Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, born in Hanoi, graduated from Hue University of Fine Arts (2006), and completed a Master's program in Visual Arts at Mahasarakham University, Thailand (2012). She is a visual artist whose work employs many different media such as film installation, documentary film, photography and drawing; and focuses on various themes including gender, the Vietnam War, and immigrant communities.

Using art as a tool for self-observation and self-inquiry, she produces works that explore questions about gender, the body, sexuality, and the role of women in society, gradually forming observations that help to position oneself and see it within a larger landscape of the era. Her encounters and wanderings with migrants, veterans, farmers, and people she meets along the way have brought her disjointed, fuzzy fragments to visualize, imagine, connect, and inquire about the surrounding history and society. This process helps her find the post-war and Đổi mới’s imprint on her generation. They are an indication for her to continue to search, investigate, and analyze the world around with ever-expanding perspectives.

Together with her artist friends in Huế, Mai founded the bar art space Mơ Đơ (2019) and initiated Nổ cái Bùm – a grassroot travel art festival (2020).

Text by ViAA based on information provided by the artist.