Life of Vietnamese expats in Germany featured in photo exhibition

During a two-month stay in Germany last year, the Le Brothers met and talked with many people from the Vietnamese expatriate community living in cities such as Halle, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, and Leipzig.

They come from various historical periods and backgrounds, including international students and labour exchange workers who arrived in the 70s and 80s, immigrant workers who came after Doi Moi (Renovation) in the 1990s, second-generation young people born and raised in Germany, and other Vietnamese students who have been studying abroad in recent years.

This visual exhibition is a multimedia installation built by hundreds of photo documents selected from more than 1,500 items, along with a video of the twin artists in conversation with Vietnamese people in Germany. The photos are printed in different dimensions and hung on large-scale nets in the gallery to create a multi-layered visual installation.

Thanh Le Ngoc and Hai Le Duc, known as the Le Brothers, were both born in 1975 in Quang Binh province, and graduated from the Hue College of Arts in 2000. The twin artists are known for their performances and video works highlighting the metaphor of similarity. 

The Le Brothers have exhibited and performed in prestigious art events and locations internationally, including B3 film Biennale Frankfurt in 2023, the Nord Gallerie in Berlin in 2018, and Vietnam Eye in START at Saatchi Gallery in London in 2017, among others.

Their works have been collected by numerous national and international museums and private collections.

The exhibition is scheduled to last through to January 28.