Tuan Andrew Nguyen Ñi Demoon Ñoo Dellusi (Those Who Left Are Those Who Return), 2026

Ñi Demoon Ñoo Dellusi (Those Who Left Are Those Who Return) by Tuan Andrew Nguyen continues his work on genealogies and biographies linked to the deployment of French colonial soldiers during the First Indochina War.

The two-channel video installation follows the life of Aboubakar Sy, widely known as Bouba Chinois in West Africa. Bouba was born to a Senegalese father, a colonial soldier in French Indochina, and a Vietnamese mother, a military nurse. His family was forced to leave Vietnam after the defeat of the French in 1954. Upon arrival in Senegal, his mother and her eight children were abandoned by their father. As such, Bouba was forced at a young age to make consequential decisions that shaped his transition into adulthood and personal trajectory. He’s been charged with a litany of criminal acts and is famous for escaping from the harshest prisons in West Africa. He is also lauded as a rebel who stole from the rich and gave to the poor as an influential member of the Senegalese-Vietnamese community in Senegal.