Moments In Time

WildBird Hotel is a hub for bird lovers at Tràm Chim, in Đồng Tháp province, in the
Mekong delta. They asked for one wall.

The mural shows the wetland of Tràm Chim with 72 of the park’s 260 bird species,
painted in house paint and acrylic over two weeks of February with Hà Thanh Thịnh, and
Bùi Minh Nguyệt. Different moments of the year are gathered into a single frame: males
in breeding plumage perch beside birds that are not, and yellow-eyed grass is in full
bloom, though these never happen at the same time.

The hard part was perspective. The birds had to shrink and rise correctly, and the
colours, shapes and lines had to lead the eye into the painting as if the viewer were on
a boat going in.

It is made to be used. Birdwatchers check their list against it, students learn the
names and the behaviours, and guests simply look at it while they wait.