Making a Map 

 

The news came in December 1974. I was a student labourer, broke, worked during vacation for some decent cash in Mount Isa Mines (yes, “MIM”, now defunct, taken over well and dusted). Rho wrote from Sydney; she said, I didn’t realise you were famous. She was concerned, loving, affectionate.

 

Because they began fighting in Phuoc Long before Christmas – the North blatantly attacked the South again, in a big way this time, contrary to the 1973 Paris ceasefire. The battle would be over one week into the New Year. It hadn’t started when Mien mailed her letter and Christmas card from Nha Trang.

 

Feb-March of the New Year, my sister wrote when I was back at campus. The upper cities had been taken - Hue, Da Nang, Qui Nhon. Soldiers were plenty in town, evacuating from the Northern and highland sites. Distress prevalent between her lines.  From March onward there were no longer words from Mien.

 

Then of course there was Xuan Loc where the final line was drawn in the sand. The simple student living overseas, myself, happened to belong to the losing side of that line.

 

Fifty years on I still see the place in all its clarity - mountains rivers towns ruins battle sites. Because I was there once. The mountain passes of Ru Ri, of Ca, of Hai Van when I was on motor bikes, on buses. Vijaya relic seen from the bus. Hue and Sia and Tam Giang Lagoon from deep in childhood. People wounded and died on the streets of 1968 Tet Offensive’s Nha Trang, the trees with bare blackened branches from bazookas and mortars. The forlorn Hue of 1972 after the Summer Offensive. The aftermath of deadly skirmishes in Binh Dinh when visiting a soldier friend and, another occasion, my father, both in 1973. And how could I forget, on a completely different tangent, the second-hand book stalls on Le Loi boulevard in torrential rain of 1970’s and 1973’s Sai Gon.

 

Fifty years on, fifty-two years on, I am still seeing those things, even things that happened before I was born. Seeing in the mind. Seeing the brave Champa king lose his life on Hai Trieu river, the first Viet nationalist Nguyen Thai Hoc executed on the guillotine by low nasty French colonialists. Seeing the Trung sisters kill themselves after losing battle to Chinese invaders, back in the 1st century. Even the princess My Chau who let her Chinese husband steal Viet military secrets, three hundred years before.

 

And most of all, seeing my mother travel during her years – before and after I saw the light of life.

 

I saw them all long ago, I see them now. Bottled them all inside, and there they fester nicely, gently, never die off. Thus I had to make this map. I wanted to see them live on a tangible construct from my own labour. A humble homage to my mother too, dear Mạ. 3-4 hours a day, 2 months, in between other tasks. 

 

Some technical notes:

 

• Everything was hand-made (beloved Valentine who has better eyesight is an accomplished artist but her kind offer to help was bravely and gallantly declined);

 

• Solid teak panel, 900x1400x33 mm, 40 Kg. I drew plenty of maps before but this was the first (perhaps only) on wood, this large slab;

 

• Every line was carved into the wood: rivers, shorelines, borders, titles, map frames.

 

• Almost all details are accurate, save for the exaggeration of rivers and river gorges – for emphasis, because I like them, I like the Black River gorge from a book deep in memory ("kẽm sông Đà", yes).

 

• Mountains were built, using references from a 1970s official hypsometric map, layer by layer with plaster and glue, then painted upon. Paints were Masters watercolours and Porter (now premier division of Dulux). Fan-si-pan, 3143 m above sea, is 4cm high here.

 

• Fine moulding tools and brushes were needed.

 

• The writings were done by a large variety of pens and markers in various sizes and colours, notably Artline, Uniball, Sharpie. All were fade-resistant and waterproof.

 

• Some pens and colours were not easy to write on painted surface, on the “mountains”. Thus the beige-coloured “lands” outside the borders and the cadet-blue “sea” were used extensively to put down names for places nearby. This helpfully preserved the integral look of the 3D features.

 

• One needs to have a good amount of love to do this: love for geography, for history .. (for one’s mother, also).

 

Shown here is a jpg version which should show most details but web-hosting might frustrate it. Perhaps some close-ups of various areas later on. Also a detailed shot of “Legend & Notes”. 

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Long Vo-Phuoc, Jan-Feb 2025