Exiled dissident artist Mai Khoi (born Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi) has been called the "Lady Gaga of Vietnam" and compared to Russian activist-band Pussy Riot. She was a pop star in Vietnam but began pushing back against creative censorship and attempted to increase the reach of her activism by participating in national politics. Government harassment forced her to move into exile in Pittsburgh. The International Free Expression Project co-sponsored her along with City of Asylum on an Artist Protection Fund grant through the Scholars at Risk program of the University of Pittsburgh. Mai Khoi currently serves on IFEP's International Advisory Board and is working on her latest piece, “Bad Activist: The Stage Show.” Mai Khoi will receive the Roosevelt Foundation's Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech in April.

Julie Trébault is a highly respected expert in the art and archeology world, serving as director of public programs at both the National Museum of Ethnology in the Netherlands — where she built an interconnected, virtual exhibit spanning the collections of over 100 museums — and the Museum of the City of New York. In 2017, Trébault joined PEN America as director of its expansive Artists at Risk Connection project, which works to track the cases of, and give support to, at-risk artists like Mai Khoi.

Learn more about Mai Khoi:

• Check out her Wikipedia article or her personal bio on her website.
• Read about her on our website. Also, view the illustration IFEX curated of Mai Khoi as part of its Faces of Free Expression gallery, which we used to create our exhibit by the same name.
• Watch her perform on her YouTube channel.
• Find her on Twitter.

The Visionaries online series features conversations with changemakers who, often at great personal risk, defend free-expression rights in today's increasingly complicated digital world. All events are free, with suggested donations.