Art of the Second Chance: How Vietnamese Artists Turn Trash into a Message

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2025, №4(69), 276-291

 
Annotation: The article explores the phenomenon of Vietnamese trash art — an artistic movement that uses waste as its primary medium. The author analyzes it as a multifaceted sociocultural phenomenon at the intersection of environmental activism, urban transformation, and the search for national identity. The paper examines key projects and initiatives, such as the transformation of a dump on Phuc Tan Street in Hanoi, exhibitions in Da Nang and Ha Long, and educational workshops for children. Particular attention is paid to the contradictions of trash art: its ability to raise awareness and aestheticize public spaces, while simultaneously risking to remain merely a symbolic gesture without systemic environmental impact. The challenges of the art objects' durability and the need for integrating such art into long-term cultural and environmental policies are emphasized. The article concludes that, despite the challenges, Vietnamese trash art has evolved into a sustainable movement capable of transforming public consciousness and the urban environment.

Keywords: trash art, Vietnamese contemporary art, ecological art, waste recycling, sociocultural phenomenon, urban transformation, environmental activism, public art, cultural identity, art sustainability