WHO WE ARE
Tracing Kiều is an independent initiative led by a small, Berlin-based team with deep connections to Vietnamese diasporic culture, literature, and the arts. We welcome new collaborators and partners as we seek funding and work to bring the project to life. Interested in joining us on this journey?
Core Team, The Kiều Complex
Alisa Anh Kotmair
Initiator, artistic director
Writer, artist, and editor exploring language, memory, and belonging in the Vietnamese diaspora.
She exhibited in Gap Viet Nam (1999), the first exhibition at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, showcasing work by artists from Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora.
Amelie Mai Gottsmann
Focus on mediation
Art historian specializing in contemporary art, new media, and art education.
Master’s in Art and Visual History, Humboldt University of Berlin; bachelor’s in Art History and Musicology. Working at the intersection of art, musical practice, and art mediation.
Lưu Bích Ngọc
Focus on film programming
Curator of Vietnamese film festivals in Berlin, 2024–2026, with a practice focused on accessibility and empowerment in the arts and academia.
Pipo Bui
Strategic advisor
Cultural scholar, author, environmentalist, and community organizer.
Author of Envisioning Vietnamese Migrants in Germany: Ethnic Stigma, Immigrant Origin Narratives and Partial Masking (LIT Verlag Münster, 2003).
She has curated exhibits on ecological restoration, coffee farming, and urban development.
Lan Linh Lê
Graphic design, visual identity
Communication Design, Wismar University. Her practice spans layout, analogue photography, and social media, using visual storytelling to question social and aesthetic norms.
Her photo series Über die Erotik (2021) is held in the collection of the German National Library in Leipzig.
Trương Hồng Quang
Literary advisor, Kiều scholarship
Germanist, literary translator, and sworn interpreter.
His PhD from Leipzig’s Karl Marx University compares Goethe’s Faust and The Tale of Kiều by Nguyễn Du.
Co-editor, with Claudia Borchers, of Das Mädchen Kiều (2015) combining the Vietnamese original with Franz and Irene Faber’s 1964 GDR translation.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel
Architectural advisor
Architect and social designer, known for projects such as Hartz-IV Furniture and the Tiny Foundation (2019). His work asks who gets to occupy space, and under what conditions.
Network Partners
We are grateful for guidance and exchange with individuals and organizations whose expertise and insight support the project and strengthen its reach.
Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network
A US-based nonprofit that nurtures Vietnamese diasporic voices through programs in literature, residencies, events, and publications. Advisor on the Kiều Reader.
COLLABORATE WITH US
Tracing Kiều is an open, growing network. If you share an interest in diasporic art, literature, and cultural exchange, we welcome dialogue with institutions, artists, researchers, and potential partners.
Office & Contact
Based in Berlin, Germany.
For general inquiries, collaborations, or dossier requests: mail@tracingkieu.net