Archives par mot-clé : Martina Nguyen

Exposition : The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War (August 25 – December 19, 2025)

Etats-Unis, Worcester (Massachusetts). Annonce d’une exposition sur l’histoire de la tunique vietnamienne (áo dài) et d’événements scientifiques autour de cette exposition.

Exhibition announcement:

The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War

Martina Nguyen, Tuong Vu, and Ann Marie Leshkowich are pleased to announce the exhibition The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War: Fashion, Citizenship, and Nationalism (1954–1975). The exhibition is open through December 19, 2025, at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA. 

Official opening events will take place on September 11 and 12. They will include a roundtable with the co-curators and designers Sĩ Hoàng and Thai Nguyen, to be followed by a reception (September 11) and a conversation and film screening with legendary film star Kieu Chinh (September 12). All events are open to the public. Details are on the attached flyer.

In conjunction with the exhibition opening events, the US-Vietnam Research Center (University of Oregon) is sponsoring a launch of two newly published books: The White Pebble: Madame Nhu’s Memoir and Ngô Đình Diệm and I: A Memoir by Bùi Công Văn. This event will take place on September 11 at noon in Hogan Center 328, College of the Holy Cross.

About the exhibition: Timed for the 50th anniversary of the official end of the Vietnam War, The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War takes an innovative approach to a conflict that continues to loom large in the imagination of the American public by exploring the role that Vietnam’s national costume—the áo dài—played within Vietnam and on the global stage. The centerpieces of the exhibition are áo dài worn by “first ladies” of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), including garments from Trần Lệ Xuân (President Ngô Đình Diệm’s sister-in-law) and Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh (President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu’s wife). These historically significant garments, many of which appeared on magazine covers and in other media at the time, have never before been publicly displayed. 

The exhibition shows how something as seemingly mundane and innocuous as clothing was used to assert Vietnamese nationalism and cultural identity during decades of violent civil and international war. Other items trace the history of the emergence of Vietnam’s national costume, offer a comparative perspective on clothing in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and within the National Liberation Front, detail the importance of the áo dài to the Vietnamese American diasporic community, and provide information on the postwar revival of interest in the áo dài in Vietnam and its influence in global fashion over the past several decades. Through these items of clothing and accompanying objects, visitors can consider how national costumes are modern creations with meanings that change over space and time. Exhibition texts are in English and Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War is co-curated by Professors Ann Marie Leshkowich (College of the Holy Cross), Martina Thucnhi Nguyen (Baruch College, City University of New York), and Tuong Vu (University of Oregon).

Throughout the semester, we will be hosting public academic events and performances on campus connected to the exhibition, including:

  • Tuesday, November 4: Music and Multimedia Performance: Selections from The Odyssey, by Emmy award-winning artist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ (7:30 PM, Luth Concert Hall, Prior Performing Arts Center)
  • Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8: Scholarly workshop: The Politics of National Costumes in Asia (Rehm Library).