Factories as Studios Exhibition, December 2016 University of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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Factories as Studios Exhibition Catalogue

The collaboration project Factories as Studios was held from November -December 2016 at Factory locations in Bien Hoa and HCmc, and at HCMc University of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam.

Factories as Studios Vietnam

Factories as Studios Vietnam program aims to produce potentially beneficial social, economic and cultural effects for minimal material, financial and human resource investment. The aim is to link people-to-people in the industry with the creative arts and education, situating creative practitioners as motivating manufacturing exemplars within manufacturing communities. However, prior to moving ahead and placing the creatives into the factories we focused on building awareness, trust and belief in the potential of the project for local industrial, academic partners the wider community. This is the story of the Factories as Studios 2016 pilot first project , a proof of concept initiative.

Through the support of the South East Asian Research Centre, the University funded a this successful seeding project, Factories as Studios, to establish the fundamental relationships and potential for development and broader quality outcomes of Creative Manufacturing Residencies in Vietnam. Partners included Saitex International, and subsidiaries of SAMSUNG, NIKE, the Woodlight Company Vietnam and Focus Lighting USA and well as a plastics manufacturer.

In November 2016, we made contact with these six factories, who donated clean factory waste to us. We transported this to the University of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City, where twenty-eight final year design students developed material and object outcomes, that was shown to the factory community at a public exhibition.

This project shares a model of creative strategic leadership that seeks to build capacity for creative communities to develop artist residencies within local and national manufacturing communities. Dr Jane Gavan is working towards making the artist in residence form of creative practice a regular and valued occurrence in Vietnam, taking an interdisciplinary approach, expanding opportunities for practice for artists at the same time as it addresses the strategic need to increase innovation in manufacturing.

‘Factories as Studios aims to build on recent research that shows how artists producing creative works within manufacturing communities can raise rates of creativity and innovation for these communities if they are able to work through the range of challenges of getting in and getting on in these communities. Issues that will be highlighted include communications, resource management and ethical and intellectual property negotiations with and within these communities.' Gavan, Factories as Studios, 2013)

Comments from Ngo Thi Thu Trang, Phd and Dean of Design UAH

Mặc dù đây không phải là dự án đầu tiên về sử dụng vật liệu tái chế diễn ra ở trường Đại học Kiến trúc Tp.HCM cũng như ở Việt Nam, Factory as Studio (FaS) lại đem đến 1 góc nhìn mới trong mối quan hệ tương tác giữa designers với nơi sinh ra nguồn vật liệu phế thải. Việc sáng tạo ra những ý tưởng thiết kế từ các vật liệu phế thải không phải là điều quá xa lạ đối với các nhà thiết kế. Tuy nhiên cách mà Tiến sĩ Jane Garvan dẫn dắt sinh viên tìm hiểu những đặc trưng của quá trình tạo ra nguồn phế liệu đó ở mỗi nhà máy, đồng thời mặt khác, tạo kết nối để các nhà máy đó đến và nhìn thấy khả năng sáng tạo từ đống phế liệu của mình, theo tôi đó là một ý tưởng (concept) tuyệt vời, có tính cốt lõi (original), và nhân văn. Bà không chỉ hướng về bản chất của các tác phẩm sáng tạo mà còn thông qua quá trình designers tạo ra chúng để nâng cao nhận thức của những con người bình thường xung quanh. Để thực hiện được ý tưởng này, Tiến sĩ Jane Gavan đã phải vượt qua rất nhiều rào cản tâm lý từ các nhà máy. Và chúng tôi đang rất mong chờ giai đoạn 2 của dự án này được triển khai, khi các designers sẽ thực sự đi vào trong các nhà máy để tạo nên tác phẩm của mình. Đó sẽ là một bước tiến lớn của dự án FAS.

Ngo Thi Thu Trang [PhD]
Dean of Art Design Faculty
Ho Chi Minh City Architecture University
196 Pasteur Str., Dist. 3, HCMC, Vietnam.

A public lecture on the project will be given by Dr Gavan at 1.30pm on the 6th Dec 2016 Room B403

Exhibition Factory as Studio at UAH, opening from 6-8 pm 16th Dec until the 23rd December 2017

Comments from participants:

‘really impressed and inspired’ members of the The Woodlight company, Ho Chi Minh City 23rd Email feedback 23rdDec 2016.

"Thank you for your visit to our company last time! We are very surprised about the products that you and your team have made, they are special and have high artistic value. With only a week's work your team has made all these products - it's admirable. If you need more material like that, we are very honoured to provide you so that you and your team can do more useful artwork from them. Again, we would like to send to you and your team's profound gratitude. Hope can receive more and more artistic in near future.Many thanks and best regards !"

Oanh. Nguyen Ngoc Kim, Saitex International, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai 21st March 2017.

We’re very happy ! Until we meet again ! Mr Trần Khánh Tâm - Chemtrovina Co. Ltd.,

Participant Designers
Danh sách các bạn tham gia chính thức workshop đây c ơi.

1. Trần Thị Thiên Ngân

2. Phạm Thị Ngọc Thùy

3. Nguyễn Thị Kim Hoàn

4. Nguyễn Ngoc Duyên

5. Cao Phan Bảo Trân

6. Lưu Thanh Tâm

7. Nguyễn Thái Minh Nguyệt

8. Võ Phương Thy

9. Hoàng Hồng Minh.