Transnationalizing Vietnamese Diaspora

Discussion of Art within the Vietnamese Community
In a monograph titled “Transnationalizing Viet Nam: Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora” which focuses on Vietnamese people, both in Viet Nam and in the diaspora, Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde uses Chau Huynh as a case study to exemplify transnationalism, globalism, and the changes needed to bring about peace. Valverde’s discussion is not a simple one; it is complicated by the fact that there are three perspectives from which to consider this narrative. Through Chau Huynh’s experience, Valverde is able to weave a story that opens dialogue with the reader and the community at large. Just as Chau Huynh is able to do through her art (now).
Chau Huynh is a Vietnamese immigrant to the United States. She was raised in Viet Nam under the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam’s communist ideals and only immigrated to the
Saying that although she doesn’t know war, her roots are in the Vietnamese community and she feels that the community still needs a way of talking about their experiences. Speaking about some of her art pieces, Mai says, “[There is] so much we have not healed from; what can we do to heal our self and others?”4 She uses her art for introspection and expression of this need to open dialogue. One such piece was created for an exhibition for the Vietnamese American Oral History Project.
Black ink and white voile is the framework within which Mai sought to open dialogue with her work she named “Quiet”. It is an installation that was displayed in collaboration with the Vietnamese American Oral History Project. Mai printed images of lost children (mostly) on the voile and then typed out letters from the children’s family members begging for information of their whereabouts. Mai incorporated her responses to these letters, on the voile, in an effort to achieve healing for herself and the