The Return (2023)

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin wall came down, Germany reunited. Under these political circumstances, many Vietnamese migrants living, studying or working in East Germany either stayed where they were, moved to West Germany or returned to Việt Nam. Vietnamese communities continued, transformed and reformed in big cities with a tradition of Vietnamese presence such as Halle-Neustadt.

A lot of the Vietnamese who had been in Germany before November 09, 1989 decided to stay and re-arrange their lives. They re-organized their lives Vietnamese and their livelihoods. The built markets and malls. They took up various vocations including work in the food industry, and gastronomy; they opened and operated floral shops, nail salons, and other kinds of small business. They adapted to Germany now more decidedly than before. They formed families and their children would adapt more than their parents to what would be their new home country, the re-united Germany.

Until now, we, the Le Brothers have worked and exhibited in Berlin several times and had opportunities to get acquainted with the members from the Vietnamese community there. The conversations with them and with their children made clear that the migration to Germany has produced many stories of interest for a cultural exchange. Questions about integration of the older generation and the new generation into German life, topics of identity and cultural belonging, beliefs ( in the importance of ancestors) that touch core elements of Vietnamese family life, the tension between an independent life and adherence to Vietnamese social norms of cohesion.
We, the Le Brothers came across Halle-Neustadt during a cultural connection event organized by the Goethe-Institut during the pandemic 2021. The parents of Linh Ha, who is an interesting independent musicians from Da Nang, and Antje Greie-Ripatti had a shared history through which was based in Halle. Our expectation from a residency in Halle is to come across a different size of community and familiarity within this community than what we have experienced in Berlin. Halle and Ha-Neu offer the charm of a medium sized city of cultural history and weight. The mixing of the Vietnamese community with the Germans may well be higher than in Berlin where the older generation could live a life without ever speaking German.