CURTAINS GENTLY DRAWN, VEILS CASCADING DOWN

(2025) Generative Installation

Curated by Lê Thuận Uyên
Commissioned by Tam Sơn 
Sound artist Renick Bell
Recording & Mix by Nguyễn Hồng Quân
Vocal by Nguyễn Văn Khuê
Produced by Studio Articulate


Inspired by a verse from Nguyễn Du, 19th century Vietnamese poet, the work is a meditation on old ways of life and traditional cultural values that are gradually fading away, or only lingering somewhere within contemporary life.

The sound installation recreates the tonal beauty of Ca Trù in its entirety on the first day of the exhibition, as a reminder of a glorious past. However, throughout the exhibition, the singing, the instruments, and the clappers (’phách’) will gradually decompose through algorithms, dissolving into nothingness by the final day of the exhibition.

In parallel, the video installation projects traditional inked paintings reconstructed or reimagined by Stable Diffusion. These images does not try to offer a representation of the past, but ambiguous sketches, like fleeting flashes of memory—flickering, evocative, and full of nostalgia. They reflect technology's aspiration to preserve history, while also revealing the limitations of technology in recreating what has been eroded by the passing of time and memory.

The work includes:
  1. A system of curtain frames hung in the room, using projectors to display video imagery generated by Stable Diffusion, running in real-time.
  2. A sound installation featuring recorded instrumental music by the Thái Hà Ca Trù Ensemble and People's Artist Nguyễn Văn Khuê.


Installation View, Hanoi Old Citadel
Installation View, Hanoi Old Citadel
Installation View, Hanoi Old Citadel

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