Launch of comic book series by French artist about Vietnamese expatriates in the early 20th century

This is a graphic novel series in a series of activities of the comic book development project in Vietnam by Kim Dong Publishing House in collaboration with the French Institute in Hanoi .

"Memories of Overseas Vietnamese: Vietnamese Soldiers and Workers in France during World War II" is a story about the soldier-workers, or ONS, a term used to refer to Vietnamese workers who were conscripted and forced to work in France during World War II (1939-1945).

At that time, there were about 20,000 soldier workers who went to the "home country" to work in factories, plants, fields... Trapped by the war, some people voluntarily stayed, some people could not return home, and those who returned also experienced many ups and downs due to their identity as "soldier workers". Their stories were almost buried in the sands of time, little known to both the French and the Vietnamese today.

The series "Memories of Overseas Vietnamese".

The comic book “Memories of Overseas Vietnamese: Vietnamese Soldiers and Workers in France during World War II” brings a vivid story about the soldier-workers of the past, with their great contributions to production in France and their enthusiastic support for Uncle Ho and the Vietnamese Revolution during a turbulent period in world history.

The book “Memories of Overseas Vietnamese: Chan Dang - Vietnamese Miners in the New World” takes readers back to nearly 100 years ago, when ships from Hai Phong crossed the sea carrying thousands of Vietnamese farmers to the islands in faraway Oceania. They went as voluntary labor export workers, working under 5-year contracts through French colonial recruitment companies. These people were called “chan dang” (registered for a labor position).

Displaying some parts of the comic strip by author Clément Baloup.

“Memories of the Overseas Vietnamese: Vietnamese Miners in the New World” depicts the lives of miners in the old New Caledonia, from which we can learn more about a generation of Vietnamese expatriates. With simple aspirations, they could not have imagined that they would have to work in terrible conditions and face many events.

Drawing on historical research, archival materials, interviews and personal notes, artist Clément Baloup recreates a reality that intertwines past and present, across vast spaces, from Vietnam to France and New Caledonia.

Sketch some story pages.

According to him, comic pages give him the opportunity to share his emotions, because drawing is a desire to express personal thoughts, a dialogue with other people's views, and a way to show the world his own perspective. Clément Baloup shared: "Memories will gradually fade in everyone's mind, so I want to use comics to connect those fragile memories with valuable time markers, to reveal the inevitability of human destiny."

With two books “Memories of Overseas Vietnamese”, artist Clément Baloup has recreated the complex past pieces of a Vietnamese community that seems to have been forgotten in history.

Sketch some story pages.

Artist Clément Baloud, born in 1978, has a French mother and a Vietnamese father. He was born in France and grew up in Europe, Polynesia and South America. After studying design in Marseille (France), he studied fine arts at the Angouleme Fine Arts School (France) and the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. Experiencing many different cultures has given him inspiration and a unique creative style.

With French-Vietnamese blood and a special interest in Vietnamese history and culture, artist Clément Baloup has exploited stories from many different perspectives: comparing the differences between the perspective of witnesses and the perspective of the outside world; the concerns before the fate of people in exile; about the relationship between generations (parents-children).

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ra-mat-bo-truyen-tranh-cua-hoa-si-phap-ve-nguoi-viet-xa-xu-dau-the-ky-20-post878968.html