caylendar 2024

2023

For those of us who move away from home and are still trying to connect to our roots, the local Vietnamese grocery store is a safe space for us to have a sense of familiarity and feel like part of the community. Seeing, hearing, and even being near other Vietnamese people—who might even be cooking the same dinner as you— bring you comfort.

“Câylendar, a project run by Đùm Bọc, is a calendar inspired by the Vietnamese idiom, Cây Nhà Lá Vườn. It features the work of 12 Vietnamese illustrators and artists in the diaspora. Cây Nhà Lá Vườn, loosely translated as 'trees from home & leaves from the garden', is an idiom typically used to describe home-grown things. The theme for Câylendar 3.0 is “Một miếng khi đói bằng một gói khi no", a morsel when hungry is worth a meal when full. Food nourishes. Food embodies care. Food heals. Food holds memories and cultural connections. Food brings people together and fosters community. For Câylendar 2024, we’d like to see how you explore food in its many facets, as Vietnamese people in the diaspora. Proceeds will go to the artists and NOLA East - based organization called Sông Community Development Corporation (CDC) for food access program in which food boxes would be provided to low-income Việt seniors & Black families.” —dum-boc.com