Only Your Name – A Group Exhibition Reflecting on Vietnamese Diaspora

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“When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?”
— Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press, 2019)

Marking 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, Only Your Name is a poignant group exhibition featuring the work of Hoa Dung-Clerget, Vicky Đỗ, and Duong Thuy Nguyen—three artists of Vietnamese descent. Presented by SLQS Gallery in Shoreditch, this exhibition honours the legacy, memory, and continuing evolution of the Vietnamese diaspora in the UK.

Located near Hackney’s Kingsland Road—often referred to as the “Pho Mile”—where many Vietnamese families first settled in the late 1970s, the show offers a reflective and contemporary lens on migration, cultural memory, and inherited resilience.

Exhibition Highlights:

• Vicky Đỗ presents a moving video essay retracing the experiences of Vietnamese refugees arriving in Hong Kong.
• Duong Thuy Nguyen exhibits embossed aluminium and wax sculptures that reinterpret Joan Wakelin’s powerful photographs (1989–90) of Vietnamese refugees in detention, as held in the V&A collection.
• Hoa-Dung Clerget explores diasporic identity and female labour through sculptural installations inspired by the Nail Art subculture and personal immigrant histories.

The WAAW World community is warmly invited to attend and participate. A curated tour will be available, offering deeper insight into the artists’ practices and the broader themes of memory, displacement, and identity.