'1988' featuring Vietnamese born multi instrumental virtuoso, Dung Nguyen

Ticket sales have now opened for 1988 — a new work collaboratively developed with lead composers Dung Nguyen and Peter Knight. '1988' also features an extraordinary visual design created by Phuong Ngo (premieres April 1st and 2nd at The Substation). 

Feature article in The Age 'Where were you in 1988? The new music taking us back in time.'

The fall of Saigon in 1975 triggered a mass exodus of South Vietnamese from their homeland by sea. It is estimated that anywhere between one to two million people would eventually flee the country, of this it is estimated that half perished at sea. One of the lucky ones was Quí Văn Nguyễn.

1988 was a pivotal year for Dung Nguyen as he emigrated from South Vietnam to Australia, to join Quí Văn Nguyễn, his father. It is also the point of arrival and the point of departure, the end of one journey and the start of another; yet it is one story, Dung’s story told in fragments. Intertwining personal narratives, diverse music practices, history, and cultural legacies, the work seeks to understand how and why we come to occupy the spaces we find ourselves in.

Featuring a stellar line-up of artists: Dung Nguyen (dan tranh, dan bau, dan nguyet), Peter Knight (trumpet, electronics), Minh Ha Patmore (dan truong), Erik Griswold (prepared piano, melodica), Vanessa Tomlinson (percussion), Helen Svoboda (double bass, voice), Phuong Ngo (slide projectors), Jem Savage (live sound). With lighting design by Rob Sowinski, and dramaturgy by Tamara Saulwick. 

Watch video
 

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

Premieres April 1st and 2nd 2022 at The Substation, 8PM.
*An Auslan interpreted artist talk will follow the premiere performance on Friday, 1 April 2022.

NFT MINT:

50 ticket holders can also opt in to receive a limited-edition NFT (non-fungible token), made available in collaboration between the AAO and the University of Melbourne, School of Computing and Information Systems. This NFT consists of an audiovisual piece featuring one of the slide images not available on any other platform. Our NFT series has been minted on the cutting edge and environmentally friendly Algorand blockchain. 

We look forward to seeing you there! More information can be found here.