Vietnam Now: Windows into Life in Contemporary Society (Elevator Exhibit)

July 1, 2005-August 31, 2005
Location: Elevator Gallery

This exhibit presents a series of "windows" into life in contemporary Vietnam. Our goal is to go beyond the ideas and images that most Americans associate with Vietnam and to provide some insight into contemporary culture and society in Vietnam. Exhibit displays touch on the following themes: literature and the arts, culture and customs, ethnicity and identity, issues in development and commerce, and intellectual traditions.

Throughout the exhibit, we hope readers will get a sense of some of the changes in the country over the past thirty years and go beyond the common assumptions and images of Vietnam that most Americans have.

Thirty years have passed since the end of the war in 1975 and there have been many changes in Vietnam.

In today's Vietnam, international tourists are more common than ever; foreign direct investment has increased steadily, and since 1994 diplomatic and trade relations between Vietnam and the United States have increased. Educational and intellectual exchanges have increased as well, and an increasing number of Vietnamese students attend university in Western nations, such as the United States, Australia and Europe.

The exhibit also highlights the range of research materials available in the University of Hawai'i libraries and intends to stimulate ways of thinking about academic research.

The exhibit encompasses three areas in Hamilton library:

1. Book displays by the main elevators on the first floor,
2. Textiles and books on display in the Bridge Gallery on the first floor, and
3. Book displays near the main elevators in the Asia Collection on the fourth floor.

The exhibit is curated by Margaret Barnhill Bodemer, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, and Rohayati Paseng Barnard, S.E. Asian Librarian, Hamilton Library.

Items on display as part of the "Vietnam Now" exhibit in Phase II.