“Mekong Voices”, which ran from Sept. 14, 2025, to Feb. 22, 2026, developed out of the Mekong Culture WELLproject, an interdisciplinary MSU initiative exploring water, ecologies, land, and livelihoods across Southeast Asia. The exhibit celebrates traditional craft and contemporary art, amplifying the “human and more-than-human” voices of the Mekong River, and asking the questions: How does the Mekong speak? How can we listen? And what is lost when our rivers are silenced?

Often referred to as Southeast Asia’s “Mother River”, the Mekong River sustains more than 60 million people, providing food as the world’s largest inland fishery, energy to millions of homes, transportation, and cultural identity. To the communities along its banks, the river is not just a resource; it’s a sacred relative facing significant changes due to damming, sand mining, and increased climate extremes (drought; rising water temperatures leading to toxic algal blooms).

These challenges and their human impact are central to River Has No Borders, which captures the connection between people, culture, and water. This focus is what resonated with the judges. One noted, “I’m Indigenous, and if you know much about what’s going on with Indigenous issues right now, there’s a lot about water rights, access to water, and our cultural connection with the rivers, oceans, and streams in our ancestral lands. I really connected with this piece because it tells a story specific to this area and its people, but it’s a story that really ties not only modern day culture to it, but historical culture as well.”

In addition to winning an ADDY Award, River Has No Borders has led to a rewarding collaboration with award-winning Cambodian-American filmmaker Kalyanee Mam, known for her documentary A River Changes Course(2013). 

“Kalyanee saw the video and she onboarded me onto a bigger project,” Nguyen said. “This will be a more comprehensive video…We took footage from the video I already made, but also interviewed more artists, and have archived videos from the process of them making those art pieces.”

This project, in collaboration with the Mekong Culture WELL project and the MSU Broad Art Museum, offers a deeper exploration of the Mekong River and includes interviews with the artists who worked on the exhibit. It has a target completion date of June 2026.

Nguyen was recently selected for the AAF’s Most Promising Students program in New York City, March 23–27, 2026. This competitive opportunity brought together 25 top advertising students for networking, mentorship, and professional development with industry leaders. 

“It was a great opportunity to gather with peers who have the same passion for the advertising industry,” he said. “But more than that, I got the chance to connect with professionals and experts in the field and see how they approach advertising…it definitely broadened my perspective for my future career trajectory.”

Looking ahead, Nguyen hopes to pursue a career that combines his advertising background with information science and technology. He’d like to use videography, social media, and AI to amplify meaningful messaging, particularly for complex topics like environmental and water-related issues. 

Story by Aja Witt