Hand-carved gmelina wood. 58.4 cm high.

Description

Not the Smell of Napalm is a replica of foliage found in the jungle of Bataan, a province of the Philippine island of Luzon. Suggestive of a fossil, the carved leaves embody the memory of the land itself. Napalm was used extensively by the United States against entrenched Japanese forces in the Philippines during WWIl and became a central weapon of the US military during the Vietnam War. Reports state that roughly 388,000 tons of American napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973. In addition to its devastating effects on human targets and civilian bystanders alike, napalm bombs could create firestorms that burned through acres of jungle in a matter of seconds, leaving a defoliated landscape in its wake.

Description from "Vietnam in Transition, 1976–Present" Exhibition Catalog, 2023, p.41.