Curated by Araki Natsumi

To escape the cross-border incursions of the Khmer Rouge, Dinh Q. Lê’s family fled Vietnam for the US in 1978, when the artist was a boy. Lê has returned to his native country—he now lives in Ho Chi Minh City—and much of his work engages themes of place and memory, cross-cultural experience, history, and conflict. “Memory for Tomorrow,” the first major solo exhibition by a Southeast Asian artist at the Mori, features more than twenty works made since the late ’90s. These include several photo-tapestries—Lê’s contemporary spin on traditional Vietnamese grass mat weaving—digital prints; and multimedia installations, including The Farmers and the Helicopters, 2006, a three-channel video accompanied by a helicopter made entirely of scrap metal. The exhibition will also showcase a new video work commissioned by the Mori—a profile of a nightclub manager in southern Japan who spends his weekends reenacting the Vietnam War.

— Weng Choy Lee