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TAN Vatey works interdisciplinarily as an artist and designer who keeps finding inspiration by exploring a variety of practices and approaches in different fields, be it in the arts or in daily life around her. She has exhibited within Cambodia and other countries, including at Constable Gallery at Large, Siem Reap (2016), the Artists Calling (2017) by Cambodian Living Arts & Kraanh Norneal (2017) at Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh, Snapshot (2018) at Sangker Gallery, Battambang, Facing the Climate, touring exhibition by Swedish Embassy (2018), Currents Festival in Phnom Penh (2019), PenhArt fair (2021). “The View of The Rainy Season”, her drawing at the age of 10 made her become the first Cambodian who received Foreign Minister's Award by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan for the 33rd International Children's Art Exhibition (2003). A decade later, she was 3rd runner up award of the Art on AIDS Competition 11th ICAAP "Innovate, don't discriminate" in Thailand (2013). Since 2017, her art began taking her abroad: Vatey participated in "Mutual Unknown", a research-exchange project by Goethe Institute, initiated by CuratorsLAB, a South-East Asian network of curators. The project culminated in a group exhibition at Galeri Nasional Indonesia in Jakarta where she met with Indonesian-Belgian arts-instigator Sinta Wibowo, who became her partner in life and work. Together with Sinta, Vatey ventures into live experimentations throughout the animated exhibitions of [re-enacting memories] for Europalia Festival, Brussels (2017), Rainbow Community Kampuchea, Phnom Penh (2018), Cambodian Living Arts’ Unsung Heroes (2019). During Covid-times, they tele-created the latest edition of [re-enacting memories] with KONNECT ASEAN at Museum MACAN in Jakarta (2020-2021). They also initiated the walkshops [watch & wa/onder] making them travel to Indonesia, China and Cambodia, around normalization by unhabiting habits and how to use the senses differently to find new relationalities and dramaturgies. Vatey was an artist in residency at Sa Sa Bassac, Newfoundland in Belgium, e x t a n t a t i o n in Chiangmai, Horse Pen in Shaxi, Vermont Studio Center in the US, leading to artist talks at Asia Society and Asian Arts Council in NYC & OCAC in Taipei. In 2020, Vatey is also one of the artists of the NomadiX Art Tour, sharing workshops in schools around Cambodia.

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