Mai Khôi

Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi (born 1983), known professionally as Mai Khoi, is a Vietnamese singer, artist, and political activist.[1] Described as the "Lady Gaga of Vietnam" and also compared to Russian artist-activists Pussy Riot,[2][3] she began as an award-winning pop singer before her outspoken criticism of the Government of Vietnam's censorship and lack of democracy led to government persecution and restrictions on her freedom of speech. Khôi has also criticised Google and Facebook for cooperating with internet censorship in Vietnam.[4][5] In 2018 she received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent in recognition of her democracy activism.[1]

Mai Khôi
Khôi in 2021
Born
Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi

(1983-12-11) December 11, 1983
Cam Ranh, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • political activist
Years active2004–present
Spouse
Benjamin Swanton
​
(m. 2013)​
Awards
  • 2010 Album of the Year (Vietnam Television)
  • 2018 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent
  • 2022 Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech
Musical career
GenresPop
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Websitemai-khoi.com

Early life and education

Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi[6] was born in 1983 in Cam Ranh, Vietnam.[7]

Khôi's interest in music began in childhood, learning guitar from her music teacher father at 8 years old and playing with him at weddings from the age of 12.[8] She later attended a music school in Ho Chi Minh City for three years but left without graduating, instead playing in pubs and bars around the city.[8]

Musical career
Mai Khôi at the 2018 Oslo Freedom Forum

In 2010, Khôi achieved national fame after winning the Vietnam Television 2010 Album of the Year Award, using her national platform to agitate for better women's rights and LGBT rights in her country.[1] For example, she spoke against Đàm Vĩnh Hưng's suggestion that domestic violence was "acceptable" against women who were "too aggressive", and criticised social acceptance of violence against women.[9]

Khôi attracted controversy for shaving half of her head into the letters "VN" to represent "Vietnam" after her winning song of the same name.[9] She was criticised in Vietnamese state media for her expressed preference not to have children as well as her boundary-pushing outfits and songs such as "Selfie Orgasm", which garnered criticism for nudity and coarse language in the music video.[10] After she began arguing in favour of greater creative freedom and stopped submitting her song lyrics to censors, the Vietnamese government banned her performances in the country, with police raiding her concerts.[5][11][12]

Khôi has toured overseas, including in the United States, Australia, Europe, Mexico, and Cuba.[9][13][14]

Following government crackdown on her music career, Khôi moved her music underground, calling her new group "Mai Khoi and the Dissidents."[15]

In exile in Pittsburgh, USA, Khôi is currently working on a project titled "Bad Activist", an autobiographical piece combining storytelling and performance.[16]

Political activism
Khôi performing at the 2018 Oslo Freedom Forum in the Det Norske Teatret

In 2016, Khôi took part in environmental protests against Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation following the marine life disaster caused by its waste dumping.[17] She also applied to run as an independent for a seat in the National Assembly of Vietnam, but was disqualified from participating by the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.[18][19] Following her attempt to enter politics, she was subject to increased official persecution, including police raids of her concerts and landlords being pressured by authorities to evict her and her husband from their home.[7] After 2017, she leased a flat under a friend's name in a secret location in Hanoi.[20]

She has also criticised Facebook for cooperating with internet censorship requirements imposed by the Vietnamese Government, stating it was damaging one of the last refuges for freedom of expression in the repressive state.[21][22] It also prevented her live-streaming music due to the risk of instant arrest.[23]

She was one of the political dissidents that U.S. President Barack Obama met with on his visit to the country in 2016.[1][24] She had gone into hiding before the meeting to avoid being detained and prevented from attending the meeting.[25] The following day she was visited by four policemen who intimidated her.[26]

When Obama's successor Donald Trump visited the country in 2017, Khôi held up a banner reading "PeacePiss on you Trump" in protest of Trump's alleged racism and supposed failure to promote human rights.[27] The following day, she and her husband were evicted from their Hanoi apartment following a visit by government agents.[28]

In 2018, Amnesty International named Khôi as one of the "12 inspiring human rights activists to follow" for that year.[29][30] Later that year, she was detained for eight hours at Nội Bài International Airport in Hanoi after returning from a European tour, with all copies of her new album Dissent in her possession confiscated by the authorities.[14]

Personal life

Khôi married her Australian partner, Benjamin Swanton, in 2013.[28][31]

They lived in Hanoi until she fled to the U.S. to escape prosecution, in November 2020 becoming a scholar in residence at the University of Pittsburgh's Scholars at Risk program on an Artist Protection Fund fellowship. Khôi lives in a residence provided by the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit City of Asylum[32] and serves on the International Advisory Board of the International Free Expression Project, another Pittsburgh-based nonprofit.[33] These two nonprofits also co-sponsored Khôi for an Artist Protection Fund fellowship in residence at the University of Pittsburgh which she is currently participating in.[34]

Discography

Solo

  • Mai-Khoi (2004)[35]
  • Mai-Khoi Sings Quoc-Bao (2008)[35]
  • Mot Ngay Moi (2010)
  • Hay Hoa Hong (2010)
  • Made in Mai Khoi (2010)
  • Hat Le Cat Trong Ly (2010)
  • Hoa Dal (2010)
  • Mai Khoi Hay Hoa Hong (2011)
  • Mot Ngay Moi (2011)
  • Căn nhà nhỏ (2018)
  • Khôi (2018)

Mai Khoi and the Dissidents / Mai Khôi Chem Gio

References
  1. Mooney, Paul (15 September 2018). "This Vietnamese singer tried to battle state censorship. Now she only performs there in secret". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. Truong, Alice (11 November 2018). "Vietnam's Lady Gaga is pressuring Facebook to stop complying with censorship laws". Quartz. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. Nordlinger, Jay (20 December 2018). "Mai Khoi, A Star of Vietnam". National Review. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. "Vietnam dissident Khoi urges Facebook to protect freedom of expression". Free Malaysia Today. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. Bemma, Adam (1 January 2019). "The singer raising her voice against Vietnam's new cyber law". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. "Singer Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi, voice of anti-regime dissent, has been arrested". AsiaNews.it. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  7. Ives, Mike (1 October 2018). "A Protest Singer Finds Her Voice in Vietnam's Police State". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  8. "Why the Lady Gaga of Vietnam performs in secret". South China Morning Post. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  9. "The Evolution and Enigma of Mai Khoi". & Of Other Things. 31 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  10. "Vietnam's 'Lady Gaga' running for parliament". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  11. "This Vietnamese singer is a fighting diva". AsiaOne. Asia News Network. 25 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  12. "January Featured Case: Mai Khoi". PEN America. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  13. "Mai Khoi". triple j Unearthed. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  14. "Vietnam holds activist singer after tour". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  15. "In Exile, Vietnamese Musician And Activist Finds A Home In Pittsburgh". 90.5 WESA. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  16. "Mai Khoi - Bad Activist". mai-khoi.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  17. Ebbighausen, Rodion (6 July 2017). "Vietnam singer Mai Khoi adds a youthful tone to aged politics". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  18. Li, Sabrina (January 2018). "Mai Khoi — ARC". Artists at Risk Connection. PEN America. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  19. Clifford, Catherine (12 October 2018). "How the 'Lady Gaga of Vietnam' was effectively banned from singing in her own country". CNBC. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  20. Murray, Bennett (26 September 2017). "Vietnam's harsh summer: state launches largest crackdown on dissidents in years". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  21. Khoi, Mai (2 October 2018). "Opinion: How Facebook is damaging freedom of expression in Vietnam". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  22. Sarkar, Sonia (18 January 2019). "Vietnam artists seek 'liberation' from cybersecurity law". DW.com. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  23. "Mai Khoi and Paul Tran: A Conversation — ARC". Artists at Risk Connection. PEN America. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  24. The Economist Newspaper Limited (16 May 2019). "Popstar Gone Rogue: Former communist party poster girl now enemy of the state". Dateline. Special Broadcasting Service (Australia). Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  25. Mooney, Paul. "She tried to fight for women's and LGBT rights. Now this Vietnamese singer can only perform in secret". The Lily. The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  26. Murray, Bennett (17 April 2017). "Vietnam's Quiet Human Rights Crisis". The Diplomat. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  27. "Mai Khoi's dissenting voice". The Economist. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  28. Murray, Bennett (12 November 2017). "Vietnamese musician and activist evicted after Trump protest". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  29. Singh, Angela (15 January 2018). "12 inspiring human rights activists to follow in 2018". Campaigns: Amnesty International. Amnesty International. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  30. "Mai Khoi and Farzane Zamen release". SafeMUSE. Safe Music Havens Initiative. 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  31. "Mai Khôi diện váy xẻ với legging cam trong ngày cưới - VnExpress Giải Trí". VnExpress.net (in Vietnamese). 2 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  32. "Scholars at Risk Program Provides a Home for Vietnamese Pop Star-Turned-Activist". Pittwire. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  33. "The Team | International Free Expression Project | Pittsburgh". IFEP. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  34. "Mai Khoi — ARC". artistsatriskconnection.org. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  35. "Mai-Khoi Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  36. "Mai Khoi – Bio". mai-khoi.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
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