Leveraging historical data - Nguyen Thanh Mai

Historic floods in 1953 and 1985 killed more than 500 citizens of the province of Thua Thien Hue. The flood in 1999 killed 300 people just in the city of Hue. I was just 16 years old then. My parents and I managed through the flood, sitting on boards placed as high as the lumbar of our house, hungry and cold. We were much luckier than hundreds, or even thousands of others, who experiences moments of danger, fear, pain and despair.

Memories and stories about the historic flood of 1999 are sometimes recalled by the people of Hue. They are stories about families members isolated apart during the course of the flood, about corpses tied to house roofs, stuck on tops of bamboo trees, or drifted along the troubled water…

People keep recalling rows of coffins hurriedly built and placed beside Quoc Hoc Memorial, or a village where countless families were swept away into the sea, or mothers who lost their children, wives who lost their husbands, and so on… all happening with the panic caused by the natural disaster.

The messy and devastated landscape in ruin caused by the flood has created an area of darkness in many people’s memories, just like the many sandals and slippers drifted and stuck along street pavements, in wet market corners, or in the midst of daily appliance has hauntingly provoked a feeling of anguish in me.

A memorial to the unfortunate victims of those historic floods, my idea for this arts project was to collect drifting unowned sandals and slippers and use them as the major icon for my arts work.

Hoa Duan Village was turned into a sea mouth just one night after the flood arrived. The very next day, the survivors prepared some food with the hope to call the soul of the lost loved ones back – in vain (picture and materials from tuoitre.vn)


On the way back to Thuan An beach (picture and materials from tuoitre.vn)


The devastated landscape left after a flood in Tam Giang Lagoon, Phu Vang District, Thua Thien Hue (picture and materials from tuoitre.vn)


A family in Phu Tan, Thuan An, Thua Thien Hue. The father and a little brother of these three kids’ were killed by the flood, their house swept away, hence the funeral had to take place in the street (picture and materials from tuoitre.vn)


My field trip

Huong River starts from the Truong Son Mountains and runs for about 100km to Thuan An sea mouth. Short, sloping, with little buffer zone, floods travel in harly no time from upstream to downstream, especially when accompanied by big rains.

Located along the river are places named Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Dong Ba, Vy Da, Bao Vinh, and so on. Bao Vinh is a wet market street located along the bank of Dong Ba River, where Dao, Bach Dang and Huong rivers meet, therefore is the most vulnerable place to severe damages caused by floods in Hue citadel.

Bao Vinh is one of Hue’s most ancient parts. Once a busy and bustling area, one can still find in this street traces of ancient time and ways of life peculiar to a river-based merchants.

Bao Vinh is also known as one of the lowest areas in Hue, located near the downstream of the river, where the river flows at a slower pace, and countless rubbish and mosses can be found adrift along the two banks.

When the water rose high, no one could tell where the borderline was between the river and the land. However, life went on as usual, as if the residents here were too used to natural disasters.

Water-based games


I wonder for how many times these water tracks have corroded those walls and doors???


The water tracks reminded me of my childhood, when every year my family would discuss if we should paint the walls to get rid of them to prepare for Tet lunar new year holidays. But they would forever stay even when you tried to get rid of them. Because you still and see them and feel them through a spider web-covered cupboard bottom, a table with long legs, or the edge of a window overlooking a small tiny kitchen.

Goods everywhere


The street was home mainly to small household businesses, therefore one can find goods containers and baskets all around. On a hot summer’s day, they are used to displays items on sale. During flood time, they are leveraged to help keep heavy furniture out of the water.

Goods everywhere


I was so impressed by the landscape of all these things heaped up together, lying around in disorder. Therefore I decided to try bringing these materials into my work, creating a link between my arts work with the local attributes.

Silt left after flood was also a type of material that I was very keen on using for my arts work.

After a flood, layers of silt were left in the streets


On perrons


Or under a cupboard


And even on slippers drifting along