» Masks (Suitcase of a Pilgrim series)

Conceived in the late 1990s, Suitcases of a Pilgrim reflects Vu Dan Tan’s lifelong fascination with repurposing mundane material and reality into poetic form. The series consists of small sculptural objects – masks, animals, and fantastical figures – cut and painted from the bright wrappers of cigarettes, candies, and other everyday goods.

Placed inside wooden boxes – the same type once carried by young street vendors in Hanoi to sell cigarettes and trinkets, Tan’s delicate creations allude to a history of mobility, survival, and exchange in Vietnam’s post-Đổi Mới urban life. The “pilgrim” of the title thus suggests both a physical journey and a spiritual quest: each suitcase becomes a mini theatre of imagination, where the residue of consumer culture is playfully re-enchanted into dreamscapes and childlike world.