n Vietnam, the first rain of the monsoon season signals the beginning of a new (2021–), Thao Nguyen Phan contrasts this period of renewal in the landscapes along the Mekong with urban settings. Interweaving animations of modern architecture in Vietnam and Cambodia with oral histories, the video work is a study of the clash of forces that have shaped the region. A Vietnamese builder speaks about constructing a brise-soleil—a concrete sun-shade structure seen in the sketch above for the video’s animated scene—and a poignant love story unfolds between a Vietnamese medicinal healer and a Khmer woman during the 18th-century feudal wars. In the next issue of , associate editor Pamela Wong will delve into the influences of the Mekong on Phan’s work, and how the past informs the future.
