Ta Phin – Hard life Easy to Live

Life for the Red Dao people in the rugged mountains of northern Vietnam is hard.

Ta Phin is a series of photographs, written journal entries and video documentary made with the women of Ta Phin village in northern Vietnam. Yum Studio’s Erin McCuskey and Lynden Baxter created these works to support fundraising for a larger market for the women in Ta Phin. The market was successfully built the following year.

While the women of Ta Phin are busy feeding their children, ploughing their fields, making and mending their family’s clothes, they are also concerned for their culture, environment and community. They worry about how they can create a fair and hopeful future for themselves and their children.

They believe sustainable tourism, will enhance their lives, bring the outside world into their village and protect their culture. The development of works and the exhibition was a result of a partnership between the women of Ta Phin and the artists to promote sustainable tourism in northern Vietnam.

The collaboration was a positive and enriching cultural exchange. All media works have been given to the women of Ta Phin for their website, to support the promotion of responsible tourism in their village.