100 silent utterances

600m of black thread embroidered on 100 cast mycelium tiles
70 cm x 300 cm

This installation contemplates translation through the embroidery of Nôm. Nôm characters are understood by few individuals and scholars in Vietnam. This work sews together 10 works by 18th century female Vietnamese erotic and feminist poet, Hồ Xuân Hương. The work serves as a performance of translation through the body as material – the surface of the embroidery being that of a decomposable material – mycelium. The installation’s presentation and the month-long performance of its production occurs in silence, commemorating a language lost and one that I have little access to as a lived tradition.

 

The translation of the 10 poems Hồ Xuân Hương in modern Vietnamese and English are provided, courtesy of John Balaban, Copper Canyon Press, and the Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia , its principal arts investment and advisory body, with material development and research supported by the Ian Potter Artist Fund.