“When reading about Vietnamese migration history, I learned that Germany has the second largest Vietnamese diaspora population in Europe. Because of Berlin’s past history of being divided, with guest workers migrating to GDR, and boat refugees to West Germany – I imagined the Vietnamese diaspora would be mixed, and with interesting interaction and stories. This was one of the motivation factors for me for moving to Berlin as I grew up in a small town in Norway where I was one of few.

I wanted to investigate the differences, the commonalities, learn more about the history and nuances between, and among the diaspora. I had no idea where to start, so I started where it made most sense to me. With the food. Food is such a big part of Vietnamese culture, and thus also the dinner table. I started frequenting various Vietnamese eateries and restaurants here in Berlin, where I would try to strike up conversations with my (admittedly rusty) Vietnamese. Sometimes, people would reply to me in German, and the times people would reply to me in Vietnamese, either me or the other person would not fully understand everything because of accents and other factors.

As I sat there eating by myself, I actually felt even further from home. In a way, it reinforced the idea that I would never belong in any culture. No matter if I was speaking Norwegian, English or Vietnamese, I would feel like I spoke with distance. As I ate, I was also reflecting on my own family dinners. The taste of restaurant food and how it was different from my moms cooking, the conversations (or lack of), the constant fighting and finger pointing in our home, and also perhaps how I felt outside even when I was inside. So here I was in Berlin looking for a closer connection to my roots, and a better understanding of the Vietnamese diaspora, but somehow all I could think about was myself and my own family. A thought of my childhood struck me, I was thinking about when we used to go to church, and I thought about what I would say if I was to hold a prayer for the dinner table. This inspired me to write the poem Distant Tongues which is also the title of my project. In a way, the poem is a figurative exploration of language, collaging together my experiences in Berlin and Norway. Later, I created all the other visual work as an visualisation and abstraction of my poem.

The work is my first exploration into acoustic/percussion sounds through sculpture and installation. The sculptures are essentially automated drum machines using a bamboo stick which resembles bony fingers. They are draped by blankets typically seen in Vietnamese (and Asian) households. The exhibition is also showing 3 different self-portraits made with a pigment transfer method I developed during my residency. The images also functions as percussion instruments.” – Duy Nguyen