once upon the pandemic in vietnam
love, resilience, bravery
during saigon covid lockdown in july 2021, me and my friend, tú ngô, created an instagram account named @1202tv (2021 spelled backward), aimed to share more positive content and direct public attention towards more healthy and relevant information.
the project gradually growed into an art journal of love, resilience, and bravery, which we are really proud of.
1202tv was imagined as an old cartoon television channel portraying a parallel world that includes two shows: blah show and be show. together they portrayed the tales written by reality with its heroes, challenges, spirits, and lessons. the channel intends to create a space on social newsfeed where our folks could pause, breathe and perceive things from a slightly different angle.
"in the dark times
will there also be singing?
yes, there will also be singing.
about the dark times."
― bertolt brecht
be show
a collection of ordinary moments from the pandemic, celebrating love and mindful presence, bringing comforting light into those deep and starless nights.
artist: tú ngô
blah show
unfolds the saigonese way of living to adapt, protect themselves, and contribute to the community
artist: vy mai
“don't spend too much time looking for money and fame, use your time to live, to love, to take care of yourself and your beloved one"
- zen master thích nhất hạnh
