Vietnamese propaganda posters

Colonialists, International Traitors, Think Carefully Before You Take Vietnam Artist: To Lien (1978)

In Vietnam you have the old posters with uncle Ho, Nixon, information about the agriculture, winning the American Destruction War (aka Vietnam War) and you have the new ones that are in front of every hospital, school, beginning of a village, etc.

Vietnam's victory

Tran Thi Tam: Courageous & Steady, Clings to Land & To People

Artist: Huynh Van Thuan (1972) 

You can buy them here and here's another page if you are more curious about other lot of propaganda posters 

Here you can find other vietnamese art forms that I enjoy.

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On how Asia reminds me of childhood - Mice

My parent's are not going to like this, but it is true, we used to live in an appartment in downtown Olot and in the storage room there were mice. I do not remember ever seeing or hearing them but I remember my father's telling me that there were mice, how the traps worked and not to put my fingers in there.

Since we have been in Asia we have had many encounters with mice:

• You see them on the street at night
• Next to the markets and even sometimes in your room. 
• I remember one night in Cherating while I was reading Ana Karenina I saw a mice on the frame of the bungalow but the book was so good that I didn't care. 
• In Cambodia Robert was working one night and he saw mice playing around him. 

This is the modernist flat in Olot that had mice. Thanks Josep M. Pararols for the photo

Last night a group of mice living on the roof of our room woke me up. They were going up and down like crazy. In my adult life I have not been around mice so here's another reason why Asia reminds me of my childhood!

Here's other reasons:
Everything is under construction and lots of flowers
Sun drying food and stone tables 
Reusing everything and poorly paved roads

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Strong vietnamese women

She has been selling food for the past 53 years next to the market in Dalat

Eventhough women in Vietnam are clearly second class citizens and domestic violence is a real problem, you can see how powerful vietnamese women are when you look at them in the eyes.

Women had a very important role when the vietnamese men were called to fight, first in the French War, then in the Anti-American War and in the Cambodian War (as they call them). With the men gone, women were in charge of everything: protecting the family, protecting the villages in a time of war, plowing fields, picking up the rice, keeping the canals for proper irrigation, raising kids, selling whatever they had as a surplus,... and they did it for many decades. Hard times made hard ladies!

An Inch of Land is an Ounce of Gold. Our Duty is to Plant as Many Vegetables as Possible.

You can see the importance of women in the propaganda posters, most of them show women and talk to women about farming, planting, construction,... not your ordinary "shop at our store" message!

We Must Cultivate a Lot of Soybeans

Priority Should be Given to Rice Without Neglecting Industrial Crops and Livestock

Irrigation Systems Must be Used Wisely and Conscientiously Maintained

Fighting to Harvest 10 Tonnes of Rice Per Hectare

Enemies Will Certainly Be Defeated ! (France – USA – China)

Today the party strongly "advises" to have only 2 children and everybody wants to have boys and only boys. Thanks to their prayers (is that how gendercide is called now?) they will soon have real problems to marry their males because there won't be enough females.

Here's a couple of articles that talk about current gender issues in Vietnam:

• Tackling gender inequality in Vietnam: Poverty and cultural attitudes in Vietnam mean many women still die in childbirth, female foetuses are aborted and sex is a taboo subject
• Two faces of gender equity in Vietnam

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Vietnamese painters: Bui Huu Hung

He must be the best seller of the vietnamese painters, he is in every gallery and I am sure he sells a lot because all the tourists that I spied where asking for his paintings. Congratulations Bui Huu Hung! You made a living out of painting!

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Que corri la veu!

Ja sabeu que des de sempre treballo en empreses online. Fa uns dies que alguns amics a l'atur amb ments molt despertes em van preguntar sobre com muntar la seva pàgina web així que vaig pensar en oferir aquesta ajuda a tothom que ho necessiti. Si coneixeu a algú que tingui pensat obrir un negoci online i estigui una mica perdut que no dubti a contactar-me i el/la puc ajudar.

Ara mateix estic pensant en oferir 3 serveis molt bàsics:

• Trobades individuals: Per la gent que té temps i facilitat amb l'internet. Crec que amb pocs consells i idees poden anar molt més ràpids en el llençament del seu projecte i perdre menys temps amb detalls poc importants.
  
• Creació de la web: si algú té pressupost i vol que li organitzi tot jo, també puc, així s'obliden de tot. Amb l'ajuda de Ricaris, és clar!
  
• Curs: de 6 horetes explicant tot el que sé, és un curs per gent que s'està iniciant i no coneix gaire res del món online.

Tot pensat per gent amb grans idees però pressupostos reduïts. Així que ja ho sabeu, si coneixeu a algú que estigui pensant obrir un negoci a internet i vagi perdut, que m'enviï un email i en parlem! S'ha de donar suport als emprenedors!!!

Follow @CreateOnlineBiz

 

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Hillarious video of Cambodian kids

This hillarious video was taken by my sister Alba Danés yesterday afternoon in a small town called Kompong Chhnang in Cambodia.

I hope you enjoy it! Have a good friday!!!!

20130103_101450.mp4 from alba danes on Vimeo.

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