In February 2025, a community exhibition highlighted the work and lives of ethnic minority people in the Sa Pa district, Lào Cai province in Vietnam. Villagers in the district participated in all aspects of the process, from learning about photography, taking the photos, selecting the images for the exhibition, and composing the text to help tell their stories. There were 40 participants who used photovoice, a participatory research method where individuals, often from marginalized communities, use photography to document and express their experiences and perspectives on social issues.
This exhibition is a key output of the Slow Violence and Water (in)justice: Feminist Political Ecologies of Intergenerational Struggles in the Mekong Region project, led at York University by Nga Dao and Vanessa Lamb and including team members in Canada, Vietnam and Thailand. The project looks at slow violence and water justice in Southeast Asia’s Mekong Region.
The photographs were exhibited to coincide with the festival Lễ Xuống đồng (LÔ héi Roóng Poọc in Hmong language) (starting new crop ceremony) after the Lunar New Year in Lao Cai province. Policymakers were invited to attend and dialogue with participants on potential solutions for alternative livelihoods and environmental protection in the project villages. Local media covered the event. There were about more than 2,000 people attending in the festival. The photographs were exhibited across the communes in February and April in various events.
