Above: Vu Thuy, comnputer image, 22 x 30 inches, 2002
.
Until recently the Vietnamese government has been reluctant to publicize much of its research on the effects of Agent Orange completed over the past thirty years, since the U.S. military sprayed twenty million gallons of the defoliant over large portions of the former South Vietnam. They have been concerned with the impact on agricultural exports, tourism and most importantly on their relationship with the U.S. government. While the research in Vietnam is far from complete, there is substantial evidence of the horrendous effects of these dioxins on the unborn fetus’s of Vietnamese women. The official U.S. policy appears to be one of ignoring the problem to denying that there is any problem at all.
The thirty-nine paintings by Vietnamese artists graphically depict the devastating birth defects generally associated with exposure to dioxins. From Vu Thuy’s haunting and disturbing computer-manipulated distorted faces of Vietnamese children to Nguyen Tri Manh’s rendition of the American flag with the red stripes made-up of dozens of photocopies of images of deformed and twisted little bodies and the blue stars made-up of U.S. airplanes spraying Agent Orange, we are reminded of what dioxins do to the human body.
The artists in this exhibition, many of whom have themselves or have friends who suffer from the effects of Agent Orange, have given us a brief glimpse into the horror that still plagues Vietnam now nearly thirty years since the American War has ended.Tran Chi Luan’s acid green mixed-media painting which includes photocopies of numerous Vietnamese children whose bodies have been grotesquely disfigured will not let us turn away from this American tragedy. He shows us that many of the children are now teenagers trapped inside their distorted bodies.
While many of the paintings in this exhibition read like propaganda posters, this does not lessen their impact. Their message is clear. One such image is Nguyen Cong Quang’s black and orange painting simply titled “Dioxin.” He graphically depicts death surrounding a father with his child born with a hair lip, a common birth defect associated with Agent Orange.
This exhibition was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Le Cao Dai, Vietnam’s leading authority on Agent Orange, who passed away suddenly last spring. Dr. Dai worked tirelessly for many years to study the effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people. He worked with both passion and compassion to paint an accurate and honest picture from his research. How fitting that this exhibition should be a part of his legacy. For all those who knew Dr. Dai, one cannot help but to feel his spirit as you make your way through this moving exhibition.
C. David Thomas
Fulbright Scholar, Vietnam, 2002-03
Director, Indochina Arts Partnership
