Vietnam: Journey of the Heart Photographs of Geoffrey Clifford, 1985-2000 Programming Ideas The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County (NC) invited The Khac Chi Ensemble to perform; the group plays traditional Vietnamese music on rare instruments unique to that nation. At the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Grand Rapids, MI, children learned about Vietnam through art projects taught by local artists, storytelling, and music and dance. Visitor Comments "Blow-your-mind beautiful" —Montagnard ESL student, NC "The show is profound and touching, also healing for me. I was a young woman raising children during those years. Later divorced, I dated a man who could not talk about the Vietnam experience. So thank you." —anonymous visitor from Mecklenburg Co., NC "Beautiful and difficult to leave."—B. Traynot, San Francisco "My heart 'clutched' my throat as I looked at these wonderful photos-Excellent exhibit!" —Camille G., CA "This exhibition has given me a renewed drive to search [for] my Vietnamese roots, something that my mother is hesitant to discuss because of her feelings about growing up there. Thank you for sharing your experiences to clear up some of these long-standing taboos." —Dorrie Paope, CA "Awesome. [The] best library exhibit I've seen in 5 years here."—Chuck Simpson, SC [A] nice cultural diversion for the library."—Mark Morson, SC Museum Responses "Vietnam, Journey of the Heart: Photographs by Geoffrey Clifford, 1985-2000 was our most successful exhibit to date. In addition to our regular patrons who enjoy the exhibits, this one drew a lot of Vietnam veterans as well as many members of the community with Vietnamese heritage. Our local newspaper interviewed people from both groups and did a wonderful article. The photographs were beautiful and greatly appreciated by all."—Patricia M. Brown, Coordinator of Collection Development, Spartanburg County Public Libraries " . . . reaction to the show was universally positive. Most people looked at every picture. The staff was very sad to see the pictures go." —Lentz Center for Asian Culture, University of Nebraska Lincoln "The community truly responded, understanding not only how the Vietnam War affected Americans, but how it fundamentally changed the Vietnamese people." —Kristen Corrado, Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI "It was a luxury to be able to refer to pre-prepared bibliographies, biographical information, and background sources on Vietnam and to see one or two examples of what events other exhibit hosts had put on, by way of example." —Anna Dahlstein, North Carolina State University Back to description