a little blah blah (albb) is the first artist-run initiative of its kind in Việt Nam. Established in 2004, it is based in Hồ Chí Minh City (Sài Gòn) and co-directed by visual artists Sue Hajdu and Motoko Uda. albb's mission is to promote the development of Vietnamese contemporary art practice in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam and beyond.

albb is a platform for the development of visual art and creative practices through a range of art-related activities that are much-needed in the Vietnamese context. The driving force behind albb is its founding directors, Sue Hajdu and Motoko Uda, both of whom trained as visual artists, but also actively write and curate.

For its delightful name it owes thanks to Hou Hanru, who unwittingly christened it one night on his visit to Sài Gòn in 2004.

albb functions as a dynamic platform for a wide range of art-related activities. It currently operates out of an office that also doubles as a space for talks, gatherings and screenings and holds albb's extensive archive of art books and catalogues. The albb programme has evolved in a pioneering spirit, in response to the gaps and needs of the Vietnamese art scene.

albb's constantly-evolving programme currently includes exhibitions, art events, talks, presentations, an albb reading room, a residency programme, research, network-building, capacity-building, the running of an open-access archive, and the establishment of artists files. Both albb co-directors also write about art and happenings in Việt Nam for publications inside and outside of the country and have their own creative practices.

a little blah blah's mission is to be a dynamic, stimulating and professionally-run platform for artistic and intellectual dialogue, reflection, and an appreciation of the role of visual art and creative practices in contemporary life.

The impetus to establish a little blah blah arose from a series of passionate talks between three Sài Gòn-based artists - Sue Hajdu, Nguyễn Như Huy and Motoko Uda - during 2004. These talks were focused on their needs and desires as visual artists working in this particular community and context at this point in time.

After an intensive six-month period of talks, research and the establishment of regional networks, the albb concept was developed, and its activities were launched in January 2005. albb quickly initiated a regular series of talks and presentations by visiting international artists, curators, academics and critics. These are integral to albb's mission of making a difference in the local art scene, by creating information flow in and out of the country.

In 2005 albb also ran its first residency, with a four-month stay by Czech Republic-based butoh dancer Ryuzo Fukhara. The programme comprised a series of performances, workshops, talks and presentations to children and adults across a diverse social spectrum. Later in the year, albb became a member of RESARTIS.

Other areas of focused activity in 2005 included research into artist's initiatives and alternative spaces, primarily in three cities in Asia (Hong Kong, Tokyo and Yogyakarta) through its Asian Bridges research programme, generously supported by Arts Network Asia. Networking and attending conferences and the acquisition of catalogues and monographs to form an open-access collection were also important focuses during this first year. Co-founder Nguyễn Như Huy left albb in mid-2005.

albb's exhibition and art events programme was launched in 2006 with Video Art Party, a one-night event of video art by young and emerging artists from Australia. Following more or less bi-monthly came 600 Images, MAGMA, Trans-Splash 2006: Jouissance and The Dream Collector with A+A Public Art Unit, albb's second residency. Each project aimed to present something new, something that had never been done before in the local context. Meanwhile, through the networks that albb had developed over two years of activity, it started building towards further international collaborative projects with artists and curators. Some of these, such as SHELTER and Free New Zealand Art, were realised in 2006 while others formed the basis of its 2007 programmes.

After consolidating its collection of catalogues, books and art ephemera, albb launched a reading room in November 2006. Capacity-building with young Vietnamese artists and students through its talks and exhibitions programme also became an aim at this time, and remains an on-going concern towards building arts management in Việt Nam. albb worked with a variety of assistants and volunteers throughout 2005-2006, and launched its internship programme in early 2007 in a more concerted effort towards capacity-building. In early 2007 it also established a residency programme, which offers residencies of between two weeks and two months to overseas-based artists, curators, writers and researchers.

Operating as an initiative, a little blah blah works out of an office, and is currently not linked to a physical exhibition space.

albb locates itself as an alternative to the existing gallery and institutional structure in Việt Nam. Working in an environment in which the 'alternative' is very much the arena in which a true difference can be made, albb seeks to remain constantly responsive to the changing landscape of opportunities and possibilities available in Hồ Chí Minh City or that can be brought to this city. In a challenging environment with scarce funding and limited familiarity with contemporary art, this necessitates a tactical and highly sensitive approach.

Exhibitions and art projects are curated by albb co-directors, developed in collaboration with others or curated by guest-curators. While a lot of traffic does indeed travel in and out of Việt Nam, until albb was launched, talks by curators or artists were extremely rare. albb makes a conscious effort to form connections and cross-roads in this area, and create a forum in which ideas, practices and news from outside can be shared with the local community. These regular gatherings also work to bring the community together in a context of intellectual challenge and engagement, another area that is in need of development.

a little blah blah operates as an information point, whether for locally-based artists who want to engage more deeply with the global community through our talks or archive, or for overseas artists, curators, writers or researchers who want to know what is going on in Vietnam. One step towards strengthening this role is the establishment of its residency programme in early 2007 and the up-coming creation of an archive of artist's files.

albb's core program has been entirely self-funded over two years of activity, while projects and exhibitions are funded through grants or corporate sponsorship.