Everyone recognizes the Ao Dai as the symbol of Vietnam. But perhaps, it is only through the stifled breath behind a tight clasp, the pressing of wrinkles borne from a day of toil, and the distinct aroma of mothballs lingering in a wardrobe… that we truly grasp how the Ao Dai ‘breathes’ alongside the women of this land.
DNNLY invites you to listen to the whispers and confidences, narrated by the silhouettes of the Ao Dai.
Ảnh 1 bởi @nghi.do______
Ảnh 2 bởi @_concakoi_
Ảnh 3 bởi @triglyceride31
Ảnh 4 bởi @stmcmrdmp
Ảnh 5 bởi @stmcmrdmp
Ảnh 6 bởi @nghi.do______
Ảnh 7 bởi @mingtruonggg
Ảnh 8 bởi @giakhangphamho
Ảnh 9 bởi @stmcmrdmp
Ảnh 10 bởi @stmcmrdmp
Ảnh 11 bởi @kiet_ngyenn
Ảnh 12 bởi @triglyceride31
Truth be told, I never saw Grandmother wear an Ao Dai in the flesh. That memory lingers only in a wedding photo, worn soft with age. Crimson tunic, wine-red lips. My mother was the same, a lifetime of burdened shoulders, never owning a single dress to call her own. Her sole occasion was a hastily rented piece. Black and white silk, plum-dark lips.
‘Eat for yourself, dress for the world.’ To me, the beauty of the Ao Dai lies not in fine silks or brocades. It is beautiful because it marks those rare, fleeting moments when the toiling women of my life allowed themselves to be soft, temporarily forgetting the frayed shoulders and faded days, to simply shine, for one brief instant, before the world.
Cultural Program Series DNNLY x @fusion.artsspace
Photographs @fusion.artsspace
Digital Layout Vân Vân @dreamy.illus Việt Thắng @vthanjj Thiện Tài @thientai_
Print Layout @fusion.artsspace
