Lumi Tan

The wait is finally over! We are thrilled to announce the participating artists for the 2026 Converge 45 citywide triennial: Here, To you, Now, curated by Lumi Tan. Opening August 27 and continuing through the fall, 28 artists will activate 16 venues across Portland with new commissions and recent work. Inspired by the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, Here, To you, Now explores the beauty of impermanence and the power of gathering to make meaning together. Stay tuned as we share more about these incredible artist projects in the coming months. Head to the link in our bio to read the full press release and learn more! 🔗 #Converge45 #PortlandArt #HereToYouNow #C45Triennial #PDXArts LumiTan ContemporaryArt

Still processing how @anhqvo @mauranguyendonohue and I made “We Exist in the Ambivalence of those Motherfuckers” happen. We’re a trio of collaborators who didn’t really know each other, brought together by mutual respect and a Viet Kieu drive to make something we wanted to see and learn from, 50 years “after” the Vietnam War. I tend to quote Anh all the time, but I think they summed it best up with “We’re all really good at improvising.” Last year I left Saigon right before Tết, the end of research trip that Anh, maura and @dotuonglinh and I self-organized, self-funded, and improvised the whole way. We entered the new year, with a new regime at home taking control at rapid speed, and came back to @turrelljames and the team at @performance.space.new.york with new ideas. 🌀Improvising only works when everyone takes part. We couldn’t have asked for better partners than Performance Space and their incredible team, @jlubinlevy and everyone at @performancejournal_mr , and more than anyone, the artists at the heart of this project, Nhi Lê @im.nhi.le Đoàn Thanh Toàn @revolutionarywetpuppy333 Lại Diệu Hà @laidieuha and Vũ Đức Toàn @vvuductoan . It was such an honor to have them in New York, and a miracle that it happened at this politically brutal time. Since November, we have organized or participated in 9 public programs (I may have lost count at some point) and released a journal with over 20 contributors. We always said we wanted to prepare an audience to receive the artists, and, somehow, we did. The focus of the audience in the theater demonstrated a real desire for diasporic connection across generations (see my mom in the background of Thanh Toan’s performance 🥹) and is just part of a swell of energy that I know will continue to be present in New York. 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

🗻 For two weeks, Đoàn Thanh Toàn, Vũ Đức Toàn, Nhi Lê, and Lại Diệu Hà, four performance artists from Hanoi and Saigon, have been in residence at Performance Space New York. On Thursday, February 5th, the “We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers” residency culminates in a series of explorations and activations throughout our theaters.  📅 Thursday, Feb 5th, 7PM 🎟️ Limited tickets available through the link in our bio. Waitlist will be available at the box office at 6pm. “We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers” has taken shape as part of a broader series of events featuring talks, screenings, publications, and more, collaboratively organized during the fall and winter with Wesleyan Center For the Arts, Hunter  College Dance, Asian Art Archive in America, Center for Art, Research and Alliances, Movement Research MELT, Creative Action Network, and NYU IFA – organized by Anh Vo, Lumi Tan, and maura nguyễn donohue. 🖤 — 📸: Justin J. Wee (@djdumpling )

Gender, Autonomy, and Performance in Vietnam: An Evening with Lại Diệu Hà and Nhi Lê Tuesday, February 3 at 6:00pm 📍1 E 78th Street Join us for an intergenerational conversation on performance in Vietnam with two prominent artists: Lại Diệu Hà (b. 1976, Hà Nội) and Nhi Lê (b. 1993, Ho Chi Minh City), moderated by curator Lumi Tan and the IFA’s Catherine Quan Damman. Part of the larger series We Exist... organized by Tan, maura nguyễn donohue, and Anh Vo. Please note RSVP is required; link in bio. Image Captions: Lại Diệu Hà, Rise, 2010. Still from video documentation. Collection of Nguyen Art Foundation. Nhi Lê, The Nest, 2019. Performance documentation. Courtesy of the artist.

Departing from the mainstream commemoration and reflection by Vietnam and the United States of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Anh Vo (@anhqvo ), maura nguyễn donohue (@mauranguyendonohue ), and Lumi Tan (@lumit ) co-program a month-long residency of debut performances, conversations, and provocations in Performance Space New York’s theaters, aptly titled “We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers”.  The title of the project comes from unreleased lyrics by Ngoc Dai, a former soldier turned avant-garde composer, inferring that a radical existence can be both a refusal of the ambivalence of those in power, and enabled by that same ambivalence. We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers is a part of a broader series of events featuring talks, screenings, publications, and more, collaboratively organized between organizations during the fall and winter seasons. Find a schedule of public progamming on the second slide or our website! — 🗓️ Jan. 27 - Feb. 5 | Residency & Performance 📌 Check out website for ticketing and programming updates!

We’re starting the year off strong with our first Making Space event of the year! This Sunday, January 11, Artistic Director of Performance Space NY @turrelljames , convenes an international roster of artists making daring work in the face of censorship and political backlash. Participants include Obie Award–winning performance artist and JACK co‑founder Jennifer Kidwell, multi‑hyphenate artist and activist @therealnarcissister , and interdisciplinary curator and writer @lumit . 🔗 For tickets and information, click the link in our bio.

Congrats @topicalcream on participating in Art Basel Miami Beach’s magazine sector with the first ever print issue! 🌀🌀🌀It’s an incredible way to close out my year as Editor-in-Residence and I’m extremely belated in thanking @lyndsy_welgos and @elizabeth.wiet for shepherding me through this year with care and open minds. And what a venerable list of contributors who responded to the invitations with the same spirit, candor and experimentation: @alessandrrraaa @deliadelianyc @q_u_o_r_i @mariana___fernandez @notarriving @allieteps #IndiraAllegra @kthych_ @wendylvogel #WhitneyClaflin @seta_c_m with a print exclusive by @maymakki1 @the_yam_mam 🌀🌀🌀🌀 Last video of the legend and second cover star Karen Finley burning the house down at the issue release @artistsspace a few weeks ago 🔥🔥🔥🔥 An honor to share the room with every one of these brilliant minds.

First image: An empty set awaiting a work-in-progress showing of @willjrawls [siccer] at @themomentary for curators from @picapdx @ontheboards @mcachicago @thekitchen_nyc in 2022, after four years of preparation and an interruption by a worldwide pandemic. Second image: a bow @performance.space.new.york that reflects the years of working together, the looseness and play that can only be achieved with true love and trust in spaces and people. [siccer] has taught me about the dedication to making work in precarity, and how the precarity never ends, so the work never ends. Everyone kept moving, institutions kept shifting, and we’re all still here and so lucky that [siccer] finally made it back to New York after 8 years 💚 So many congratulations to Will, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste @crovvns , keyon gaskin, jess pretty, @holland.andrews , Katrina Reid @kattyrealness and Kemi Adeyemi, dramaturg 💚 Third image-[siccer] the album! Please keep supporting this project and its forthcoming book with @wendyssubway !

Two very fast weeks have passed since I was in Seoul to open “sent in spun found” featuring new work by Seoul-based Cha Yeonså @energywhoisshe and New York-based Ginny Huo @gi_huo at DOOSAN Gallery @doosanartcenter_gallery . ✨I am so grateful to chief curator @hyejung__jang for inviting me in the context of their program supporting diasporic Korean artist to co-curate an exhibition together after many years of trying to collaborate! ✨✨Yeonså and Ginny have created two distinct, demanding bodies of work which speak to each other beautifully, and embraces viewers in a collective moment of perception change at 6pm every evening. 🌕 Thank you to the entire DOOSAN team Haram Kang, Jinyoung You, Yein Lee, and Yoonseo Lee for their incredibly hard work through remote meetings and long nights of install! Thank you to @matildaworks for the amazing press coverage so far. And thank you to Ginny’s mom for the soap flowers 💜 The exhibition is up until December 13 for those traveling to Seoul, and Yeonså will premiere a new performance on Nov 21 and 22 based on poems by Kim Eon Hee and Sylvia Plath 🐈

On Thursday 11/13, collaborators Lumi Tan (@lumit ), Anh Vo (@anhqvo ), Đỗ Tường Linh (@dotuonglinh ) and maura nguyễn donohue (@mauranguyendonohue ) will discuss the research and conversations that have led to the development of their upcoming projects, focusing on experimental performance art from Vietnam. This program will kick off a broader series of events, including an editorial project with Movement Research (@movementresearch ) and a series of programs with Performance Space New York (@performance.space.new.york ) For more information and RSVPs click the link in our bio! Images courtesy of Thanh Bui (left) and maura nguyễn donohue (right)

Today on #SharingNotes, our column where we interview those in different fields to see what we can learn and bring back to architecture: Lumi Tan (@lumit ), an independent curator and writer based in New York. She is the curator of the Focus section at @friezeofficial New York, and recently served as the Curatorial Director of @lunaluna , a revival of the art amusement park created by André Heller in 1987. Previously, she was Senior Curator at @thekitchen_nyc where she commissioned exhibitions and performances for over a decade. She has also held positions at FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, France; and Zach Feuer Gallery and MoMA/PS1, New York. In her interview with Julia Gamolina (@julia.gamolina ), Tan talks about new perspectives, success in community, and supporting artists. Link in our stories and bio. Pictured here: 1. Lumi Tan by Asha Penzlien. 2. Installation view of Meriem Bennani, Siham & Hafida, 2017 at The Kitchen, New York. Photo by Jason Mandella. 3. Installation view of Anicka Yi, You Can Call Me F, 2015 at The Kitchen, New York. Photo by Jason Mandella. 4. Installation view of Luna Luna, Forgotten Fantasy, 2023, Los Angeles. Photo by Joshua White. 5. Tan speaking at Kiaf SEOUL X KAMS X Frieze Seoul Talks, 2024 with Andrew Russeth, Daisy Nam, and Sung Woo Kim. Photo courtesy KAMS (Korean Arts Management Services). #madamearchitect #lumitan #curator #art #design #frieze #friezeartfair #friezeny #mentor #mentorship

Thank you to Yumi Komatsu for including me in @harpersbazaarjapan September issue ✨Completely humbled to be profiled in “Bold Figures of Solidarity” with absolute heroes whose impact is immeasurable — Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour and Sade Lythcott of @natblacktheatre ✨a beautiful portrait of NYC