I was born in Australia but my mother and my entire family came to Australia by boat a few years after the fall of Saigon.
Stories of the pirates, stories of fear, stories of struggle in the camps but also stories of hope, stories of resilience and stories of courage.
I grew up always knowing these stories from the conversations we had but began doing deeper research on people’s accounts after the opportunity to illustrate this book came about – I read books like ‘Boat people: Personal stories from the Vietnamese Exodus’ by Carina Hoang.
I watched documentaries on various accounts of migrant’s journeys – all different but in a sense familiar accounts to what I grew up listening to.
I also watched documentaries like ‘Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta’ to see what life may have been like when the Vietnamese refugees first arrived in Australia and in particular to Western Sydney (which is where I grew up).
Coral Vass and Christina Huynh (right) at the launch of Grandma's treasured shoes book at the National Library of Australia Source: National Library of Australia
I became pretty fascinated with life after the journey, during resettlement and what it was like growing up for the children of the Vietnamese refugees.
Often when I’m asked to create work, I find that I usually have to seek inspiration or really hone into finding the right feeling or idea behind the work, but when I first read the text for 'Grandma’s Treasured Shoes' I just remember it resonated with me so much ‘at first read’.
I just thought it was so beautifully told in such a simple yet empathetic way.
And so immersing myself in this content and information I found it allowed the work to come through more easily and organically during the initial sketching stages.
Source: Christina Huynh
Grandma's Treasured Shoes
Empathy and one’s imagination played big roles in shaping the illustrations of this book.
The illustrations are set as if it were in the narrator’s imagination – I’ve always believed we should
nurture our imaginations and more importantly to encourage children to do the same.
Our imaginations can indicate what we dream of and it’s important that we hold onto those dreams.
I didn’t want to take away from it being essentially a children’s book so I intended for it be set in a figurative sense without also taking too much away from what it would have actually been like for the Vietnamese boat people.
In terms of composition, my intention for the illustrations were for it to start the same way and almost end the same way but the only thing that is different is the journey of the shoes. (I don’t want to spoil too much of the imagery but if you read it and notice certain small details and quirks – know that they weren’t a coincidence!)
I referenced real-life objects – the main shoe, which is Grandma’s shoe is based off a little white sandal that was lent to me by a family friend named Son Nguyen who found the shoe and other common items like tin cans, on Koh Kra Island in Thailand.
The little shoe is assumed to have belonged to a young Vietnamese girl.
Objects featured in Grandma's Treasured Shoes Source: National Library of Australia
The very water bottle shown in the photographs were what the US military used during the Vietnam War and it is what my grandmother said kept our family alive.
She would use it to distribute small amounts of water to each family member on the boat when
food and water became scarce.
A small tribute to my mum
Every year since I can remember my mum used to take us back to the countryside in Vietnam.
As kids, instead of buying us toys or other materialistic things she would say ‘if you try your best in school and in your studies that we could all get to go on a holiday to Vietnam’ and every year since I was old enough – we did just that.
We went back to the countryside and we saw all spectrums of life in Vietnam: the good, the bad, the rich and the poor.
We learnt gratitude in these yearly visits, it helped keep things in perspective as to what really matters and my mother instilled in us how fortunate we are to have the lives and opportunities we have in Australia.
Furthermore, it seemed only fitting that I based the character of ‘young grandma’ off whom other than my dear mother.
Christina Huynh Source: Christina Huynh
There are photographs of her when she was in primary school back in the countryside inside the book (I based the character down the very same bowl cut hairdo). A small tribute to this life she has given me.
What I admire about Grandma’s Treasured Shoes is that it’s meaning is for children to understand the plight and hardship felt by refugees in the world then and today.
I hope when children all over the country read Grandma’s Treasured Shoes that they will appreciate the contribution refugees have made.
I hope the book encourages all who read it to walk forward a little less hard-hearted, that we understand and love each other better.
‘A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.’ – Nelson Mandela
Thank you Coral Vass for creating this beautiful story…Thank you Susan and the National Library of Australia for giving me the opportunity to be apart of this special book and for giving us a platform to tell our family story.
Thank you to my mother and family, who without which I would not be here today creating pictures.
(And lastly my mum said ‘you have to say thank you to Australia’ for taking us in when we had no where else to go)
*Christina Huynh is an illustrator and artist based in Western Sydney that paints under the artist name 'Styna'.
Coral Vass and Christina Huynh at the launch at the National Library of Australia 23/3/2019 Source: National Library of Australia
