Description

The Life of a River Citizen

(Part I)

I am a citizen of the Red River. But my wife is a citizen of the Volga River. I have seen

with my own eyes the Volga River (Russia), La Seine (France), the Main (Germany), the

Brisbane (Australia)…But at the same time, I love so much some other Rivers which I have never seen, for example, the Amazon. So, the “Citizen of the River” in my project is the Citizen of any River in the world.

(Part II)

The River

The River always gives us some souvenirs from childhood until the end of our life.

Rivers are always beautiful, colorful, very quiet, and very sentimental.

As a Mother, the River sings for us before we go to bed.

As a Father, the River gives us Food and Water all our life.

As a Friend, the River shows to us how to go far, and together, the River goes with us to the sea.

So, we call Rivers according to their beauty: Nine Dragons River, Horse River, Eldest

River, Emerald River, Golden River, Silver River…

So, we call Rivers according to their color: Red River, Green River, Blue River, Violet

River, Yellow River, Black River…

So, we call Rivers according to the senses and sentiments they provoke: Quite Mind

River, Perfume River, Missing River, Dreams River, Poems River…

And as the Legend tells us, after death, we have to pass by the Thiên đường  (before the road)

River in order to clean our Body and our Mind before putting our feet into heaven or into enfer (hell).

Vũ Dân Tân

12 – Aug – 1997.

Project includes:

- A boat: my floating house.

- The Water Temple (The Water memory temple)

- The Fish Temple (The Fish memory temple)

- My Collections: fish, animals, trees, insects…

Text by Iola Lenzi, PhD, Historian of Contemporary Southeast Asian Art. Lenzi has conducted extensive research on the contemporary practice of Vũ Dân Tân, located in the context of contemporary art in 1990s Hanoi.