Le Panthéon / Dien Than
My final major project is an effort to revive an ancient Vietnamese religious ceremony called “Hau Dong" and bring it closer to the Vietnamese young generation, since it is claimed to be “a live museum" of Vietnamese cultural heritage.
This virtual ‘pantheon’ is aimed to inspire the Vietnamese young generation about their own indigenous culture by presenting aesthetic values and human values from the Hau Dong ritual, a traditional ceremony from the Vietnamese Mother Goddess Religion. Since 'Hau Dong' Ritual is recently claimed to be “a live museum" representing Vietnamese cultural heritage, 'Le Panthéon / Dien Than' is the contribution to the revival of this ancient religious ceremony and bringing it closer to the Vietnamese young generation, as an effort of resistance to the Western-Washed.
According to this religion, the universe is believed to be divided into three realms including heaven, water, and forest. The Mother Goddess Of Heaven who rules the Heaven Realm (the women in the red costume) holds the highest position among all other deities and goddesses in the Vietnamese Mother Goddess Religion. Two other Mother Goddesses holding the second-highest position are Mother Goddess Of The Forest who rules the Forest Realm and the Mother Goddess Of The Water who rules the Water Realm. I incorporated this system into the virtual space' branding system. 'Le Panthéon / Dien Than' is divided into different ‘realms’, so it will give the audience a better idea to navigate themselves among different segments.
Pieces of animated paintings from The Exhibition Space - Heaven Realm.
In the Forest Realm, a Quiz Game is designed to enhance the audience's knowledge about Vietnamese traditional culture.
The Water Realm provides general information so the audience can get to know about Hau Dong Ritual before getting access to The Heaven Realm with an animated digital exhibition space.
