Through the prism of design and applied arts, Quang Vinh Nguyen and Émelie Laystary in their book Vietnamese Objects take a decolonial and critical look at the creativity and adaptability of a country that has managed to appropriate the techniques of a dominant power.
In the Vietnamese language, many words and names of everyday objects clearly show their French origins: Cà phê (coffee), cà phê phin (coffee filter), atisô (artichoke), xi nê ma (cinema), căng tin (canteen), xi-măng (cement), ghế tô nê (Thonet chair). Through cultural anthropology, epistemology of Vietnamese design and the sociology of objects, this research project analyses the production of objects in Vietnam in the light of French colonisation and decolonisation. Through reports, interviews and research in various archival collections, the authors reveal the mechanisms through which objects, foods, materials and expertise became integrated into Vietnam to the point that they now display authentically Vietnamese characteristics.
The resulting research work also becomes an archive of the present and provides insight into everyday life in Vietnam then and now.
