VME Exhibit
From: DiGregorio, Michael <M.DiGregorio@fordfound.org>
Date: Jun 18, 2006 1:00 AM
Subject: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
Dear All,
The exhibition "Hanoi life under the subsidy economy" is truly amazing. If any of you are in Hanoi, or plan to be here, this is a must see. The museum staff have collected objects and memories from the citizens of Hanoi, and used the words of the people they interviewed in the museum signage. They have complemented this combination of artifacts and recollections with a mixture of filmed interviews and historical films that places the on-camera stories of interviewees in context.
Like several of the exhibitions carried out by the museum in the past year - marriage ceremonies in pre-war Hanoi, the tribute to Nguyen Tu Chi - this exhibits broadens the museum's ethnological mission to include urban, majority culture as well as the more 'traditional' rural cultures of the Kinh and ethnic minorities.
Below are some articles covering the opening.
Mike DiGregorio
Ford Foundation
From: Michele Thompson <thompsonc2@southernct.edu>
Date: Jun 18, 2006 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
Dear Mike,
Is there any chance of a book coming out of this exhibit? Especially since I probably won't be able to go to Vietnam while it's up?
cheers
Michele
Michele Thompson
From: Oscar Salemink <OJHM.Salemink@fsw.vu.nl>
Date: Jun 18, 2006 1:49 PM
Subject: RE: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
The VME website offers the following http://www.vme.org.vn/vietnam/news_detail.asp?ID=338. They put some other exhibitions up on the web, so perhaps it is a question of time befor ethey do that.
Oscar Salemink
From: Romi <wearevn@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Jun 20, 2006 1:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
Hi all,
The exhibition will be on display till December. No info about any follow-up books yet. I have not been there, but will definitely go soon.
There is a good coverage in Tien Phong Saturday 17 June 2006, by Vo Van Thanh: http://www.tienphongonline.com.vn/Tianyon/Index.aspx?ArticleID=50476&ChannelID=2
I roughly did a translation of some parts for those who cannot read in Vietnamese:
The display of Ha Noi life in Subsidy time - A grim time colour
The colour of that time was not of deep purple, the scent of that time was not pure and gentle like the description in old poems, it was seemingly a grim colour and an unpleasant scent. It was my true feeling as I was walking in the “Ha Noi life under the subsidy economy” exhibition, getting on the time’s carriage to go back and observe those old time’s stories…
A hyphen between the subsidy time with the young people: The meaning behind the project... Amusing stories of paper-procedures such as: An authorization paper from a husband to his wife to use his Na-ti-o-nan (National) radio while he was going on business, and an attached paper from the local authority confirming that he and his wife were… husband and wife, so that his wife could go to the grocery store to buy batteries for the radio…
The position of “heroic people”: There were many “folk verses” about the classification of different distribution shops, priorities went to “king and officials” first, then “sycophanic courtiers,” then “trademen” and finally “heroic people”
More worried about sick “chief pig” than sick husband... It was easy to find and give sick husband and children medicine, but not the pigs, esp. the chief, which is the most important "economic factor" in the family (the woman in the article called it "Thu truong" (boss)
“Suffocation”: Both the material and spiritual life were so poor. Many good films were stamped “problematic” if there was a comment on its “misled ideology.” Silly and dogmatic inferences ruined many art/literary works…
Silent struggles: Struggles to tell the truths of writers like Nguyen Thuy Kha, Thai Ba Loi, poets such as Nguyen Trong Tao, Thanh Thao, musicians like Tran Tien … and reponsible citizens like Pham Thi Xuan Khai whose famous and phenomenal poem "Mua xuan nho Bac" or "A spring missing Uncle Ho" (they also called it A Reform Spring) was recently widely reported in press.
Ought to live and live “nicely”: It was a really hard time… There were scarcities in everything and in every aspect of life… However, the hardship couldn’t prevent people from developing their creativity - in the spirit of “cai kho lo cai khon” (smart comes out of tough situations) – to strive out of poverty. Among the most popular ways were raising pigs and poultry, planting vegetables or making handicrafts… The amazing creativeness were shown: techniques to turn inside out the collar of shirts, the back side of trousers, the bike chain, techniques to “piquer” clothes (~stitch/insert patches onto torn clothes), to wrap worn tyre with rubber bands, or to make hand-controlled electricity generators…
The list of simple dreams of people living in Subsidy time included: a red TV, a “toad” fan, a Peugeot bike, a Camay soap, a German fur coat, a Pennicilin pot to keep seasoning, a pair of Tien Phong plastic sandals, a Russian doll, an egg, some not-mouldy rice…
Dr. Mai Thanh Son, secretary of the “Ha Noi life under the subsidy economy 1975 – 1986/1990” project said: “At first, we were afraid that it must be very difficult to reconstruct the background of Ha Noi life during the subsidy time, simply because not many people might want to recall the strenous time in their life. But, when the project started, we were surprised to receive so many donations in substance. People trust us and share their memories with us. What makes us happier is that gov’tal officials totally support this project…”
--
To be honest, this is a fairy tale to me. Without looking up dictionary, I could not even understand some few words in the description like pic-ke, or the stories of atomic family living in standard 'self-contained' flats of 24 or 28m2 in size (4-5m2/person, with toilette, kitchen included) ...
Cheers,
Romi
From: DiGregorio, Michael <M.DiGregorio@fordfound.org>
Date: Jun 20, 2006 2:56 AM
Subject: RE: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
Michelle,
I doubt that they will produce a book. But there is talk of using the footage to produce a feature length documentary. If so, I might be able to persuade Huy to combine this with educational materials on line, similar to what PBS did with Blackside production's "eyes on the prize".
Mike
From: Michele Thompson <thompsonc2@southernct.edu>
Date: Jun 20, 2006 5:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
Dear Mike,
That's a great idea!
cheers
From: Tenley Mogk <tmogk@vn.seapro.crs.org>
Date: Jun 20, 2006 8:08 PM
Subject: RE: [Vsg] VME Exhibit
If such a documentary could capture what visitors are talking about at the exhibit, it would be fantastic. The other day I listened to a man describe to his son how his family would hide in their house to cut parts of a chicken up to eat secretly; luckily they had access to a rare pair of sharp scissors used for medical procedures (aunt was a nurse) and so the cutting was silent. The neighbors were not to know about this secret chicken. The kid cracked up.
And that is nuts for a middle class Hanoi kid. Totally nuts.