Art Labor: Cloud Chamber


Para Site presents “Cloud Chamber,” the first institutional exhibition to survey the activities of Art Labor, a Ho Chi Minh City-based collective formed by Thao Nguyen Phan, Truong Cong Tung, and Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran. “Cloud Chamber” showcases Art Labor’s decade-long work with the Jrai community in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, blending historical research and poetic observation. The exhibition includes newly commissioned and existing works by Art Labor, collaborative projects with Jrai artists, archival material from the French colonial period, and works by contemporary artists inspired by the region.
By reframing the region’s history, “Cloud Chamber” invites reflection on its ongoing impact—from war and industrialisation to missionary influence. The title references the duality of matter and antimatter, mirroring the region’s indigenous beliefs and the exhibition’s exploration of opposing forces—regeneration and destruction, modernity and tradition, reality and dream—that continue to shape the Central Highlands.