To Tram Le and the curators of F.O.B. 2: Yesterday I read the interview of Da Mau with Tram Le, Người viết: Hoang Van 28/01/2009 To Tram Le and the curators of F.O.B. 2: Yesterday I read the interview of Da Mau with Tram Le, and learned that F.O.B. means "fresh off the boat", a derogatory term that people use to designate "boat people" or "Vietnamese refugees". You use that term for your exposition, obviously your exposition should include only the Vietnamese refugees (and their families)'s artworks. Now I have some feedback to your interview as follows. . l . l . l l l Da Màu: Do you anticipate a protest and conceptualize it as part of an overall exhibition? Trâm Lê: We were definitely aware of the possibility of a protest; however, we were not sure how it would play out. We had planned that in the context of the entire exhibition with all the descriptions and labels on the wall, the viewers’ reactions would have been varied and will further conversation rather than close down lines of communication. Unfortunately, because of the LA Times skewed article that came out before the opening of the exhibition, certain images and quotes were taken out of context, and the anti-communist faction was prematurely inflamed. This was further fueled by certain Vietnamese community media mistranslating Linda Vo’s quote, “The exhibit will test the community…” to mean that VAALA is provoking the community (VAALA thách thuc cong dong…).------------ Thuan Do: You did not "provoke" or "challenge" the community, but you "tested the water" before you plunge head in, seeing how the community reacts to your controversial artworks, so that the communists could continue to influence the community in many other ways! I can see that you know nothing about politics, especially communists and communism, and you should not include politics into your exposition! You made yourself a communist agent without knowing it! http://anhduong.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3100&Itemid=1   more »