Suturing Memory: Family Photographs as (Re)constructive Materials in the Art of the Vietnamese Diaspora

Abstract This article considers the use of photography as material in the practice of artists from the Vietnamese diaspora. The family photograph, the one we struggle to understand—or even do not understand—and the one that catches our eye in a flea market are both considered memory material, enabling the elaboration of a self-narrative. The repetition of forms and recurrence of themes typical of family photography make it an ideal medium for projection and imagination, filling in the gaps in family stories. The popularity of the practice of reusing vernacular photographs among a large number of artists of Vietnamese heritage draws attention to the absence of images and therefore the lack of narratives for the second and third generations of the Vietnamese diaspora. Without images of a bygone Vietnam, these artists struggle to situate themselves within their family history, between Vietnam and the country where they live. This article focuses on three of these Vietnamese artists working with photography: Dinh Q. Lê, Bao Vuong, and Prune Phi. Through the analysis of selected works, it proposes to observe one of the many ways photography is used by artists from the Vietnamese diaspora as a material for repairing the memory of a history of exile that is both personal and collective.