28-04-2025
Frame Work: Interactive art tells intergenerational Vietnamese American story
Editor's note: Frame Work is the new name of Axios Detroit's regular arts coverage, highlighting local exhibitions, artists and trends in the art world. Have a story idea? Reply to this email.
Touch a bead on an embroidered map to unlock a family's memories of the journey from Vietnam to America.
Why it matters: Viewers interacting with art is a key tenet of artist Linh My Truong's upcoming exhibition in Highland Park, " Threads of Passage: From Vietnam to America."
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War's end, the show centers on cultural memory and delves into the Vietnamese refugee experience.
How it works: For "Threads of Passage," Truong weaves together hand-embroidered art, video and touch-activated technology. On one of the two main installations, metal beads are attached to conductive threads and wires sending signals to project video.
The stories told through the artwork — from Truong's family and other Vietnamese Americans — explore survival and the generational legacies shaped by migration.
What they're saying: "The exhibition is about the refugee experience, but more broadly, the impact of the refugee experience on future generations. They're impacted in the way those emotional scars get passed on," Truong tells Axios. Children and grandchildren "want to know more, are motivated to figure out their history, their heritage."
The intrigue: The exhibition is at the Annex Gallery, an artist-run space in the historic old Lewis Stamping Plant. It is now called 333 Midland, a maker's space for artists and sculptors crafting larger works.
If you go: "Threads of Passage" opens Saturday with a free reception, 6-9pm. Enjoy Vietnamese food from Về Lại and Truong's family.
