An evening of storytelling and sound dedicated to the exhibition Reincarnations of Shadows

The Public Program dedicated to the exhibition Reincarnations of Shadows concludes with an evening featuring philosopher Alessandra Chiricosta, an expert on Vietnamese culture and gender studies, and performer and musician Nguyen Thanh Thuy. The evening, divided into two moments, takes its cue from Thao Nguyen Phan’s work and expands into the territories of storytelling and sound.

PROGRAM

7 PM: Lecture with Alessandra Chiricosta. Telling the feminine in Vietnam between history and myth
Alessandra Chiricosta’s talk will be devoted to the narrative of the construction of femininity in Vietnamese culture and its representations inside and outside the country: starting from its most ancient myths and reaching contemporary times through the portrayal of emblematic characters including the mountain fairy Âu Cơ, the sisters-generalesses Hai Bà Trưng, the poetess Hồ Xuân Hương, and the filmmaker Trịnh Thị Minh Hà.

8:30 PM: Sound intervention in the exhibition with Nguyen Thanh Thuy
Musician, artist and performer Nguyen Thanh Thuy, who has collaborated on the soundtrack of Thao Nguyen Phan’s new comission “Reincarnations of Shadows (moving-image-poem), 2023” performs a sound intervention in direct dialogue with the works in the exhibition Reincarnations of Shadows accompanied by the đàn tranh, a traditional Vietnamese music instrument that the artist reinterprets in a contemporary voice.

The event is organized by Pirelli HangarBicocca in collaboration with Fondazione In Between Art Film and follows the co-production of the work Reincarnations of Shadows (moving-image-poem), 2023, which gives the exhibition its title.

The lecture with Alessandra Chiricosta was held in Italian.

ALESSANDRA CHIRICOSTA
Philosopher, expert in Gender Studies, Historian of Religions specializing in cultures of mainland Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, where she has researched and worked for many years.
In the past, she has taught at Hanoi University in Vietnam, at University of Rome La Sapienza, at University Urbaniana, at Venice International University and she has collaborated with international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
She works on Intercultural Philosophy, gender issues in de-colonial and transcultural perspectives. She teaches Gender Studies at John Cabot University in Rome and coordinates the “Interculture” and “Strength” modules in the Master in Gender Studies and Politics at University Roma Tre. She collaborates with I.N.D.I.R.E. on projects to prevent and combat gender-based violence.
She practices, studies and teaches several Asian martial arts, with an approach that combines psycho-body practices, theoretical research and social justice, organizing workshops on combatant self-awareness and “Feminist self-defense.”
Among her publications: Un Altro Genere di Forza (Iacobelli Editore, 2019); Viet Nam. Miti e Racconti, with Maurizio Gatti, (ObarraO, 2014); Filosofia Interculturale e Valori Asiatici (ObarraO; 2013).

NGUYEN THANH THUY
Nguyen Thanh Thuy was born into a theatre family and was raised with traditional Vietnamese music from an early age in Hà Nội, Vietnam. She studied at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music where she received her diploma in 1998, followed by a Master of Arts at the Institute of Cultural Studies in 2003. She has received many distinctions including the First Prize and the Outstanding Traditional Music Performer Prize in the National Competition of Zither Talents in 1998. She has toured in Asia, Europe and the USA. Nguyen Thanh Thuy has recorded several CD’s as soloist with orchestra and solo CDs. Between 2021-22 Nguyen was an international postdoctoral research fellow at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and at the Institute of Arts, Faculty of Education Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Her artistic research project which focuses on the role of music in identity formation in Vietnamese diaspora was funded by the Swedish Research Council.