First Vietnamese artist invited to display at Biennale Venice

Solo exhibition Soul Energy by Lê Hữu HIếu in Arsenale Nord, Venice in 2021. Photo courtesy of the artist

HÀ NỘI – Artist Lê Hữu Hiếu (Henry Le) will be the first Vietnamese representative at the 60th Biennale Venice in Italy from April 20 to November 24. 

Paolo De Grandis, president of PDG Arte Communications, a representative of the 60th Biennale Venice organisation, sent a letter to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng to invite Hiếu to take part in the event. 

“We have jointly organised 127 exhibitions at the Venice Biennal with the presence of numerous countries for the first time, including Andorra, Azerbaijan, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Jamaica, Morocco, Monaco, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Singapore and Ecuador,” Grandis wrote in the invitation letter. 

“With more than 30 years of experience collaborating with the Venice Biennale, we believe it will be an important milestone to have Việt Nam’s first presence after the event’s 129 years of history, represented by talented artist Henry Le.”

The letter also confirms that Hiếu was the first Vietnamese artist and the first Asian artist to organise a solo exhibition in Arsenale Nord, Venice in 2021.

Entitled Soul Energy, it was curated by Chiara Canali and promoted by MoCA and Arte Laguna Studio, presenting 40 large-scale pictorial works and an installation of human-sized iron sculptures.

Grandis and the Venice Biennale Arte curators came to see and highly appreciated the exhibition. 

“I’m waiting for official reply from the ministry of culture,” said Hiếu. “I think it is a good chance to bring and introduce Vietnamese history and culture to the world.”

Hiếu is preparing his works which he has made over seven years with help from history and culture consultant Doctor Bùi Hoài Sơn. His message is the pride of the 4,000-year history of the country. 

Hiếu was born in 1982 in Nghi Xuân, Hà Tĩnh central province. He lives and works in Hà Nội. Having been an architect in the past, for more than ten years Hiếu has chosen artistic research as a priority experience of his life, placing it at the centre of every reflection, idea and visual practice.

He had a solo exhibition at the Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum in 2014. He also took part in the Art Basel Miami and Contemporary Art Projects USA in the United States in 2016, and the 11th Florence Biennale da Basso in Florence, Italy in 2017. – VNS