A series of photographs by Nguyen Ngoc Thai set against a communal house capture the daily life and moods of the Ba Na people.
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| Two Ba Na ethnic women pound rice and sift corn in front of the Kon K’ri Communal House that stands by the Dak Bla River in Dak Ro Wa Commune, Kon Tum Town, Kon Tum Province. The communal houses (rong in Vietnamese) on stilts with their distinct high, tapering roof are built using natural materials like wood, bamboo and leaves. The communal house is the “heart” of a village. |
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| Two women pound grains outside the Kon K’ri Communal House. Nguyen Ngoc Thai, known as Thai Bana, is a photographer who lives in Kon Tum Province. He has spent many years capturing portraits of locals and the beauty of traditional activities around the communal houses in Kon Tum. |
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| A Ba Na woman interacts with her baby while weaving fabric inside the Kon K’ri Communal House. |
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| A village elder teaches children how to play the gong. The gong, a musical instrument native to the Central Highlands, is popular in the five provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong. The UNESCO recognized the space of gong culture in Vietnam’s Central Highlands as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. |
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| A boy lies on the upraised floor of a house and plays with a pet dog resting below near a woman pounding grains. |
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| Art and religion are part of their daily life. An elder carves wooden culptures at the Kon Klor Village. |
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| Villagers play gong and perform their traditional dance, mua xoang, around a bonfire in front of the Kon K’ri Communal House. |
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| Three children sit around a small fire in front of the Kon Gu Communal House in Ngok Wang Commune, Dak Ha District, Kon Tum Province under a starry sky. |
VnExpress