Mai Anh Nguyen

My intention for this project is about my cultural background. I was born and raised in a country that you don’t have the right to speak, the right to stand up. There were a lot of things that brought me anger, shame, and tears every time I think about Vietnam. 2 of the patches that got involved with human figures, it shows the ignorance of young people in Vietnam and also how the police handle it. It seems like a small action but it reflects a big image of the whole nation. The acts of police and army showed a lot about the government, that’s why I used this image to show my intention. Regarding the flag, the yellow flag with 3 lines is the flag of South Vietnam which a lot of people mistaken it’s our national flag and even myself had that mistake. I used all of these patches to cover the beautiful drawing of the old quarter in Hanoi as a speak of how all of the anger and mistake covered my vision from the actual beauty of my country. When the pandemic happened, our country has controlled it the best and they are opening their arm to bring all Vietnamese back home safe which made me rethink my country. I had hated it a lot but now, I’m just too proud of it, I’m proud to tell everyone it’s the strongest nation, the nation which once you know it, you are in love.