Southeast Asia in historical photographs: Vietnam

The National Overseas Archives in Aix-en-Provence (ANOM) have opened up to the public an ever growing online database called Base Ulysse, thereby making a variety of digitised materials from the Archives and their library available for research. Begun in 2002, this database currently makes available well over 45,000 individual photographs, albums, postcards, posters, drawings and maps.

These materials document on one side the history of the French colonial empire in general, but on the other side they are a rich source for the study of the cultures, traditions and everyday life in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in historical perspective. The materials mainly originate from public records (state secretariats and departments that managed French colonial territories from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth century, general government offices, etc.) and private archives, but also from donations, purchases, and bequests.

The digital collection contains over 3000 photographs from Vietnam which include 1935 images related to Tonkin, 886 images related to Cochin-China, 615 images related to Annam, and 463 images categorized under Vietnam. Most of these images are photographs from the first half of the twentieth century, but the oldest images date back to the 1880s. Interestingly, they do not only document the French colonial influence in Vietnam, but also Vietnamese traditions, ceremonies and everyday life. In addition, the cultures of ethnic minorities and religious communities in Vietnam are depicted in these photographs. The Cao Dai religion, Buddhism and Islam and their rituals are well presented in this collection, as well as the cultural traditions of the Thai ethnic groups in north Vietnam, the Cham in south Vietnam and the Chinese in Saigon, Hanoi and other large cities. Some of the images document how these photographs were taken by French colonial officers and photographers.

Some examples that illustrate the wide range of topics covered by the collection of photographs from Vietnam are presented below. All images were sourced from the Base Ulysse.

Street view in Hanoi, Tonkin, c.1897-8

Studio photograph of a Vietnamese woman in traditional costume, Tonkin, c.1884-5

A group of Vietnamese dancers, Tonkin, c.1892-96

Traditional Vietnamese orchestra, Tonkin, c.1884-5

Buddhist nun and novice, Tonkin, c.1919-26

Land surveyors with traditional measuring instruments, Tonkin, c.1884-5

Studio photograph of two young Chinese men, Hanoi, Tonkin, 1884-5

Members of the Thai ethnic group, Tonkin, c.1895-9

Ceremony at the royal palace, Hue, Annam, c.1919-26

Studio photograph of a Mandarin, Annam, c.1884-5

Colonial photographer taking pictures of ethnic minority men at work, Annam, c.1919-26

Maritime fishery near Cau Gio, Cochin-China, c.1921-35

Cham fishermen in the Mekong Delta, Cochin-China, c.1921-35

Traditional art school at Lai Thieu, Cochin-China, c.1919-26

Theatre stage at the pagoda in Hoc Mon, Saigon, Cochin-China, c.1921-35

Khmer Buddhist temple Soctrang at Beng Angsa, Cochin-China, c.1930-54

Buddhist monks and novices on alms round, Cochin-China, c.1921-35

Mosque at Threa with teachers and students, Cochin-China, c.1930-54

 

 

Tribal Music Asia – An online source for traditional music, ceremonies, and culture of the ethnic groups of Southeast Asia

Created by American researcher, documentarian, and musician Victoria Vorreiter for over a decade, Tribal Music Asia is the home of the Resonance Project, a dynamic multi-media archive that aspires to record and preserve the traditional musical heritage of the indigenous peoples living in the mountains of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and China, who have depended for millennia on “the mother tongue method” to transmit their ancestral knowledge, history, and beliefs. Numbering over 130 groups and subgroups, most of these communities continue to live close to the earth, to practice animism, and to maintain a vital oral tradition. Culturally and sonically, this is one of the most extraordinary places on the planet.

Xob Lwm Vaj and Friends
Performing the Qeej at the New Year Festival
at Ban Tan, Phongsali Province, Laos
December 2005.
Copyright: Victoria Vorreiter

By interweaving a variety of visual, aural, and tactile components, the Resonance Project spotlights these highlanders’ astonishingly rich soundscape—springing from a vast repository of songs, chants, invocations, and instrumental music—to demonstrate music’s vital role in charting human emotions, celebrating cycles of seasons, marking the arc of life, and animating ritual enactments. It is hoped that in giving voice to cultures that may seem remote, this project contributes to an awareness of our world that transcends borders.

The Resonance Project first produced the Songs of Memory: Traditional Music of the Golden Triangle multi-layered project (April 2009), consisting of the Songs of Memory Book, Compact Disc, and Multi-media Exhibition of photographs, films, musical instruments, artifacts, and textiles for a family (father, mother, son, and daughter) of the six major ethnic groups in the region: Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Mien, Hmong, and Karen.

“Songs of Memory”, front cover of the book.
Copyright: Victoria Vorreiter

The Songs of Memory collections have been hosted in such prestigious venues as the East-West Center, Hawaii; the Jim Thompson Center, Bangkok; the University of Mandalay, Myanmar; the Golden Triangle Gallery, Chicago; the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Center; and numerous international conferences at Chiang Mai University, Thailand.

In recent years, the Resonance Project has specifically delved into Hmong traditions, producing the Hmong Songs of Memory: Traditional Secular and Sacred Hmong Music archive, based on the Hmong Songs of Memory Book and Film (December 2016), which offers readers, viewers, and listeners an in-depth experience of Hmong music and its primal role in propelling their rites.

Cover of the “Hmong Songs of Memory” film.
Copyright: Victoria Vorreiter.

To bring the book and film alive, the Hmong Songs of Memory, Hmong Threads of Life Exhibition was launched, providing visitors with a variety of integrative components—photographs, film, a comprehensive collection of Hmong musical instruments, artifacts, detailed text panels, and full textiles of the four major Hmong subgroups in Laos and Thailand.

“Hmong Songs of Memory”, front cover of the book.
Copyright: Victoria Vorreiter

The Tribal Music Asia website provides access to recordings of Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Mien, Hmong, and Karen music, various publications and reviews, photo galleries, and layouts of recent and previous exhibitions. It is possible to directly order books, CDs, note cards, and documentary films.

Lahu Shi Man and Grandson
Celebrating the Harvest Festival at
Wan Kong Pyak Tae, Keng Tung, Myanmar, 2005.
Copyright: Victoria Vorreiter

Digital Archive of Research on Thailand (DART)

The DART project is a collaboration between the University of Washington (UW) and research institutions in Thailand to provide online access to qualitative and quantitative social science research data on Thailand. Goals of the DART project are to: 1) develop best practices for digital archiving of multiple-format social science research materials and data, including rights and cultural property management; 2) develop a metadata schema and system design which allow for inter-operability of data for different uses; 3) surveying, aggregating, normalizing and cataloging data for inclusion a central registry at the UW.

To this date, DART consists primarily of collections of ethnographic and anthropological materials collected by academics and researchers in Thailand in the 1960s through 1970s. Current DART collections are held in the following repositories: University of Washington Special Collections, Seattle, USA; and the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.

The project has started in 2006 by digitizing and indexing the archives of the Tribal Museum of Chiang Mai, where a huge number of documents, photographs and newspaper articles had been collected by the researchers of the former Tribal Research Institute between 1960 and 1990.

The recovery of Thailand’s ethnic and cultural heritage is the main goal of this project. The digital archive has become an essential tool for research and teaching as they include resources for education, research and for visual anthropology. They also include resources useful to local communities and NGOs.