Culture
In order to understand the intricacies of Đạo Mẫu and its vibrant hầu đồng rituals, El-Sawy traveled extensively through northern Vietnam, attending ceremonies in Hanoi as well as Lang Son, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc and Hai Duong provinces. The photographer flew back and forth from Vietnam, clocking a half-dozen two-week jaunts in total as he sought out different ceremonies and researched the ins and outs of this complex ritual, which can sometimes last for hours on end.
“ Although hầu đồng ceremonies follow the same structure, none are alike to each other,” he says.“ The personalities of the mediums, the talent of the supporting musicians, the style of the costumes, the dance steps, the audience ' s enthusiasm all vary. So my experience varied from one to the other.”
In each performance, however, the photographer notes a few similarities, namely the mixture of patriotism and genuine joy invoked by this“ spiritual theater”, as he calls it.
On a personal level, the appeal for El-Sawy was two-fold.“ Aside from realizing that I could be the first non-Vietnamese photographer to document the tradition … I was also intrigued by the complexity of its influences and manifestations,” he explains.
“ I was also attracted by the absence of a structural hierarchy, and its focus on the‘ now’ rather than the‘ later’,” El-Sawy continues.“ This is a potent and practical message to people who seek to improve themselves during their lifetime rather than wait till they’ re gone.”
As a fly on the wall in many of these ceremonies, El-Sawy was able to capture not only the performances themselves but also the reactions of the audience, who had sought out these spirit mediums as a means of resolving problems in their own lives. According to the photographer, each party feeds off the other’ s energy and enthusiasm for the ceremony.
“ I think [ the photographs ] that have the strongest impression are those in which the mediums are deep in trance, awaiting the spirit ' s’‘ arrival’ and‘ entering their bodies’, or those of the audience members being ecstatic and experiencing euphoric reactions during these ceremonies,” he says.
The MAG Vung Tau 17