“Bo Hao” installation exhibition opens in Hanoi

Le Hien Minh created one thousand sculptural forms based on large-scale dictionaries

“Bo Hao” is the most ambitious exhibition to date from visual artist Le Hien Minh. The exhibition includes two works: the installation “Sach Tu Dien” (Dictionary Books) and a printed object “Con lai/ Roi rac” (Remainder/ Incoherence).

The exhibition is to mark the 10th anniversary of her father’s death, the language researcher Le Duong Hao. Besides bringing a new form to traditional materials, these two artworks are an honest reflection of the artist’s own feelings regarding memories of her father and the loss thereof.

“Con lai/ Roi rac is a collection of photographs from my Dad’s belongings and writing from my memory of him. During the creation process, I decided to write purely from my own thoughts without the aid of others. I wanted to focus on my own memories because they are increasingly uncertain and one day I won’t be able to distinguish which parts are my own and which are borrowed”, Le Hien Minh said.

“During the process of making Con lai/Roi rac, I rewrote each recollection many times. With each rewriting I recalled the same memory with different feelings. The process of repeatedly writing the same passage is monotonous, but this repetition allowed me to quite myself so that my most distant memories could come forward. I arranged, measured and lined them up carefully like a map. This map operates like a maze, with old things as well as new unknown things existing together. This labyrinth is a place that I want to inhabit”, she added.

The exhibition is attracting many visitors. Among them, visitor Vu Thuy Trang said “Thanks to Roi Rac, memories about the past and childhood of the person in the artist’s generation become fulfilled through the experiences of others".

These are some photos at the exhibiton: