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"Between Worlds"
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The internationally acclaimed artists in “Between Worlds” work at intersections and crossroads, using their artistic practices to make sense of complex histories of colonization and migration, find common ground between cultures, and break down divides that otherwise seem fixed. From installing the majority of her personal belongings in an exhibition at the Musée Picasso in Paris, to a funerary exhibition for decomposing artworks in millennia-old underground tunnels in Arles, Sophie Calle’s long-celebrated conceptual practice blurs boundaries between art and life to create profoundly touching works that speak to both the universal and the mundane. Through his narrative filmmaking and sculptural practice, Tuan Andrew Nguyen collaborates with Vietnamese communities around the world, from Louisiana, U.S.A., to Quảng Trị, Vietnam, to tell untold stories of colonization, migration, and solidarity. Building on centuries of tradition, Dyani White Hawk weaves together the intricate abstractions of Lakota beadwork and the legacy of modernist painting to create artworks that model how we might honor all cultures that contribute to the rich landscape of American art. A pioneer of the 1980s Black Arts Movement in the United Kingdom, Lubaina Himid creates vibrant figurative paintings and installations that invite viewers into conversation around forgotten histories and pressing issues while asserting the presence of people and communities often erased from historical memory. Across four artistic practices, myriad cultures and historical contexts, as well as countless expressions of creativity, care, and connection, this episode follows as four artists illustrate the capacity of art to unite a world that often feels divided.
Credits
Director: Bryan Chang. Executive Producer: Tina Kukielski. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Segment Directors: Leah Galant, Sana A. Malik, Jeffrey Sterrenberg, Travis Wood. Producers: Zeshawn Ali, Bryan Chang. Editor: Zara Serabian-Arthur. Directors of Photogrpahy: Miasarah Lai, Eric Phillips-Horst. Associate Producer: Andrea Chung. Associate Curator: Jurrell Lewis. Design & Animation: Momentist, Inc. Composer: Andrew Orkin.
Production Services: Meerkat Media. Field Producers: Véronique Bernard, Lauriane Koch, Angela Walley. Additional Cinematography: Thomas Bataille, Bryan Chang, Dallas Currie, John Grove, Sean Hanley, Michael Hennings, Andrew Kemp, Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers, Jeffrey Sterrenberg, Mark Walley. Assistant Camera: Julia Discenza, Jason Harris, Oscar Harrison, Cedric Paillard, Daniel Usman. Location Sound: Ignacio Abascal, Peter Bailey, Owen Brafford, Bryan Chang, Yolande Decarsin, Ludivuc Elias, Johnny Hagen, Hao Quang Nguyen. Production Assistants: Nuria Carreras, Cyan Jayr, Nghia Le, Tai Thy Nguyen, Tibo Pinsard
Additional Art21 Staff: Makda Amdetsyon, Lauren Barnett, Hannah DeGarmo, Lolita Fierro, Ian Forster, Grace LeCates, Emma Nordin, Jessica Svenson, Noor Tamari, Nora Wimmer.
Finishing Services: Skyline Finishing. Colorist: Stewart Griffin. Online Editor: Ben Kiviat. Re-Recording Mixer & Dialogue Editor: Annie Medlin. Sound Effects Editor: Mike Frank. Finishing Producer: Wendi Litteral. Additional Finishing Services: Cut + Measure. Additional Finishing Producers: Mary Grace Duffy, Alex Laviola. Audio Description & Captions: Sasha Hecht, Andre Kelman. Quality Control: Adam Stout. Translation. Sarah Lagneaux, Nhung Nguyen.
Narration: Louise Eliasof. Additional Music: Trey Toy. Additional Video Editor: Regina Spurlock. Assistant Editors: Isabella Morelli Avilán, Stephanie Cen, Tristan Daley, Sarah Yi Fineman, Michelle Hanks.
Artwork Courtesy: Sophie Calle, Lubaina Himid, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Dyani White Hawk, Bockley Gallery, Hollybush Gardens, James Cohan Gallery, Paula Cooper Gallery, Perrotin Gallery.
Legal Counsel: Donaldson Callif Perez.
Archival Material: Artists Rights Society, Richard Baltauss, British Textile Biennial, Pogus Caesar, Claudette Johnson, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Illuminations Media, Vinciane Lebrun, Siglio Press.
Interns: Candice Cirilo, Emma Kanne, Billie Lam, Asante Marie Owusu-Brafi, Aarya Silwal, Maria Syville, Emilia Copeland Titus.
Special Thanks: The Art21 Board of Trustees, Chris Davison, Linh Duong, Marion Hill, Beth Hughes, Henriette Huldisch, Rachel Joyce, Alex Klein, Cat Miguez, Rencontres D’Arles, Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Sara Tonko , Darienne Turner.
Filming Locations Provided By: The Armory Show, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Birley Artist Studios, Brooklyn Museum, The Contemporary Austin, Fundació Joan Miró, Greene Naftali Gallery, The Holburne Museum, Joslyn Art Museum, Musée Picasso Paris, New Museum, Plum & Co, Reclamation Yard, Printed Matter, Inc., Royal Academy of Arts, Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Walker Art Museum.
Series Created By: Susan Dowling and Susan Sollins.
Original Production Funding Provided By: The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Agnes Gund, Melony and Adam Lewis, National Endowment for the Arts, Teiger Foundation, Sarah Arison, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Dealer Tire, Arts, Equity, & Education Fund™, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Elyse and Lawrence B. Benenson, Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, Tim and Lauren Schrager Family Foundation.
This program is a production of Art21, Inc. which is solely responsible for its content.
© 2025 Art21, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian
Through the Art21 Translation Project, multilingual audiences from around the globe can contribute translations, making Art21 films more accessible worldwide.
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Sophie Calle was born in 1953 in Paris, France, and lives and works in Malakoff, France. Working across photography, installation, text, performance, and video, Calle playfully explores themes central to the human experience, such as death, desire, love, and loss, often with the assistance of collaborators who may or may not know they are participating in the work. In her practice, Calle constructs specific conditions to create her works: inviting friends and strangers to sleep in her bed and be photographed, taking a cross-country road trip with a video camera, or only consuming monochromatic foods. Across this body of work and set of methods that defy neat categorization, the artist investigates the boundaries between the self and the other, realizes universal human truths, and collapses distinctions between art and life.
Lubaina Himid was born in 1954 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and currently lives and works in Preston, United Kingdom. She received a BA at Wimbledon College of Art in 1976 and an MA from the Royal College of Art in 1984. Through her paintings, installations, and sculptures, Himid creates platforms for viewers to engage with pressing questions about race, gender, class, and history. Working on traditional canvases, cut-out cardboard portraits, or repurposed domestic furniture, the artist calls attention to forgotten marginalized histories and people and connects them to the present. An early pioneer of the Black Arts Movement, Himid has been an advocate for inclusion in the art world, curating exhibitions and creating spaces for Black female artists in the United Kingdom.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, born in 1976 in Saigon, Vietnam, currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He received his BA in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine, in 1999 and his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2004. Throughout his work in video and sculpture, Nguyen explores the use of art as a tool for healing the traumas of colonialism, imperialism, and war that reverberate through communities and generations. His works often focus on lost or erased histories and the retrieval of these narratives through community engagement, speculative fiction, and fantastical propositions in order to bridge the gap between official archives and lived experiences. Throughout Nguyen’s work, collaboration and storytelling are vital tools for understanding history, finding empathy, and moving toward healing.
Dyani White Hawk was born in 1976 in Madison, Wisconsin, and currently lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received her Associate in Arts Degree from the Haskell Indian Nations University, her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts, and her Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Across varied media, including painting, beadwork, mosaic, video, and performance, White Hawk brings attention to the traditions, techniques, and aesthetics of Lakota art practices, celebrating their beauty and conceptual rigor and placing them in the lineage of Western abstraction.
Segments from "Between Worlds"
"Between Worlds" Educator Guide
Educator Guides provide information about selected artists and themes, questions for classroom discussions, and hands-on activities that provide students with a fundamental understanding of creative and critical thinking processes.