Will Pham

Ngon Quá is a multi-channel moving image installation and a co-created project with cooking sessions where community participants reflect on their Vietnamese heritage through ‘Recipes of Life’ in Deptford. Rooted in themes of diaspora, migration and cultural identity, the exhibition uses food as agents of memory, story sharing and intergenerational healing, within the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Will is interested in the ways Recipes of Life (original concept by Natale Rudland Wood), can be continuously adapted and used in multiple scenarios to bring communities together. He has organised special lunches at Evelyn Community Centre as part of the Elderly Luncheon Club, a series of Recipes of Life workshops for 2nd generation British Vietnamese Chinese people, an outing trip to Margate Beach to listen to each others stories, Group cooking workshops, a celebratory performance with the VLC Band & guest singers, a Cooking Calendar with historical footnotes, a collection of Youtube cooking videos which all lead to and sit alongside his exhibition at Enclave. Throughout this project, Will’s approach has been exploring the boundaries between community engagement and artistic practice and centring the stories of individual and community life.

Opening Hours

Tues – Fri : 12pm – 6pm

Sat & Sun : 10am – 6pm

Preview

Sat 12 July 7pm – 9pm

Access information:Enclave is wheelchair accessible via Tidemill Way, with wheelchair friendly toilets.

Thank you to Lake, Enclave for your support.

Credits:

With generous support by Arts Council England Project Grant from National Lottery funding

With thanks to Deptford X Team, Lewisham Council, Vietnamese Family Partnership, Recipes of Life participants, Elderly Luncheon Club members, Youtube contributors, Quynh Nguyen, Angela Byrne, Lili Ly, Phuong Tang, Kvet Nguyen, Simon Lam, Koa Pham, Mai-Thi Nguyen, Loi Xuan Ly, Kelly Loi, Nam Tran, The VLC Band, Sophia Luu, Nancy Vu, Emma Wang Thomas, Tram Nguyen, Quyen Nguyen, Hau-Yu Tam, Edison Huynh, Tuyet Van Huynh, Summer Doan.

Will Pham is a commissioned Deptford X 2025 Artist.

Will Pham is a British-Vietnamese artist working in video, performance, painting and socially engaged practice. His work explores intergenerational care, cultural inheritance, and refugee narratives within the UK. Will graduated from the Postgraduate Fine Art programme at the Royal Academy Schools in 2018 and BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art & Design in 2013. 

Solo exhibitions and commissions include VMHS Legacy Project, Vietnamese Mental Health Services (2023), Little Vietnam, Turf Projects (2019) and An Viet (Well Settled), Royal Academy Schools (2018).

Group exhibitions and events include Bouquet of Life, SEEAC (2025), 50: Vietnamese Boat Refugees Then & Now, Richmix (2025); Arts’ Ugly Right?, Danielle Arnaud Gallery (2025); Recipes of Life, ESEACC (2025); Open Day, Centre 151 (2024); You Belong Here, Southbank Centre (2024); From (Counter-)Archives to Activation, esea contemporary, Manchester (2024); A Night of Performances with VLC Band & Will Pham and bones tan jones, Asymmetry Art Foundation (2024);  Late at Tate- Lunar New Year curated by Trâm Nguyen and June Lam, Tate Britain (2024); New Work Series, LUX Moving Image (2024); Reimagining VMHS, Vietnamese Mental Health Services (2023); The London Open, Whitechapel Gallery (2022); Nocturnal Creatures, Whitechapel Gallery (2022); Nang Tu Do- Archives in the Camps, CUHK, Hong Kong (2020-21); Record, Retrieve, Reactivate, An Viet Foundation (2018); and Premiums: Interim Projects, Royal Academy of Art (2017).

He was an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art in 2023, teaching his own unit ‘Archives On the Move’ as part of Urgency of the Arts. He was invited as Visiting Lecturer (studio practice) at Goldsmiths University, BA Fine Art & History of Art in 2024 and Visiting Lecturer to lead 3rd year crits for BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art & Design in 2024 and 2025.

He was awarded residencies and grants from Arts Council England Project Grant (2025), The Elephant Trust Award (2024), Eaton Fund (2024), CFCCA Breathe Award to Taipei Artist Village (2018) and the Gasworks Triangle Fellowship to HANGAR, Lisbon (2015). Will lives and works in London.

Image: Will Pham, Ngon Quá, 2024-2025. Photo credit: Kvet Nguyen