Pre-production Research on Visual Archives of Penghu Refugee Camps

Conceived as the twin project to the Penghu Refugee Camps Trilogy, this pre-production research collected images and documents about a Vietnamese refugee camp that has been largely forgotten in the public memory towards the Cold War. By restoring the historical images of the  geopolitical conflicts resulting in involuntary migration and displacement, researchers wanted to analyze the diaspora experience that once existed in a space located in an offshore archipelago in a country whose political status remains controversial and unrecognized.

The Penghu, an archipelago of 90 islets on the western coast of Taiwan, sheltered roughly 3000 boat people from Vietnam between 1977 and 1988 but the humanitarian aid did not exist in the historical writings of this country and it was not even mentioned in the relevant investigations conducted by the United Nations. After interviews with the then refugees and their descendants, researchers have successfully mapped their migration routes and assembled their life stories. After they excavated materials preserved by the National Archives Administration and National Central Library, a database was created, which would offer resources for publications, exhibitions, documentaries, and further studies. By means of archival explorations, the researchers hoped to open a window to a period of history that remains underrepresented and misrepresented. Also, with their persistent efforts to locate these Vietnamese refugees who are now dispersed around the world, people with displacement backgrounds had an opportunity to build a stronger bond with each other by sharing what they have witnessed, heard, and experienced. Their memories and recollections will without doubt offer different insights, explanations, and perspectives that are yet to be examined and analyzed in the official history.