Historically, global perceptions of the American War in Viet Nam have been shaped by what writer Viet Thanh Nguyen calls the American ‘industry of memory’—a structure in which the Vietnam War is remembered and framed primarily by Western media. Images such as Burning Monk in 1963, Saigon Execution in 1968, and Napalm Girl in 1972 have formed what Sylvia Shin Huey Chong termed ‘the Vietnam triptych’; that is, they became the definitive images of this war. To such an extent that when Vietnam is evoked, what comes to mind is not a country, a location, but war.

Thành Phẩm contextualises Vietnamese artist Lê Nguyên Phương’s attempt to offer a counter-archive to the hegemonic American perspective of this war. Through photographs made with his family in Vietnam and Cambodia, Lê re-examines the emotional impact of the war and its aftermath on his loved ones, and the secrets buried within.

Main image: Lê Nguyên Phương, Cánh chim bạc (Silver birds), 2025.

Image carousel: Lê Nguyên Phương, Mâm hoa quả, ảnh bóng chuyền, 2025; Lê Nguyên Phương Đỏ (Red), 2024.