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tên tôi (my name)

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EXHIBITION RMIT Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo, tên tôi (my name). Image by Tobias Titz

tên tôi (my name)

15 Jul 2025 – 8 Aug 2025

Names can connect us and embody our stories. tên tôi (my name) is a community-driven project that embraces and celebrates ethnic names through bead-making workshops and participatory installations.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo is an artist, curator and educator who lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne. Her current art and research practice focusses on the weaponisation of language against Asian Australians, and how creative practice can notice, understand and ultimately resist against the impacts of Whiteness. tên tôi (my name) embraces and celebrates ethnic names through community-based workshops and a participatory art installation. 

First Site visitors are invited to engage in an exchange; to 'take' and/or 'leave' a name, contributing to a collective narrative of identity and belonging. Visitors can craft bracelets with names of their choosing, using unique ceramic and clay beads handmade by individuals from across Canada, America, Japan, and Australia. They can then choose to leave this name bracelet for another person to take, and/or take an existing name bracelet.

Curated by Lisa Linton.

Image: Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo, tên tôi (my name). Image by Tobias Titz.

Gallery Details

RMIT First Site Gallery
RMIT Building 16,
Level 2 (Storey Hall Basement)
City Campus, RMIT University
344 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000


T: 03 9925 1717
E: first.site@rmit.edu.au

W: rmit.edu.au/about/culture/first-site-gallery


Opening Hours
(during exhibition periods)
Tuesday – Friday: 11am to 5 pm
Closed public holidays, Saturday – Monday, and RMIT Campus closures.
Entry is Free

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Gallery Info

The Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV) acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands where our office is located, and all Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and Australia. We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples enduring traditions and continuing creative cultures. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

We are an LGBTQIA+ friendly organisation that celebrates diversity. We are committed to providing safe, culturally appropriate, and inclusive services for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity.

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