Lost Souls, White Bowls: Documenting Vietnamese femicide through research, film and participatory ceramic art

Gender-related killings (femicide/feminicide- an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation) are the most extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls (UN Women). Art and culture addressing gender-based violence, including collaborative art with affected communities, often fails because it sacrifices artistic quality, or is based on poor understanding of the phenomenon (Bishop 2012).

Both sides are needed: solid research and high-quality cultural production. In this proposed work we show how social scientists, documentary filmmakers, artists and activists can collaborate to address intimate partner femicide in Vietnam. Together we will produce world-class research, documentary film and interactive installation art (employing traditional Vietnamese ceramics).

Our aims are to improve intimate partner femicide reporting and inspire Vietnamese audiences to reflect on gender-based violence and act to end it.

Social change requires people to have accurate information, but also to be affectively engaged and able to act. Affective engagement is a powerful resource for learning and interaction design (Fritsch 2009). When scientists and artists collaborate, we can combine factual and emotive approaches to engage with citizens, the state and civil society.

The applicants have experience using this approach in Vietnam, focused on mother-to-child transmission of HIV: we built civil-society groups that engaged with policymakers, families and mass organisations to achieve change. For this new proposed work, we bring together a team of world-renowned British and Vietnamese social scientists, documentary filmmakers, civil-society networks, Vietnam Women's Union (VWU), ceramic artists and individuals bereaved by femicide.

Femicide is a timely topic both internationally and in Vietnam. Globally, most homicide victims and perpetrators are male. Yet while overall homicides have decreased, the number of female victims has remained largely unchanged (UNODC 2022). Unsurprisingly, research shows correlations between domestic violence and femicide: domestic abuse, coercive control or stalking were found in over 90% of intimate-partner homicides (Monckton Smith et al 2017).

We possess a deep understanding of the drivers and consequences of intersectional gender inequalities and gender-based violence in a Vietnamese patriarchal context (Hoang 2021; Oosterhoff, Hoang 2018; Oosterhoff 2009).

Vietnamese public opinion is at a crossroads. Research shows most Vietnamese expect people to report gender-based violence. But media reports in 2021-22 of Vietnamese women and children killed by family members raised public concern that such violence is going unpunished.

Our planned documentary film on femicide (made by Varan the makers of the Oscar-Shortlisted coming of age documentary "Children of the Mist") will be broadcast on Vietnamese national television and raise awareness among citizens and lawmakers.

Finally, the art installation "Bowl of Love", a co-production between the bereaved, femicide researchers and artisans from the famous pottery village of Bat Trang, will honour and memorialise the women murdered. The interactive installation will be hosted at the Vietnamese Women's Museum (VWM), in Hanoi. With this combination of research, media, organisational collaboration and participatory art, we aim to enrich international understanding of femicide and contribute to Vietnam's efforts to prevent it.