HCM CITY — A photo exhibition about the life and religion of the Bru – Vân Kiều ethnic group in Việt Nam has opened at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

The exhibition, Divinities, Ancestors and Shamans: The Bru - Vân Kiều in the Trường Sơn Range, showcases 250 photos taken by Hungarian professor of socio-cultural anthropology Gábor Vargyas in the 1980s.

The images depict the Bru – Vân Kiều, who live primarily in the two central provinces of Quảng Trị and Quảng Bình, and their agricultural rites and methods.

Their religious ideas about illness, healing and shamanism are also featured.

On display are works that highlight their religious rites such as funerals, the cult of the dead and ancestors.

Professor Vargyas spent one year and a half living with a Bru – Vân Kiều family in Khe Sanh town in Hướng Hóa District in Quảng Trị Province between 1985 and 1989 conducting his research.

Thirty years later, he returned to Việt Nam to show his work during his field trip.

He opened his exhibition Divinities, Ancestors and Shamans: The Bru - Vân Kiều in The Trường Sơn Range at the Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology in Hà Nội last October.

He also released his first book in Vietnamese titled Bất Chấp Định Mệnh: Văn Hóa và Phong Tục Tập Quán Người Bru - Vân Kiều (Culture and Customs of the Bru - Vân Kiều) featuring a collection of his essays and photos last November.

The exhibition in HCM City runs until February 28. The museum is at 97A Phó Đức Chính Street in District 1. — VNS