Immigrating Garden (No1) is based on research about Vietnamese immigration community in Taiwan. Through months of research, I have chance to meet many Vietnamese people living in Taiwan who are refugees from ‘Vietnam-China war’, who are Vietnamese brides, imported labors, students etc., They are here but still miss their homeland, especially, the smells and tastes from home.

Many of them try to collect Vietnamese plants to grow, from small rooftop of their houses to balcony of school’s dorms, back side of their factory, or even a random empty lands on street… They can use Vietnamese plants and herbs to cook, to use for traditional medical treatments as the way they have learned from their parents or grand-parents at home. Also, the familiar taste and smell give them a lot of power to against the nostalgia. 

But the fact, it is not easy to make that little ‘wish’, many people are working very hard here every day from morning to midnight, and also it is illegal to bring seeds, plants, or even fruits into Taiwan.

Through the garden and stories of people and their plants, I want to discover how the relationship of food and concept of home impacts to our mentality, our daily life; How our social - political issues can shape our mind and culture . My idea is to create a social platform that people can gather together, work and share together Vietnamese seeds/plants and also immigrated stories. The project aims to create a hope for people who are staying away from their home, also question our modern society/politic on the way its becoming.

This Immigrating Garden includes 3 parts:

Part1: Online format, you can watch a fictional documentary film on this link: https://www.bioartasia.com/exhibition

Part2: A Communal garden, the garden for sharing Vietnamese plants and Vietnamese immigrant’s stories. This garden located in Huong Vi Viet restaurant area inside the B1 floor of Longshan Temple Station, Taipei.(https://www.facebook.com/VietnameseGarden)

Part3: A performative Installation. This part is located in Grassland, Taipei.

Sincerely I want to send great thanks to Viet-Ðai Community, and specially to you dears: Nguyen Tieu Van (Quy), Judy Nguyen Hong Hue, Thoa Hoang, Nguyen Thi Hoai, Nguyen Manh Tuan, Vinh Toan, Pham Thi Mong, Pham My Dung, Hai Yen Vu, chi Huong Zhubei, Thu Lieu, Nguyen Linh, Adiong Lu, Huang Po-Chih, Joyce Ho, HC Chu, Vu Que Anh, Tiffany Lay, Ðuc Panda,… Who have supported me for my long research around Taiwan, also spend lot of time, energy, and love for developing the work with me, building the garden, contributing plants, printing, transporting, and so on…