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In the continuous project The Land of the Tattooed, Kwinnie Lê (1995) draws on the tradition of Vietnamese skin marking. Within this tradition, such markings are connected to the Vietnamese origin myth, and form a link between the individual and their ancestors. The ‘tattoo’ – a term that emerged during the colonial period – made it possible for individuals to be recognized by their ancestors.
The series at Prospects consists of fourteen tapestries. With the overarching title The Land of the Tattooed, Lê refers to a semi-fictional nation whose name is derived from the historical Vietnamese state of Văn Lang. Roughly translated, this means ‘the land of the tattooed’, suggesting everyone is covered in markings from head to toe. The section that Lê presents at Prospects is titled They Say Our World Started With a Big Bang (2025). This work connects the origins of the tattoo tradition with the experiences of the Vietnamese diaspora. Lê is themself part of this diaspora, which is marked by a history of violence and loss. By reactivating ancestral markings in their work, Lê seeks to disrupt such negative and one-sided narratives and to rewrite the origin myth, placing emphasis on ancestral love. The ‘big bang’ in the title refers both to the possibility of new life and to the way Vietnamese identity is often reduced to violence from the past.
Written by Esther Darley