62 cm x 93 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This painting is inspired by the artist's own painful experience as a refugee. At the center of this painting is a man with a strained face, surrounded by three young boys who represent the artist's two sons and his nephew. The boys each hold a flag with the word “Freedom” on it. One of the boy's flags is backward to suggest that the journey to freedom, instead of being a joyful experience, is filled with struggle and hardship.

On the back of the painting are the two lines of the poem by Thanh Nam:

"Muốn rơi nước mắt khi tàn mộng

Nghỉ đắt vô cùng giá tự do

(Tears drop when dreams shatter

How costly the price of freedom)."

31 cm x 29 cm x 76 cm

Bronze

The date April 30, 1975 is inscribed onto the blackened edge of a war-torn Vietnam that serves as the base for the bronze sculpture known as the “Candle of Burning Tears.” From a maelstrom of twisting flames above, streams of tears modeled on hot wax drip down. Those tears of hot wax descend into the northern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam. The statue represents the destruction of the country and the suffering of those forced from their homeland.

To see this in 3D, click here

28 cm x 49 cm x 30 cm

Stone and bronze

This sculpture portrays a South Vietnamese soldier clutching his head in shame and despair after the surrender of South Vietnam to communist forces. The head was carved out of a granite block. The hand, made of bronze, was modeled on the artist’s own hand.

To see this in 3D, click here

71 cm x 92 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This painting is inspired by the artist's recollection of a young girl with her unkempt hair and her homemade shirt, praying at a temple in Vietnam. She is reimagined here praying from behind barbed wires. The girl's hands are held up in prayer while she gazes resolutely beyond her confinement.

Lan Nguyen

2.74m x 4.88 m (12 panels total)

Acrylic on canvas

This monumental piece portrays the Tân Phát fishing boat which left Cà Mau, a city in southern Vietnam, with twenty-one refugees aboard in 1980. The refugees on the Tân Phát were eventually rescued by a Japanese boat. Crowded into different parts of the boat, which is being buffeted by harsh winds further along into a darkening reddish sky, are six refugees. The painting, through the experience of the refugees aboard the Tân Phát, depicts the desperation of refugees who undertook the incredibly dangerous journey to flee Vietnam by sea.

To see the reconstruction of the Tân Phát fishing boat at the Viet Museum, click here

Lan Nguyen

76 cm x 102 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This painting depicts the resilience of Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War as well as in its aftermath. Dressed in the traditional garments of the Southern countryside (áo bà ba and khăn rằn) with a conical hat (nón lá) on her head and no shoes on her feet, a woman is painted walking away with her children. She carries two children, along with basic necessities such as pots and pans and blankets, in baskets hanging from a shoulder pole. An older child walks ahead carrying whatever he can, including a large cauldron. All of the figures are turned away as they walk towards a cloudy horizon; only the small child in the right basket is facing the viewer.

Trương Thị Thịnh

76 cm x 102 cm

Oil on canvas

Dominating this piece is a large commercial ship with the names Cap Anamur and Ile de Lumière painted on it – a nod to the two humanitarian initiatives that emerged in 1978 in response to the Vietnamese refugee “crisis.” Surrounding the ship are numerous boats that are much smaller in size. These boats resemble the Hai Hong, the infamous boat that had been stranded on the coast of Malaysia with over 2,500 refugees aboard. Photos of the Hai Hong circulated throughout the world and triggered a defining moment in public and political opinion about the treatment of refugees. Artist Trương Thị Thịnh was trained at Vietnam’s Gia Dinh National College of Fine Arts, where she also became a professor.

To see more work by the artist, click here

Unknown Artist

59 cm x 36 cm

Bronze

The sculpture depicts the final voyage of the Trường Xuân. The ship—representing the Trường Xuân—is shown being towed by a tug boat—the Song An—after running aground on a sandbank just 2 hours after departing Saigon.

On April 30, 1975, Phạm Ngọc Luy captain of the Trường Xuân tried to save 3,628 refugees from Saigon. However, the ship was soon out of food and water. By the time it reached Vũng Tàu, the engine room was flooded and stopped running. The captain started to send an SOS signal over the radio. After 2 days and 1 night of desperation, during which people fell subject to weariness and even suicide, the call was answered by Clara Maersk, a Danish ship. All of the refugees left aboard were rescued and admitted to a refugee camp in Hong Kong.