VietNamNet Bridge – A photo exhibition about the life and religion of the Bru – Van Kieu ethnic group in Vietnam has opened at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

Visitors view photos at the Divinities, Ancestors and Shamans: The Bru - Van Kieu in the Truong Son Range exhibition at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum. — VNS Photo Phuong Mai

The exhibition, Divinities, Ancestors and Shamans: The Bru - Vân Kiều in the Trường Sơn Range, showcases 250 photos taken by Hungarian professor of socio-cultural anthropology Gábor Vargyas in the 1980s.

The images depict the Bru – Van Kieu, who live primarily in the two central provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Binh, and their agricultural rites and methods.

Their religious ideas about illness, healing and shamanism are also featured.

On display are works that highlight their religious rites such as funerals, the cult of the dead and ancestors.

Professor Vargyas spent one year and a half living with a Bru – Van Kieu family in Khe Sanh Town in Huong Hoa District in Quang Tri Province between 1985 and 1989 conducting his research.

Thirty years later, he returned to Vietnam to show his work during his field trip.

He opened his exhibition Divinities, Ancestors and Shamans: The Bru - Vân Kiều in The Trường Sơn Range at the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi last October.

He also released his first book in Vietnamese titled Bất Chấp Định Mệnh: Văn Hóa và Phong Tục Tập Quán Người Bru - Vân Kiều (Culture and Customs of the Bru - Van Kieu) featuring a collection of his essays and photos last November.

The exhibition in HCM City runs until February 28. The museum is at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1.

Source: VNS