Lunder Fellow: Phong Bui

Phong Bui is a 2019 Lunder Institute Fellow. An artist, writer, curator, and publisher and artistic director of the Brooklyn Rail, Bui is the co-curator with Colby’s Diana Tuite of Occupy Colby: Artists Need to Create On the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy, Year 2. 

On view at the Colby Museum of Art through January 5, 2020, Occupy Colby is part of an ongoing initiative launched by the Brooklyn Rail in 2017 at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City. The Colby iteration focuses on environmental issues and climate change—perhaps the most urgent concern of our time. Bui and Francesca Pietropaolo have mounted a companion show at the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Penitenti as part of the Venice Biennale.

During his Lunder Institute fellowship, Bui will convene Occupy Colby artists for a public conversation and engage with Colby students and faculty across the humanities and sciences. In addition, Bui will co-publish with the Lunder Institute and the Museum a special issue of the River Rail composed of essays, poetry, field notes, and interviews that expand on the themes of Occupy Colby.

The Institute will host a conversation at Colby on September 18 between Bui, Occupy Colby exhibiting artists Alexis Rockman and Allyson Vieira, and Colby scholars Denise Bruesewitz (Associate Professor, Environmental Studies) and Keith Peterson (Associate Professor, Philosophy). A reception will be held in the Diamond Building atrium from 5:00-6:00pm, followed by the panel discussion and Q&A in Ostrove Auditorium from 6:00-7:30pm. These events are free and open to all.