PACT Afterglow Presents James Nguyen's ON THE BORDER OF THINGS

From January 17th to 20th, PACT Centre for Emerging Artists will present the first production in their 2018 AFTERGLOW season, On The Border of Things, a new Australian work by interdisciplinary artist James Nguyen and his uncle Cong Ai Nguyen.

A bilingual performance installation presented in English and Vietnamese, On The Border of Things blends video shot by James with live performance to explore the movement of people, agriculture and the environment.

On The Border of Things has been developed over three years by James alongside his uncle, Cong Ai, an itinerant fruit picker who immigrated to Australia from Vietnam in 1994.

Over a series of road trips to visit Cong Ai on farms in country Victoria and South Australia, James delved into the mythologies and mysticism of modern food production. As globally connected consumers, James questions the journeys and narratives that we inadvertently swallow with every mouthful.

"I chose to work with my uncle because as a migrant, he has worked on the land all his life, be it in the highlands of Vietnam or in country Victoria,' said James. 'Reconnecting has given me the opportunity to dispel some of my own assumptions about him, as well as reflect upon the processes, distances, and personal stories that ultimately connect us as consumers of food."

This exciting new work has been created during James' three-year PACT residency, and was co-commissioned by PACT and Melbourne's Next Wave emerging artists initiative. On The Border of Things is a performance that will be staged in two parts - Part One premiering at PACT and Part Two premiering at the 2018 Next Wave Festival.

Tickets: $15 for full and $12 for concession

Bookings: Via the PACT website - http://www.pact.net.au/whats-on/border-of-things

PACT's premiere performance season, Afterglow, showcases new works by Australia's most compelling emerging performance makers. Afterglow features works that represent the very best of contemporary Australian performance.

James Nguyen is a Sydney-based artist working with documentary practice, installation and performance. He completed his undergrad at The National Art School and a MFA at Sydney College of Arts (the University of Sydney) and is currently a PhD candidate at UNSW Art & Design looking at self-representation and the Vietnamese diaspora. James was a recipient of the Clitheroe Foundation Scholarship and the Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship which allowed him to travel to New York to be a Collaborative Fellow at UnionDocs Center for Experimental Documentary Arts. James also completed a Beijing residency with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. James attended the Venice Biennale 2017 on a supported scholarship provided by the Maddocks Artprize and the Australian Council to develop his curatorial project Astute Art Investments International - aiming to create collaborative opportunities and platforms for local artists and their broader communities in China, Australia and the greater Asia-Pacific. James has exhibited in multiple galleries across Australia and Internationally.

Cong Ai Nguyen works picking fruits around Western NSW and Victoria. He was born in Vietnam in 1968 and arrived in Australia in 1994. On arriving, Cong, against his family's wishes, disappeared into rural Australia to go fruit picking. His willful choice to avoid the city means that he has a migrant's connection to country and space that is both contradictory and connected.