John McDonald, the former Head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia who has held many senior roles in the arts as a curator for art exhibitions and the art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald was the guest of honor to open Ms Tcheu Siong's and Savanhdary Vongpoothorn's art exhibitions at the Niagara Galleries on the 04th of February 2020 in Melbourne.
Tcheu Siong's art has also been acquired by the Singapore Art Museum for the 2016/17 Singapore Biennale, and by QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art) for the ninth Asian Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9). Tcheu Siong's art was also exhibited at the 2019 Asian Art Biennial in Taiwan.
John McDonald is the honor guest who open Tcheu Siong and Savanhdary Vongpoothorn solo art exhibition at the Niagara Galleries (SBS Hmong) Source: SBS Hmong
Ms Siong’s art exhibition runs from 04-29 February 2020 in Richmond at the Niagara Galleries supported by the Spellbrook Foundation and it is her first solo art exhibition in Australia. However, Tcheu’s exhibition at Niagara coincides with Lao Australian artist Savanhdary Vongpoothorn’s solo exhibition at the same gallery supported by this gallery.
I am so thoughtful for the encouragement, supports and assistance to make my art exhibition possible, says Ms Siong.
She says that she is grateful for Gary Stafford's assistance and everything has been taken care of so she can be here with her art exhibition at the Niagara Galleries, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia.
Australian philanthropist Gary Stafford who used to be the chief executive and founder of the PanAust which subsidiary of Phubia Mining is the one who funded a lot of NGOs organisations in Laos such as, Spellbrook which providing medical support in collaboration with COPE and Interplast Australia to provide plastic surgery, Peuan Mit which handle child protection, educational opportunity, training and employment.
Thongsy Xiong and Tcheu Siong posed infront of Ms Siong's art-Chao and the three gods (SBS Hmong) Source: SBS Hmong
Spellbrook found the Elevations Laos and it wants to encourage, to support and to promote contemporary art. This art project is all funded by Spellbrook and the assistance from the Australian Embassy and Australian Aid. In this article we will only focus on arts.
The Elevations Laos is also working in partnership with the Global Development Group and STELLA to run its art exhibition and prize, though it has just set up and run for the last 18 months after established in 2018.
Alistair Charles Maclean, former Australian ambassador to Laos from 2004 to 2007 also attend this art exhibition. He said that at that time Laos has not very opened yet in terms of educational, cultural and art exchange with other international parties, but now it is good that Hmong and Lao artists are being promoted and exhibited in Australia.
The reasons Gary Stafford is currently doing these projects and other non-government organizations are that he wants to give something back to Lao people after doing mining in Laos over a decade. Therefore he has set up some of the NGO which receives funds from the Australian government as well as contributing personal funds, so other organizations can be managed and run by others on his behalf.
Alistair Charles Maclean, former Australian ambassador to Laos (2004 to 2007) posed with Savanhdary Vongpoothorn's art Footsteps to Nagatsudo, Niagara Galleries (SBS Hmong) Source: SBS Hmong
When I left PanAust, I want to set up a private charity foundation and it makes absolutely sense to me to give back to the country where I have good fortune and to the people of Laos as well, says Gary Stafford founder of Elevations Laos and Spellbrook.
Gary Stafford and Tcheu Siong at SBS Radio Melbourne Office (SBS Hmong) Source: SBS Hmong
I want to focus on high quality and meaningful art projects, but most important of all is to inspire, to promote and to exchange art, says Gary Stafford, Spellbrook founder.
Listen to the full interview with Gary Stafford and Tcheu Siong about the art exhibition at Niagara Galleries here:
Ms Tcheu Siong (Ntxawm Xyooj) says that she doesn't know that she is an artist who would create a contemporary art from her dream and her ancestry and cultural belief. She is the first Hmong lady from Laos who does her embroidery differently from other Hmong women. And it just happened to be her luck that Gary Stafford saw her arts display for sale in Luangprabang night market and from there all her contemporary arts were taken to display in Australia for the first time.
I am an orphan and my husband is the only child in his family, so I think that I want to turn my dream into Hmong embroidery and applique on cotton to hopefully generate a subsistence income to support my family, says Ms Siong.
Ms Tcheu's husband is a sharman or a Hmong spiritual healer who can negotiate with evil spirits when someone lost their souls so they can get better. Because if they lost their souls or evil spirits harm them the will fell ill.
From this belief and the stricken livelihood, she decides to turn her dream about the spirits and gods from her dreams into a very colourful and unique embroidery, hopefully it can generate an income to support her family, after she has to leave the highland to stay in Luangprabang, a northern province of Laos where she can no longer does farming.
Hmoob coj tooj npab-Tcheu Siong (Ntxawm Xyooj)-Niagara Galleries Source: Niagara Galleries
Watch more of Tcheu Siong's Dreaming art exhibition from the Niagara Galleries.
After the Vietnam War, Laos has changed its political system from monarchy to communist regime run by Pathet Lao Government (Currenly known as the Lao People Democratic Republic-Lao PDR), Savanhdary Vongpoothorn has migrated with her family to Australia in 1979.
Ms Vongpoothorn has graduated with Visual Arts from Western Sydney University and is now an emerging Australian artist with Southeast Asian background.
Since then she has created dozens of arts over the past two decades. Ms Vongpoothorn has held dear her Buddhist belief and Lao culture which are the bases for her arts. And so her art is creating on the base of a combination of her own cultural experience, history, Buddhism and contemporary art.
Her latest solo art exhibition at the Niagara Galleries in Richmond, Melbourne is called 'Broken Sura' and was supported by this gallery.
Ms Vongpoothorn's art exhibition at the Niagara Galleries was supported by this gallery and is base on an experience when she travelled to Nigatsu-dō at Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan in 2015. From there she has collaborated with Japanese calligrapher and poet to copy the step of this Japanese temple in the concept of Buddhism belief and related to Lao legendary Naga (Serpent king in the Mekong River).
Savanhdary Vongphoothorn posed with her art Footsteps to the Nigatsu-Do (Interlocked Waves) 2019-at Niagara Galleries (SBS Hmong) Source: SBS Hmong
Broken Sutra-Naga paths-Savanhdary Vongpoothorn-Niagara Galleries Source: Niagara Galleries
