PRESS RELEASE – exhibition “DAVID THOMAS and FRIENDS”

“No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

In June 1969, David Thomas, a young man from Portland, Maine (USA), bid farewell to his newlywed wife to join the ranks of 58,800 American troops participating in the Vietnam War. After over a year stationing in Pleiku, the land of sun and wind of Tay Nguyen, he came back from the war, holding the memories not of the dusty battlefields or the acrid smoke from gunfire, but of the smiles of the highland children whenever they crowded around the jeep that the young soldier stopped at villages. „Vietnam – War“ seems to become a common phrase, a constant thought that anchored in every American’s consciousness during those periods, different from David Thomas, as he discovered the beauty of the land and their people, the poetic beautiful souls, the desire for peace and the resilience to overcome difficulties of the war.

Returning to Vietnam in 1987, in the country where he had been at war during his youth, David Thomas brought a humble, personal effort to reconnect and reconcile the past. Unaware that this trip would become a dozen of journeys between between the United State and Vietnam over his next 30 years. Those 30 years have turned Vietnam into a part of his life, a second homeland, a place with many loved ones, friends, with emotional and spiritual connections, a place where his heart belongs.

The year after, in the summer of 1988, Davis Thomas founded the non-profit organisation Indochina Art Partnership (IAP). IAP quickly became a cultural and artistic bridge diplomatic between Vietnam and USA at that time. Over the last 30 years, IAP has created and conducted dozens of large and small artistic exchange programs, enabled hundreds of Vietnamese artists and intellectuals to work and visit the United States, as well as dozens of American artists and intellectuals to Vietnam.  IAP was also the first to held two large exhibitions “An Ocean Apart” (“Nghìn Trùng Xa Cách”, 1990 – 1994) and “As Seen By Both Side” (“Nhìn từ Hai Phía”, 1995 – 2000) which happened before and after the historical normalisation of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam in 1995. The two exhibitions showcased works by many important contemporary artists of the two countries and had become touring exhibitions in big museums in the US as well as symbolised cultural and artistic events in term of diplomacy , politics and culture transfer in those years. In the following years, IAP regular initiated Artist-in-Residence programs, invited and supported many Vietnamese artists and intellectuals to live and work in Boston.  Artists of many generations, in different regions across Vietnam have been given the opportunities to come to friend’s country to work, study and exchange. This wasn’t bounded within the professional artistic programs but it indeed has been an act of connecting, healing and finding mutual understanding in many aspects of life from two folks sharing a painful past.

The “David Thomas and Friends” exhibition introduced David Thomas’ graphic printing works during his fight against Parkinson the last recent years, a disease resulted from having in contact with Agent Orange in war time. That full series has been presented in another group showcase titled “Finding Parkinson” between David Thomas and printmakers from Boston at the Danang Fine Art Museum in the middle of April 2023. The “David Thomas and Friends” exhibition also presents art works from 21 Vietnamese artists who joined exhibitions and artistic exchange programs organised and funded by IAP for the last 30 years, from 1989 -2019. Beyond connecting through interests in profession, the Vietnamese artists and David Thomas have been sharing common sentiments and values: about the beauty of the art, about healing and connecting of emotions and aesthetics, about companionship in life, about the past and a joined vision into the future. Through art, they have built lifelong friendships and become cultural witnesses of three decades of dedications, to heal a 20-years long war, which fortunately has ended[i].

Nguyen Anh Tuan

former IAP’s Program Manager in Vietnam

English translation by Nam Nguyen

• Co-organized by: The Vietnam Fine Art Association and the Vietnam Fine Art Museum.
• Supported by Ms. Tuyền Nguyễn, Kim Long Foundation and Thanh Uy Art Gallery, G. Bee CHUA (Zen Collection) and Patron Art Space.

i. If we don’t end war, war will end us.” – H.G. Wells

Click here to download e-catalog “David Thomas and friends” < PDF >