Viet-U.S. Art Exhibit at UCI Tries to ‘Bridge Gap Between Cultures’

Nearly two decades after President Nixon pulled U.S. troops out of Vietnam, most Americans still think of that Southeast Asian country only as the place where we lost an ugly war.

“We have so many pretty things about my country to enjoy, but we’re missing learning about them when we keep associating Vietnam with war,” artist Viet Nguyen said during a recent panel discussion in Irvine entitled “Art Bridging the Gap Between Cultures.”

“I miss the beauty of my country,” Nguyen said.

The two-hour discussion was offered at the Irvine Fine Arts Center in conjunction with its current exhibit “Four Artists/Bon Hoa Si: On Common Ground/Un Common Ground” (through Feb. 2). The show features works by Nguyen and fellow Vietnamese artist Hoang Vu as well as American artists William Short and Richard Turner.

On the panel along with Nguyen and Turner were Mai Cong, president of the Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc., moderator Peter Frank, art critic and editor of the art magazine Visions.

The thrust of the participants’ comments was that memories of the war continue to haunt people in both countries, preventing greater cultural awareness of one another.

“In essence, it is still unfinished business for the majority of us,” said Mai Cong, who works with Pacific Asian residents having trouble adjusting to Southern California life. She recalled how few Asians lived in the county when she arrived in the early ‘70s, and said Vietnamese immigrants who have relocated here since continue to encounter the stigma of the war. “The war in Vietnam has happened,” she said. “We want to deal with it and move on.”

One way to help move on, the panelists suggested, is through art exchanges, such as the “Four Artists” show, because they encourage dialogue that goes beyond discussing the war. “The show deals not directly with the war, but experiences in Vietnam shared by all the artists,” Turner said to an audience of about 30.

One reason for the show’s lack of specific references to the war or to the country’s current government is that the Vietnamese community is still struggling with cultural taboos about external expression.

There is also fear, Cong said, of what could happen to family members who still live in Vietnam. Artists, therefore, tend to use subtler methods to get their messages across, such as Nguyen’s abstract landscapes that express an internal view of reality.

Eventually, such distancing techniques help artists, then people in general, confront a subject openly. “First there is physical, geographical distance,” Turner said, “then chronological.” Americans are going through the same process, Cong said, noting the recent number of American-made films about the Vietnam War.

Moderator Frank said it is the “hybrid of cultures which enables us to survive. There is no survival without cross-fertilization,” be it language, food or art.

Added Cong: “I strongly believe we are all better off if we are not captive of our own culture, but are open to interact with other cultures.”