The first two parts of a three-part report dedicated to Foliating Memories, an artistic research project by Kim Đoan Quốc, have been published by Makery within the framework of the European project Rewilding Cultures, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Entitled “The Colonial Poisoning of the World: Searching for a Collective Memory on Ecocide,” the series documents the artist’s research into the enduring ecological, social, and intergenerational consequences of Agent Orange in Việt Nam.
Kim Đoan Quốc was among the eight artists selected for the Rewilding Cultures Mobility Conversation Grant 2025, representing Ionian University, a partner in the Rewilding Cultures consortium. Selected from more than 80 applications, the grant recipients were supported in developing artistic projects that promote sustainable and inclusive mobility while acknowledging the diverse personal circumstances of creators.
Developed between France and Việt Nam, Foliating Memories explores landscapes affected by chemical warfare and the collective memory of environmental destruction. Through installation, video, performance, and interdisciplinary research, the project examines how experiences of ecological violence are remembered, transmitted, and reinterpreted across generations, particularly within Vietnamese communities in Việt Nam and the diaspora in France.
The reports draw on Kim Đoan Quốc’s six-month research journey to Việt Nam in 2025, offering insights into the artistic, historical, and ecological dimensions of the project, as well as the processes of research and production informing its development.
The publication reflects the broader objectives of Rewilding Cultures, which brought together eight European partner organisations to reconsider artistic production, ecological responsibility, inclusion, and the relationships between art, science, and technology.
Ionian University, through its involvement in TTT – Taboo, Transgression, Transcendence in Art & Science, contributed to Rewilding Cultures by fostering interdisciplinary artistic research, experimental practices, and international collaboration.
Read the reports
Part 1: The Colonial Poisoning of the World: Searching for a Collective Memory on Ecocide (1/3)
Part 2: The Colonial Poisoning of the World: Searching for a Collective Memory on Ecocide (2/3)
The third and final part will complete the series.
Further information
Rewilding Cultures Mobility Conversation 2025 – Selected Artists
Photo credits: Elisa von Brockdorff
