On a mission: Vietnamese artist races against time to ensure ‘heroic mothers’ not forgotten

Vietnamese artist Dang Ai Viet has been travelling around the country to ensure thousands of women who suffered the loss of their sons, husband and loved ones during the Vietnam war are not forgotten. The 75-year-old preserves their memory by painting portraits of women who are part of a group known in Vietnam as “heroic mothers”, in recognition of their sacrifice during the war that ended in 1975. So far, Dang has painted the portraits of 2,765 women, in a project she describes as a race against time.