與海維生—越南中部與台灣北門
Living in the ocean- Middle Vietnam and Beimen, Taiwan

2006~2007 複合媒材、照片與錄像裝置 大小依場地而定
Mixed Media, photos and video installation, depends on the place of exhibition

2006年的8月延著中越的順化、峴港與會安，紀錄了沿海婦女們如何與海維生，11月則紀錄了台南北門的婦女賴以維生的蚵民生活。在當今台灣新出生的嬰兒裡，有三分之ㄧ是外籍媳婦所生，尤其在台灣沿海的村落更是生活著為數眾多的越南籍配偶，而作品裡聽到的便是兩位住在台灣的越籍配偶輕唱著她們家鄉的歌曲。藉著海，我試圖說著兩個不同國家的婦女，有著緊緊維繫的生命故事。

而以上完成的影像與照片作品，將會在2007年以一年的時間，在台灣許多居住著越南籍媳婦的社區展示與交流，而台灣北門地區的沿海村落便是我的第一站，我與當地的社區活動「濱刺麥計畫--越南媳婦初二回娘家活動」結合，用文化交換的方式，讓越籍媳婦利用我所拍攝的照片與影像，用言說或文字書寫(含中文和越文)告訴台灣人或在台灣自己的新親人，有關越南的習俗與文化，到時這許許多多的文字，將會與我所拍攝的台灣與越南的照片與影像，譜寫成一首婦女們與海維生的影像書。

聲音演唱：黃雪梅、李帶好（居住在台灣北門的越南籍配偶）

＊濱刺麥在台灣海岸砂丘常常可見。雌雄異株的它們耐著鹽性、強風，成為沙丘很重要的固沙植物。如毬狀的雌花當種子成熟後，花梗會斷裂而隨風滾動，種子便沿途散佈，而雄株的濱刺麥是固定不動的。在海風中奔跑的雌濱刺麥們，像極了台灣濱海地區許多的越南媳婦；也像極了世界上許許多多的當代女性藝術家。
＊在傳統台灣習俗裡，農曆初二嫁到外地的女兒，會和自己的丈夫與小孩回到自己的原生家庭，而女方的父母會發有壓歲錢的紅包給自己的外孫。

I recorded how local women make a living from the sea when I passed through the central Vietnamese communities of Hue, Da Nang, and Hoi An in August 2006. In November I then recorded how the women of Beimen, Taiwan make a living by oystering.

As many as one-third of children born in Taiwan these days are the babies of foreign women who married Taiwanese men. In particular, there are many Vietnamese wives living in Taiwan's coastal villages. The sounds heard in this work are two Vietnamese women living in Taiwan singing the songs of their homeland. I used the sea in an effort to portray how women from two different countries can have tightly interwoven life stories.

During 2007 I will show and share the completed image and photographic works in communities in Taiwan where there are a lot of Vietnamese women. My first stop was at a coastal village in the Beimen area. Here I took part in the local community activity "Littoral Spinegras Project-- Vietnamese Wives Return to Their Family Homes on the Second Day of the Lunar New Year," and relied on cultural interchange to help the Vietnamese wives use the photos and images I had photographed, together with spoken words or written text (both Chinese and Vietnamese), to tell people in Taiwan and their own relatives in Taiwan about Vietnamese customs and culture. When the time comes, these many words will be combined with my photos and video of Taiwan and Vietnam in a picture(video) book about women making their living from the sea.

Audio performance: Huang Xue-mei, Li Dai-hao (Vietnamese wives living in Beimen)

＊Littoral Spinegrass is a common grass growing on the sand dunes along the coast of Taiwan. It has separate male and female plants, can readily withstand the strong sea winds and the salt air, and plays an important role in stabilizing sand dunes. After the seeds in the ball-shaped female flowers mature, the flowers break off and roll along in the wind, scattering seeds as they go. In contrast, the male plants are fixed and immobile. The female Littoral Spinegrass plants rolling in the sea wind seem a lot like the Vietnamese wives who live in Taiwan's coastal villages, and they are also like many contemporary female artists all over the world.
＊According to traditional Taiwanese custom, a woman who has married to some other place takes her husband and children and returns to her own original family on the second day of the lunar year. The woman's parents then give out red envelopes containing money to their grandchildren.

參展紀錄 Recording of display

2006「帶著作品去旅行五部曲-台東、澎湖、越南、金門、嘉義」，南海藝廊，台北，台灣

2007「濱刺麥計畫--回程：越南、台南北門和安南、嘉義布袋」，台南縣生態旅遊發展協會＆台南市鹽田生態文化村，台灣

2007 女性論壇藝術節：我的小論述，多麼的優秀！，a little blah blah (albb)，網址：www.womanifesto.com http://albbsaigon.blogspot.com，西貢，越南

2006 Bringing Your Art Work to go Travel—Taitung,Penghu, Vietnam, Kinmen, Chiayi, Naihai Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2007 Littoral Spinegrass Project-- Return Trip: Vietnam, Beimen & Annan Tainan, Budai Chiayi,, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2007 WOMANIFESTO TALK-FEST: My Little Capsule: What a Champion!, a little blah blah (albb), WEBSITES: www.womanifesto.com http://albbsaigon.blogspot.com, Saigon, Vietnam