From January 9 to 11, 2026, in Hanoi, and January 16 to 18 in Ho Chi Minh City, a mobile Southeast Asian art festival titled "Dealing in Distance" will take place, featuring 15 artists currently living and working in Southeast Asia and Germany.

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The "Dealing in Distance" art festival gathers artists from various disciplines.

"Dealing in Distance", a nomadic art festival across Southeast Asia, delves into themes of displacement and identity-shaped by migration and separation-through a curated selection of visual art, performance, dance, poetry, and diverse community-based programs.

These works come from artists rooted in Southeast Asia and Germany. The event is co-organized by the Goethe-Institutes in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as a collective artistic response to the concept of migration and identity in the context of distance and dislocation.

The participating artists were selected through a process led by the Goethe-Institutes and an independent jury comprising world-renowned performance artist and art educator Melati Suryodarmo, respected interdisciplinary artist and curator Lizza May David, and independent artist-producer Nguyen Hai Yen (Red), who also serves as the curator of the festival.

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Audiences will experience unique and thought-provoking artistic projects.

The festival kicks off its first leg in Hanoi from January 9 to 11 in collaboration with COMPLEX 01, before traveling to Ho Chi Minh City (January 16–18), Denpasar/Bali, Indonesia (April 22–25), and Manila, Philippines (January 30–February 1).

Each stop will gather between 12 to 15 artists presenting a total of 14 works, including performances, installations, workshops, and around four public programs. These range from film screenings and communal cooking experiments to shared meals-each tailored to the local context of the host city.

The Hanoi program will feature artists Nguyen Phuong-Dan (Vietnam–Germany), Ha Thuy Hang (Vietnam), Sarnt Utamachote (Thailand), the groundtable collective (Thailand–Germany), “Fungi” Phuong Tran Minh (Vietnam–Germany), Bilawa Ade Respati (Indonesia), Nelden Djakababa Gericke (Indonesia–Philippines–Germany), Pham Minh Duc (Vietnam–Germany), Noutnapha Soydala (Laos), Seah Zelin (Malaysia), Jules Leano (Philippines–Scotland–Germany), and Hien Hoang (Vietnam–Germany).

In Hanoi, the festival’s first chapter will unfold within the dynamic creative space of COMPLEX 01-a cultural complex geared toward the city’s youth and an official partner of the event. The Ho Chi Minh City edition will be held at 257 Hoang Van Thu, under the patronage of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ho Chi Minh City.

Huyen My