Photo exhibition honoring legendary Vietnamese mothers

During the historic days of April, there was a photo exhibition taking place in the center of Hanoi that moved almost everyone who came to see it, many people had tears in their eyes... That was the exhibition "Memories and Legends" at the Ho Guom Cultural Information Center (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi), displaying 50 portraits of Vietnamese Mothers captured by Colonel, journalist, and photographer Tran Hong over the past half century.

The 50 photos on display were selected from a collection of about 2,000 photos of Vietnamese Mothers across the country, from 1976 to 2020, by soldier and journalist Tran Hong.

The author was a former soldier of Battalion 2, Regiment 559 Truong Son, and later Head of the Photo Department - People's Army Newspaper. Now, at the age of 78, although his health and eyesight are not as good as before, he still enthusiastically introduces to visitors the characters and moments in each photo.

Although it has been introduced to the public in several previous thematic exhibitions, the photo collection still retains its artistic and documentary value. Each image tells a story about the resilient, indomitable, loyal, and capable Vietnamese women that photographer Tran Hong has met. The photo captions are also written by the author himself with genuine, passionate emotions and are expressed in both Vietnamese and English so that international visitors can also learn.

At the exhibition, the photos under the theme “Mother - Deeply engraved with memories” brought many emotions of sorrow mixed with admiration. Most of them were portraits or busts, depicting old, lonely women, looking longingly into the void, missing their husbands or children who went to war and never returned.

“I don’t want to be a Heroic Vietnamese Mother,” that was the confession of Mother Nguyen Thi Ut in Hai Duong , as well as many other mothers. “Because, no mother wants to have many children sacrifice to become heroes. The only thing is that I miss my children so much!”, the mother’s words were recorded by the author and made many viewers’ eyes red.

Another mother, Mother Thao in Hanoi , spent “40 years searching for her husband,” a soldier who died on the Dien Bien Phu battlefield in 1954. Every year, Mother Thao traveled to Dien Bien, sometimes 2-3 times. In 1994, she found her husband’s grave 40 years after his death.

And we cannot fail to mention the photo "Waiting for my child", a famous work by photographer Tran Hong, capturing the heroic Vietnamese mother Nguyen Thi Thu ( Quang Nam ), whose husband and nine biological children were martyrs.

In the photo, Mother Thu sits alone quietly next to a tray of food with an incense bowl and nine sets of bowls and chopsticks, her shadow cast on the portraits of her children behind her… “Mom has no one left”, “Mom is living in place of her children”, “The medal on Mom’s shirt”…, these works capturing the simple, small, and humble mother speak of the terrible pain caused by war, while also helping viewers to appreciate and be grateful for the silent but immense sacrifices of mothers.

To have a unified, independent, free and happy country today, we cannot forget the mothers, who sent their "guts" to the battlefield, who devoted their young men and women to the Fatherland. They are immortal symbols of maternal love, of silent but intense patriotism.

Present at the exhibition, journalist and photographer Ha Hong, former Head of the Science and Education Department of Nhan Dan Newspaper, shared that the exhibition "Memories and Legends" is a practical activity in response to the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025) organized by the Hoan Kiem Lake and Hanoi Old Quarter Management Board in coordination with the Photography-Press Association (Hanoi Art Photography Association). Although depicting the war through the pain and loss of Mothers, the atmosphere of the exhibition was not sad or gloomy but conveyed a meaningful message and inspiration for a positive life.

The exhibition also has two other themes: “Mothers - everyday moments” and “Pride of Vietnamese Mothers”, introducing other Vietnamese Mothers who are leaders and scientists who have made many contributions to the development of the country, or simply images of ordinary women with the noble mission of being wives and mothers…

We can mention the portrait of female general Nguyen Thi Dinh on the train connecting the North and South on December 31, 1976; Associate Professor Dang Bich Ha, the talented and devoted wife of General Vo Nguyen Giap; Mother Dinh Thi Giam in Ha Tinh is the mother of eight doctoral children; Mother Pgo Xu in Muong Te, Lai Chau is the first Ha Nhi ethnic person to be admitted to the University of Journalism, class of 1969-1973...

Through the exhibition “Memories and Legends”, today’s generation, especially the youth, has the opportunity to review a heroic period in the nation’s history and pay tribute to mothers. Standing before the simple yet extraordinary Vietnamese mothers, viewers are reminded of the value of peace, of the responsibility to preserve and promote the achievements that generations of ancestors sacrificed their blood and bones to build the country as it is today.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/trien-lam-anh-tri-an-nhung-nguoi-me-viet-nam-huyen-thoai-post876669.html