The artist rose to further international prominence with The Farmers and The Helicopters (2006), which contained interviews with a Vietnamese man who was attempting to build his own helicopter and other people discussing their feelings about the flying machines, interspersed with Vietnam War scenes gleaned from American movies and news footage, dipicting Vietnamese citizens’ complex relationship to the war. Currently based in Ho Chi Minh city, Dinh Q. Lê produces video installations based on thorough research and interviews, which shed light on the past through people’s discussions of actual experiences, and address issues such as war and immigration from unique vantage points.

Forty years after the Vietnam War drew to a close, and 70 years since the end of World War II, it is more crucial than ever that we take a long, close look at the tragic legacy of these wars, so as to prevent invisible forces from once again setting the world on the march to destruction. In this exhibition, the works of Dinh Q. Lê present to us the memories of individuals that have been lost in the shadows of history, and inspire each of us to think deeply about our futures.

Source: Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.