Whatever the reason, thanks for being here. It’s me, Phuong Anh (PA). I write poetry and do interdisciplinary practices.

I am obsessed with writing on "giấy dó", a traditional Vietnamese paper by fountain pen. Sometimes I wander in between landscapes, draw lines, do performances, work with textiles and installation. Sometimes I organize fundraising events, facilitate space, work in the studio, and do group shows with friends. The medium borders are not always clear but I am curious to see new forms emerging. 

Inter-intimacy is a concept that I am investigating to encounter other sentient beings using poetry as a vehicle. It refers to the proximate space of closeness built up between two entities as they coexist and engage with one another.

From my recent essay: “I would like to argue that to get closer to the proximate '-inter' in inter-intimacy, one needs to open oneself with attentiveness and slowness through one's life experiences, to always remain humble while continuing to learn and learn more, circling back to understand oneself and the other's self.”

I dream about a flying tent where no restraint of ethical dilemma is born from the system.

📩 amazinkzy@gmail.com
IG @nguyenphuonganh.pa




EDUCATION


2024 MA Intercultural Practices
Graduated with Distinctive
CSM, The University of the Arts London

2023 Transcultural Collaborations
Shared Campus, Zurich University of the Arts
& Taipei National University of the Arts

2018 BA International Communication
The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam




POETRY & WRITING 




‘thân mến’//’dear’ is the first poetry book that I have published.
The book is for loving creatures that I have met in the last 4 years.

It was born in a moment that I think about the people in Gaza. Love is rare in this difficult time, and it did came to me in the dark. I want to give back those intimate feeling to who has opened arms for me in my journey back to writing. And from there, I hope it is a small activism act to build peace for the other who are under the rubbles.
thân mến,

viết những lời này, cạn cõi lòng để buông cơn sầu bi, cởi áo rồi gột rửa ngôn từ, ở phía sau đấy, một điều gì đã kéo bạn vào đây, ở đây với tôi, và viết.

viết những lời này, một nửa của nhau, đi tìm nhau, đi tìm nhau thêm nhiều năm nữa nắm tay, đi tìm nhau thêm nhiều năm nữa mộng vàng, đi tìm nhau thêm nhiều năm nữa tình tang, và viết.

nếu đã ở đây
cứ thong thả.



INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICES 


‘Will your silence hear us?’, Poetry Video
2024, MA Intercultural Practices Showcase, Central Saint Martins, London

‘58s’ with Ha Trang & Tam Do, Poetry Performance
2024, Collective Donation Event For Palestine WATER HOPES, Saigon, Vietnam

‘Love packages that crossed the border’, Installation
2024, Group Exhibition WELCOME TO THE UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK

‘Mọi thứ thật giản đơn’, Poetry Video
2024, Group Show NEW WORLD MAY DAY, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK  

‘What is in the Name?’ with Aparupa, Larissa & Lucia, Postcard Stand Installation & Interview Collages Audio 2023, Group Exhibition EXCHANGING PROTECTION, Transcultural Collaboration Program, Share Campus, C-Lab, Taipei-Taiwan

‘The ROSE’ with Laris, Jamira & Hans, Found fabric, knitted pieces Installation & Poetry Audio 2023, Group Exhibition EXCHANGING PROTECTION, Transcultural Collaboration Program, Share Campus, Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich-Switzerland

‘Mắt xanh thơm chân con, tai đỏ cảo lưng con’ with Nhi Le and Tam Do, Poetry Performance
2023, Nhi Le the first solo show, Reading Cabin, Saigon, Vietnam

‘Get the hell out of here’, Poetry Installation & Online Zine 2023, Language Art Project Exhibition, Arts SU Gallery Space, University of the Arts London, 2023, London, UK 

‘Merely move’, Poetry Performance & Installation
2022, Trôi Art Fes, Chòm Hõm aka Asian Squat, Saigon, Vietnam

‘Nothinisexis msketch’, Poetry & Line drawing Sketchbook
2022, Walking, resting, and writing, England, Wales and Scotland

‘Mất mặt’ with Nhi Le & other performers, Collective Performance
2022, Reduplication Words, Cái Project, Uom Art Hub, Saigon, Vietnam

‘Drag the past’, Poetry Performance & Installation
2021, Facing my past in the forest, Mang Den, Vietnam

Temporarily hosted Art & Poetry Bay Library, participated No Cai Bum Art Festival, co-hosted 8811.bi art hub
2021 & 2022, Da Lat-Sai Gon, Vietnam

‘Fragmented conversation’, Poetry Video
2020, Thoughtful Fundraising Event in the pandemic, Bay Library, Zoom Online, Vietnam



PRACTICE-BASED RESEARCH 


In 2021, I launched Cái, a project that focuses on the Vietnamese language, poetry, art, and later expanded to intercultural spaces. It has experimented with forms of language, street culture, collaboration with artists & collectives.

The first topic that Cái has been engaged in include

2021 - Từ láy, Vietnamese reduplication words
2022 - Chợ vá, Vietnamese wet markets
Instagram Archive: https://www.instagram.com/caicai.vn

Currently being in transition between Vietnam and Switzerland, I temporarily hold the Cái project and find a more sustainable way to develop. I continue to walk, think about the indispensable relationship between art and life, and prepare for the theoretical platform that I wish to continue in my practice-based PhD research.

Find me here.