San Jose’s Vietnamese residents find representation in the arts

Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Workshop for Bay Area high school students, a two-week intensive course in journalism. Students in the program report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.

Vietnamese artists in San Jose — whether they are refugees, other immigrants, or U.S. born — are proudly exploring their culture and heritage through their art.

Lan Duong, a Vietnamese American poet, read from her newest book, “Nothing Follows,” on June 15 at the Vietnamese American Service Center on Senter Road in San Jose.

Her powerful collection of poetry examines her childhood growing up in San Jose in the 1980s and ’90s, and how Vietnamese families helped shape the culture and history of San Jose.

She recalled the clean rooms of semiconductor factories filled with Vietnamese immigrants exposed to toxic materials such as carcinogens and lead fumes, and that allowed for Silicon Valley to become the dominant region in the tech industry.

She also described a culture of silence, with many Vietnamese families either unwilling or unable to tell their children about the trauma they experienced before and around the Vietnam war.

“What I’d like our stories to tell, in their abundance and profundity, is the way in which we are complex and many of us lived under horrific conditions of war and postwar,” she said. “This is to say that we are not your model minority; instead we can be different persona at any time and that our history is deeply linked to US history. We won’t be forgotten.”

Tiffany Nguyen, of Milpitas, was touched by Duong’s words. “I loved listening to a fellow writer who spoke about similar experiences as a Viet woman in San Jose,” said Nguyen, a student at UC Davis. “It made me feel seen and less lonely.”

Photographer Andy Nguyen also uses his art to explore immigration, ethnic communities and Vietnamese culture. He felt a pull to photograph his community because he believes understanding your heritage is important.

“I want the next generation to know where they come from,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen came to the United States with his mother and sister when he was 10 years old, eventually moving to San Francisco.

He attended San Jose City College, where he discovered photography while working for the college newspaper. He earned his bachelor of fine arts degree at San Jose State University and is now part of its master’s program.

Nguyen specializes in a type of photography called cyanotypes, in which monochromatic blue images are developed, and is currently working on a project collecting the stories and photos of San Jose Vietnamese, trying to preserve their history for the next generation.