProject installation
Street view of installation
Exhibiting at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord! / January 1, 2019
#MadeElsewhereProject will be on display from January 10 to February 28 at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord so please do stop by.
Commemorations Exhibition at the Heritage Museum /May 21, 2018
UPDATE: Made Elsewhere is officially up at the Heritage Museum & Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts! Come visit between May 20 - October 8, 2018. Here's the link to the exhibition. #Commemorations #MadeElsewhereProject
Made Elsewhere sculpture & Sculpture signage
Black Box Theatre: Interactive Arts Engagement / April 10, 2018
Thank you to our wonderful speakers for all that you do and to everyone who came out tonight for your engagement! Big shoutout to Andrew Grimanis for leading the icebreakers and participatory activities.
What does it mean to be an immigrant? Who is an American? What is our collective responsibility? These were the primary questions and narratives we discussed during the engagement.
Photo: Hakim Raquib
Photo: Hakim Raquib
Photo: Hakim Raquib
Photo: Hakim Raquib
Dynamic Speakers at the Engagement / March 28, 2018
We will have some awesome speakers that evening who will share their work and and resources on immigrants and refugees' rights:
Justin NP, United We Dream
Photo: Justin NP
Anwar Omeish, Harvard Anti-Islamophobia Network
Photo: Anwar Omeish, Twitter link
Violeta Haralampieva, PAIR (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation)
Photo: Violeta Haralampieva, PAIR
Justin Nguyen Phuoc is an undocumented Vietnamese immigrant who doubles as a Graphic designer & a digital organizer at United We Dream, the nation’s largest immigrant youth-led rights organization in the country. He came to the United States at the age of 14 from Vietnam & has been living & thriving as an undocumented person ever since. In addition to his role at UWD, he is also a community organizer based in Boston, organizing a collective of undocumented artists, as well as providing a space for other undocumented folks to thrive much like he did. Justin joined projects such as the Community in Action Mural initiative project with the hope of connecting more with his community in Dorchester & inspire an inclusive space for other undocumented AAPI to thrive.
Anwar Omeish is a junior at Harvard concentrating in Social Studies with a secondary in Statistics. Her involvement in PBHA began as a member of the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) and an attendee of the fall 2015 Advocacy and Organizing course. Since then, she has also begun volunteering with the Harvard-Rindge Muslim Youth Program. Whether on the picket lines with striking workers or with her mentees, Anwar has loved her time volunteering with PBHA programs, both addressing community needs and fighting for structural change. After serving as the Advocacy, Health, and Housing Programming Group Officer last year, she became even more involved in PBHA as a Programming Chair this past year. As President, Anwar hopes to build and expand PBHA’s community partnerships and mobilize students to support community-led advocacy and activism around important causes. (PBHA website)
Violeta Haralampieva, Esq., is a staff attorney at PAIR. She specializes in asylum law and assists with PAIR’s detention program. Violeta graduated from Boston University School of Law, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Violeta was born in Bulgaria, grew up in the Czech Republic, and moved to the United States after her family won a Green Card in the U.S. Diversity Lottery. She became interested in working with immigrants while in college. She taught academic writing to English as a Second Language students for several years before law school. As a law student, Violeta was a member of the International Human Rights Clinic. She interned at the Irish International Immigrant Center and the PAIR Project, and completed a semester-long externship with the immigration law firm of McHaffey & Associates. Violeta was a recipient of a BU Law Public Service Post-Graduate Fellowship, which she used to work on asylum cases for six months in her native Bulgaria. She spent the following six months with the Refugee Solidarity Network in New York, conducting research and developing advocacy on behalf of refugees. Violeta is bilingual in Bulgarian and Czech. (PAIR website)
Having Her Stand on Her Own / March 27, 2018
Hung Vu, the retired engineer, came by today to help me figure out how to make "Lady Liberty" stand on her own. Fortunately, we were able to use some wood I had and a plastic tie as well as wires to attach the feet to the bottom stand. She seems pretty sturdy!
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Stitching the Flags Together / March 26, 2018
Fellow artist Elliot Goldman came by the studio and helped me sew the flags together for some stunning resuts! So grateful for his help and support, thank you Elliot :D
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Come to the Interactive Arts Engagement 4/10! / March 20, 2018
Tuesday, April 10 | 6–8 pm
Ngoc-Tran Vu: Made Elsewhere
Boston Center for the Arts Spring 2018 Visual Artist Resident
Interactive Arts Engagement
BCA Black Box Theatre
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1791690171126882/
As part of her Made Elsewhere project, BCA Spring 2018 Visual Artist Resident Ngoc-Tran Vu is constructing a new vision of the Statue of Liberty using recycled and found materials. The work explores issues of migration and displacement—particularly of refugees and immigrants—and is being developed through the artist's active collaboration with local groups and organizations advocating for refugees and immigrants' rights.
Join us on April 10 for a presentation of her project, participatory exchange of audience stories and contributions, and workshops facilitated by invited speakers sharing their own work and resources in this areas. All guests are invited to bring an object or memory that connects to their roots. This event is intended to be collaborative so there will be opportunities for guests to participate, share and engage collectively. More info here.
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Work-In-Progress / March 9, 2018
I have started to assemble the sculpture together using materials such as banana leaves, straws and plastic bags. Slowly but surely it's coming together..
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
The Flags have arrived! / March 1, 2018
The 4x6" flags have arrived via the US Flag Store! Thanks Andrew for helping me research the seven countries that are currently part of the "Muslim Ban." Stay tuned to see how they are integrated into the Made Elsewhere Project.
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Visiting the Black Box Theatre /February 26, 2018
Andrew and I along with Randi Hopkins from BCA checked out the Black Box Theatre as a possible space for the public engagement in April. What a dynamic environment! The only tricky thing is we might not have access to the space to set up until the morning of the actual event but hopefully we will figure something out to make it work..
Photo: Andrew Grimanis
Photo: Andrew Grimanis
Meet Intern Andrew Grimanis! / February 5, 2018
Andrew doesn't look happy here but he usually is!
Photo: Andrew Grimanis
Andrew Grimanis is the Spring 2018 Visual Arts Intern at Boston Center for the Arts. Part of his role at the Boston Center for the Arts is to provide support for the Artist in Residence and help facilitate and design related programming. He studies Museum Art Education and History of Art at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Andrew is an Artist, Curator and Educator with a focus on Contemporary Art. His Art practice focuses on the way that architecture and space are experienced and influenced by people. Often taking the form of sculpture, printmaking and processes of casting. As a curator, he is a Co-director of the Godine Family Gallery at MassArt. In an educational role, Andrew has worked in Boston area community and school based settings, as a teacher and visiting artist. He is excited to work with Ngọc-Trân Vũ on her project, Made Elsewhere at the BCA!
My Design for Made Elsewhere / January 31, 2018
Here's my initial design as a roadmap on how I would construct my vision of Lady Liberty inspired by the original design by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. My idea to use recycled materials that are made from outside the U.S. as an ode to immigrants' labor that are often invisible and undervalued. Please check back to see my progress!
The Original Lady Liberty Design / January 29, 2018
A lot of people don't know that the original Lady Liberty was modeled after an Arab woman. Check out this article and this was what had inspired me to create the Made Elsewhere project.
Read the PRI article here
Moving into Studio! / January 28, 2018
This is the first legit studio I have been in a very long time. Thank you BCA for the opportunity and space to be your Spring Visual Arts Resident!
Also, thanks to my good friend Eliza Dewey for helping me bring supplies to the fourth floor and Lucas Spivey, the previous artist resident, for leaving behind your fridge and microwave. This will be super helpful in the coming months..
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
Photo: Ngoc-Tran Vu
2018 Spring Residency with Boston Center for the Arts! / January 3, 2018
http://www.bcaonline.org/visualarts/artist-residency-program.html
