In War,Mother and Child Huong allows her memory to speak to us. This is a reflection of Huong and her 11 month old son, Gene, as they escaped from Saigon in 1975. Huong tells us: "While on the road to freedom, behind me I saw War chasing us. I looked back at the guns, the grenades, the rockets and the bombs, the fire in the sky. My child and I had only each other. We clung together, part of one being. His eyes told me he was scared and confused. He sensed my fear and he digested it. War was engulfing us. I knew we were close to dying. I feared for my son. The worst pain for me was that I could not protect him from this life, nor could I suffer in his place. My heart, so swollen with the sadness of leaving my home, saw leaking fear. I caught my breath and jumped. This is how I became part of the migration of the boat people. I left the Third World of Vietnam nad entered the Fourth World of the Refugee."

Huong could not leave the terrors behind. They followed her in surrealistic black shadows bringing the deaths of her Father and her two brothers. Now her war would be waged within as she made her way back to life.

Huong left Vietnam that day. But neither her country nor her people left her.

Text By, Sandi Wicina, Curator of Arts
©2004. Art, War, and Peace Museum.