Sculpting the Invisible
Open Studio with Kiều-Anh Nguyễn
15h - 18h, Saturday, 24 May, 2025 Atelier 11 Cité Falguière, 75015 Paris During this open studio, artist Kiều-Anh Nguyễn will be sharing the results of her site-specific research, which traces the histories of the Atelier 11 through the livelihoods and interactions that once animated its spaces in the lenses of olfactory. Following Kiều-Anh’s Olfactory Archive (Project 1: Housing as a Body), which examines the olfactory profiles of urban spaces as sketches, this research is to align with the atelier’s current preservation work, engaging with the history of the place and the surrounding Cité Falguière site through acts of reading archives, and direct site works & observation while she focuses on sculpting spaces from the invisible yet essential—particularly through scent. The outcome of the project and my residency will not only to see history in a different way, but also to shine lights to the invisible labor of running and maintaining spaces for cultural dialogues, as well as to scent - a lesser known data when it comes to archive and anthropologic work. I aim to trace lost narratives, recontextualize them, and create new narratives that envision a future shaped by—and responding to—an irreversible past. |
Kiều-Anh Nguyễn is an interdisciplinary artist based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her art practice has foregrounded olfaction as the core line of inquiry to explore memory tracing and care practice, as it has taken the forms of participation, soft sculpture and often suggests travels between time, spaces, and sensory experiences.
Her artistic vision strives to create spaces to address societal norms and foster inclusive conversations while spotlighting underrepresented bodies and narratives, notably about women. Her work was exhibited in various spaces, including daadgalerie, VIVA ExCon, Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Asia Art Archive and documenta fifteen. She joined ba-bau AIR in 2019 and co-founded ba-bau collective in 2021. In 2023, she founded olfactory archives - where Nguyen focuses on using olfactory as an alternative form to reexamine archives. In 2024, she received Prince Claus SEED Award for promoting gender equality through her artistic practice. |