Renowned media outlet Reuters of the UK has recently published an article titled “Vietnamese schoolgirl creates art from the chaos of the coronavirus”, in which it details the story of the 10-year-old Nguyen Doi Chung Anh and her paintings that depict the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Child painter Nguyen Doi Chung Anh stands proudly beside her artworks.
(Photo: Reuters.com) 

The article opens by describing, “Stuck at home with school suspended, Nguyen Doi Chung Anh made the most of lockdown in Vietnam by using art to demonstrate tragedy, resilience, and chaos in the world’s battle against the coronavirus.”

The author continues by stating, “The work of 10-year-old Chung Anh shows how events unfolded globally, depicting the devastation with drawings of the coronavirus attacking landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as the virus spread through Europe, the United States, and beyond.”

According to Reuters, the Vietnamese success in containing the COVID-19 after enduring a wave of imported infections can be highlighted through her pictures.

The child’s drawings show a virus-hit passenger plane in the arms of two soldiers, while another shows the same flight being intercepted by medical workers who spray disinfectant from fighter jets.

In addition, Chung Anh drew herself in one of the pictures to show her own safety, depicting her appreciation for the work put in by frontline health workers who appear in the majority of her 11 drawings fighting the virus with shields or blasting it by using disinfectant.

“I drew this with hope that they can keep their spirits high to prevent an outbreak,” she said. “This girl is me, here I am drawing and these things are my imagination.”

Several of Chung Anh’s images feature the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that saw hundreds of passengers aboard infected by the COVID-19 while being trapped for a long period of time off the coast of Japan. In addition, Li Wenliang, the late Chinese doctor and one of the most notable figures from the early stages of pandemic who was later reprimanded for giving the world an early warning about the virus, is also shown.

Chung Anh’s mother, Doi Xuan Hieu, selected that picture as her favourite.

“I was touched seeing that she can sympathise and acknowledge the sacrifice of the doctors who risked and lost their lives,” she said.