DẤU ẤN LINH ĐẠO
Vestigia Spiritualitatis | Traces of Spirituality
Exhibition · Saigon, 2026
Ceramic works · Sacred imagery · Bien Hoa heritage · Catholic · Ancient · Culture
Vestigia Spiritualitatis, Latin for Traces of Spirituality, is a ceramic art collection inspired by the Catholic religious orders that have shaped the spiritual and cultural landscape of Saigon and Southern Vietnam since the nineteenth century.
Created through the traditional medium of Biên Hòa ceramics, the collection reinterprets the heraldic emblems, symbols, and distinctive colors of these religious communities through a contemporary artistic language – tracing a shared heritage of faith, history, and cultural memory.
About the Collection
Traces of Spirituality explores the spiritual heritage and visual identities of Catholic religious orders whose presence has shaped Southern Vietnam across generations. Beyond religious life, these communities contributed to education, healthcare, charity, and cultural life, each carrying distinctive traditions expressed through emblems, colors, mottos, and sacred symbols.
Drawing from Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Discalced Carmelite, Camillian, and other traditions, the collection transforms these visual languages through clay, relief, glaze, color, and form. Rather than reproducing religious emblems literally, each work seeks to interpret the spiritual values they embody – from contemplation and humility to compassion, truth, and service.
Through the historic medium of Biên Hòa ceramics, Traces of Spirituality brings sacred heritage into dialogue with one of Southern Vietnam’s distinctive ceramic traditions. In doing so, the collection considers how faith, memory, and cultural identity can be preserved not as static histories, but continually reinterpreted through contemporary artistic practice.
Exhibition: VESTIGIA SPIRITUALITATIS
Venue: Trụ sở và cơ sở chính của Dòng Đức Bà (Regina Mundi)
City: Sài Gòn, Việt Nam
Year: 2026
Photography: Lê Lam Nhật Tân