Tuan Andrew Nguyen &THAO

Every family story is many stories at once.

Amongst the Disquiet is an intimate portrait of a Vietnamese family in New Orleans. Through a series of interwoven vignettes—stories, conversations, and songs—we encounter three generations, and come to understand their individual challenges, affections, and longings, as they try to understand one another. A woman, still mourning the loss of her sister, who yearns to leave for better job prospects in Houston. Her father, a refugee and veteran of the war in Vietnam—forced to abandon his home country, he can’t imagine leaving his community in New Orleans. His young grandson, missing an absent father, and caught in between. Each in their own way wrestles with the same big questions. What makes a home when home is left behind? Where is home when loved ones are gone? Does home live within us?

Musician THAO, Saigon-based visual artist Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, and a creative team in New Orleans—including filmmaker Marion Hoàng Ngọc Hill and local musicians—gathered stories from across the city’s Vietnamese community. Amongst the Disquiet is a blend of fact and fiction, professional actors alongside community members performing characters they helped inspire.

THAO and Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn premiered their collaboration with two live multimedia performances at Prospect, the New Orleans art triennial. A two-channel video installation was on display at the New Orleans Museum of Contemporary Art.

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Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn is an artist whose work utilizes strategies of remembrance to highlight unofficial and suppressed histories. Interweaving the factual and the speculative and often employing mythologies of otherworldly realms, Nguyễn’s films, installations, and sculptural practice re-work dominant narratives into stories that propose creative forms of addressing the intergenerational traumas of colonialism, war, and displacement. Nguyễn is a 2025 MacArthur Fellow. He received a BFA from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and an MFA from The California Institute of the Arts in 2004. He is a founding member of The Propeller Group, an entity that positions itself between an advertising company and an art collective. He recently had a solo exhibition at the New Museum, NY and his work has been included in major international festivals, biennials, and exhibitions including at the 12th Berlin Biennale; Manifesta 14; Aichi Triennale; Biennale de Dakar; 2019 Sharjah Biennial; 2017 Whitney Biennial; among many others. Nguyễn is the recipient of the 2023 Joan Miró Prize. His work is included in the permanent collections of institutions including Philadelphia Museum of Art, MoMA, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

 

THAO, known for her distinctly emotive songwriting and dynamic, arresting performance, has continued to evolve artistically and personally since dropping the moniker “Thao & The Get Down Stay Down” in 2021. Her latest album, Temple, reflects a profound exploration of freedom and belonging, shaped by her experiences reconnecting with her cultural roots on her first trip to Vietnam. This journey is also the subject of her intimate documentary Nobody Dies, which premiered on PBS to critical acclaim. Throughout her career, THAO has expanded her reach beyond recording and touring and glided into the realms of writing, filmmaking, television, podcasting and theater. She has guest hosted the celebrated podcast Song Exploder, hosted PBS’s Southern Storytellers series, and scored numerous film and dance projects, all the while continuing to tour nationally and internationally. Her 6th studio album will be released in the Spring of 2026. She is currently at work writing her debut book for Graywolf Press (2027) and developing a musical. Balancing personal vulnerability with broader cultural commentary, THAO remains a prominent voice in the contemporary music scene and beyond.

 

Duettist inspires and supports creative collaborations between pairs of people who do different things. It was launched in 2025 in partnership with Unlikely Collaborators.

Perception Box ^TM Questions from Unlikely Collaborators

1. What’s a memory that you keep returning to, and why do you think that is?
2. How has your understanding of love and relationships evolved over your lifetime?
3. When were you able to empathize with someone who held differing values, convictions, or beliefs?
4. What would it take for you to fully forgive yourself for past mistakes?
5. What have you not forgiven someone else for? Why not? What are you afraid will happen if you do?

To learn more about Unlikely Collaborators and Perception Box please visit unlikelycollaborators.com.