Lêna Bùi
Biography
Lêna Bùi (b. 1985, Da Nang, Vietnam; currently lives and works in Saigon, Vietnam) received her BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University, USA (2007), with one year in Doshisha University, Japan. Her works are both amusing anecdotes and in-depth articulations of the impact of rapid development on people’s relationship with nature and their surroundings. She reflects on ways that intangible aspects of life, such as faith, death and dreams, influence behaviour and perception. Her recent works respond to the fragmented nature of modern life and the sensing of a certain void, while trying to express a worldview that is not entirely human-centric. She often relies on drawing and video but is open to whatever medium she perceives as appropriate to a work.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
skin in my stomach, Galerie Urs Meile Rämistrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (upcoming)
2024
Blue Filaments, Galerie BAQ , Paris, France
2018
Proliferation, Mansfield East Asian Center, Wesleyan University, CT, USA
2016
Flat Sunlight, The Factory Contemporary Art Center, HCMC, Vietnam
2015
A Site Between, Next Art Tainan, Taiwan, China
2012
Voracious Embrace, organized by San Art at HCMC Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Does the flower hear the bee?, 15th Shanghai Biennale, China
Other Intelligences, HEK (House of Electronic Arts), Münchenstein / Basel, Switzerland
2024
Nurture Gaia, Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
In Absence, Presence, Nguyen Art Foundation, Saigon, Vietnam
2023
Cyphering, Vibrating, Emanating, screenings and performance, Delfina Foundation, London
Monographs, Asian Film Archive Oldham Theatre Foyer, Singapore
2022
Flowing Moon Embracing Land, Jeju Biennale, South Korea
Boundary Conditions, mM Artcenter, South Korea
Illuminated Curiosities, Nguyen Art Foudantion, HCMC, Vietnam
2021
Posthuman Ensemble, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea
2020
AM I Superwoman, San Art, HCMC, Vietnam
No Cai Bum, Diem Phung Thi Exhibition house, Hue, Vietnam
Flat Sunlight (film), screening as part of So Far, So Right, Taipei Contemporary Art Center,
Taiwan, China
2018
March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2017
Flat Sunlight (film), Screening at Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin,
La Gaite Lyrique, Paris and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
2016
Borderless, Skyline with flying people 3, Mam Art, Hanoi Women’s Museum, Vietnam
2015
Sacred Water, Image Ark Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2014
Disrupted Choreographies, the Carré d’Art Museum, Nîmes, France
2013
Foreign Bodies, The Wellcome Collection, London, UK
Grants/Scholarships
2017
Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Arts Grant
2016
AXA Grant - Collaboration with the Zoonosis team at the Oxford Clinical Research Unit HCMC
Vietnam
2014–2015
Wellcome Trust INternational Engagement Award for Sacred Water
2003–2007
Freeman Asian Scholarship, 4-year merit-based full scholarship to Wesleyan University
2005, 2006
Wesleyan Writers Conference Scholarship
Residencies
2023
Delfina Foundation, London, UK
2020
NTU CCA Residencies, Singapore
2018
March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
Wesleyan University East Asian Department, CT, USA
2013
Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan, China
2012
Art in Global Health, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, HCMC. Initiated by the Wellcome
Trust UK
2010
Mino Paper Village, Gifu, Japn