While this history is ever present in Nguyen’s video, he sets his story in an imagined future. The main character has lived his entire life on the island. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, Pulau Bidong was the largest, longest running refugee camp and, at peak population, the densest place on earth. Born to parents who hid when the camp was cleared in 1991, he has been entirely alone for many decades, tending to the spirits that remain. One day, a United Nations scientist washes ashore. She informs him that they are the only survivors of nuclear conflicts that made “refugees out of the entire world.” As they explore the island, they debate their responsibility to learn from the island's past, and whether its teachings can save the future. As viewers, we too are invited to ponder these questions. Press characterizations of refugees, found in the archival news reports and first-person testimonies woven throughout, suggest striking parallels to the forced global migrations happening today.

This focused exhibition features the video recently added to SAAM’s collection as part of a longstanding time-based media art initiative. It is presented in a dedicated gallery for immersive media art installations that opened in 2023. This forty-two minute film runs continuously and can be entered at any time.

The presentation is organized by Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.