Làng Hữu Nghị is a residence in Hanoi, Vietnam for people affected by Agent Orange, one of the ‘Rainbow Herbicides’ used by the U.S. Air Force during the war under Operation Ranch Hand.

The chemical weapon’s genetic effects continue to be passed down through the generations, so this residence is shared by Vietnamese veterans and their current and future descendants.

The residence was founded by a U.S veteran, George Mizo, in 1992 as a gesture of reparation and reconciliation for the part he played in the Vietnam War.

We wanted to explore the ongoing legacy of the Vietnam-America War. Over a two-year period, we established a workshop at Làng Hữu Nghị to engage in a visual exchange. This body of work is a constellation of videos, photographs, and paintings.

The video stills are from dream-like vignettes we co-directed with Vietnamese veterans. They are freely associated images that blur the lines between memory, reality, and wish fulfillment. The veterans prefer to remain anonymous because they are still considered members of the military.

The younger generation in the photographs contributed drawings for this book and, at times, they drew directly on the photographs. Their names are listed below: Bùi Thị Hóa, Đinh Thị Hương, Đỗ Quang Hưng, Lương Nhật Tân, Nguyễn Tiến Hưng, Phạm Văn Mạnh, Phan Thị Lan PHương, Nguyễn Thị Vân & Vietnamese veterans.

About the Artist

Orejarena & Stein (b. Colombia, 1994 & UK, 1994) are a multimedia artist duo. Currently based in New York, the duo worked in Hanoi from 2018 to 2020. Their work uses the intersection of technology, memory, and desire to explore American mythologies and narratives as they grapple with their relationship to the country that has become their adopted home.

Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at PALO Gallery in New York, Belfast Photo Festival, Palm* Photo Prize at Photo London, Labs New Artists at Red Hook Labs in New York, The Curator's Room in Amsterdam, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center in New York, Photo Vogue Festival at Base Milano, Pole Gallery in Lago di Garda, Italy, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hanoi, with forthcoming exhibitions at The Center for Photographic Art in California and PALO Gallery in New York.

Orejarena & Stein have been nominated for a number of major photographic awards, including the Hariban/Benrido Award (chosen by Yasufumi Nakamori, Senior Curator of Photography at Tate Modern), and the W. Eugene Smith Grant (jurors include Teju Cole), amongst others. Orejarena & Stein are the recipients of the 2023 Center for Photographic Art Artist Grant and the Michael Reichman Project Grant. Recently, Orejarena & Stein's work was nominated for the prestigious Images Vevey Book Award and the Belfast Photo Festival Spotlight Award.