SOUVENIRS OF VIETNAM (2004)
It was thirty years ago that Saigon fell to the Communists. In SOUVENIRS OF VIETNAM (2004) Liza Nguyen commemorates this event in the Vietnam War with two series. SURFACE shows small bits of ground coming from historic locations in Vietnam, such as My Lai, known for the American massacre of Vietnamese civilians there. Today the war still permeates the soil of Vietnam, says Nguyen – not only for the many victims, but also through the contamination which resulted from the use of Agent Orange. POSTCARDS is a parody on the picture post cards that are sold to tourists in Vietnam. In place of the usual landscapes of temples, her cards are printed with war monuments, ordnance and war victims – things that are equally inextricably linked with the history of Vietnam.
