Group using traditional Vietnamese art to help heal lingering wounds 50 years after Vietnam War
The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago, but its effects continue to be felt by people in the United States, and one organization is trying to heal through art.
Erin Phuong Steinhauer and her husband, Peter Steinhauer, are the founders of Vietnam Society, a Washington, D.C.- based organization using art and culture in part to counter the lingering effects of the Vietnam War.
"We want Vietnam to be seen as a culture that is almost 4,000 years old, and not just a war," Erin said.
CBS News Chicago met them recently at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Chicago Riverwalk.
Erin fled Vietnam as a child.
"The Vietnamese American community have achieved tremendously in this country," she said. "However, they're still suffering from the trauma of the war. They feel that their history have been erased or forgotten."
Peter's father was a doctor in Vietnam during the war.
"Vietnam has been in my life my entire life," he said.
As a photographer, Peter knows the healing power of art, like a show featuring traditional Vietnamese dress at the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art, or a Vietnamese wedding at the Kennedy Center.
"Art helps people get past their pain and their trauma through seeing something beautiful, and focusing on things that are beautiful, rather than destruction, war, and pain," he said. "We focus on music. We focus on art. We focus on performing arts. We focus on literature."
Erin and Peter said their art is also designed to help American soldiers who fought in Vietnam, many who are still struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It is really within ourselves to keep building bridges, to keep connecting with each other through art and culture. It makes us stronger as a community, as a nation, as a melting pot that we are in this country," Erin said.
Vietnam Society is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but they often hold events around the country. Peter spoke at a special event last week at Haymarket House in Chicago to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
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