The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is the latest local outlet to profile Mai Khoi, the "Lady Gaga of Vietnam," who now has made a home in Pittsburgh.
Her name is Mai Khoi (pronounced “my coy”) and she is a successful Vietnamese pop star turned activist who was forced to leave her home country after being harassed and silenced by the Vietnamese government.See also a January 19 WESA FM profile.
The 38-year-old Khoi has found refuge in Pittsburgh, arriving last November and becoming the second scholar in residence at the University of Pittsburgh through the Scholars at Risk program. The program partners with an initiative of the Institute of International Education called the Artist Protection Fund.
The fund supports threatened artists by placing them in safe countries for a full year, where they can continue their work and plan for their futures. Khoi is also supported by the Pittsburgh-based International Free Expression Project and the City of Asylum on the North Side, where she and her husband have found their Pittsburgh home.