Bui Cong Khanh is an artist fascinated by the origins and social implications of cultural heritage. One of the first Vietnamese artists to gain international recognition since the 1990s, he received classical training in painting and has since explored contemporary art forms such as installation, video, and performance, which were previously limited in the country.

Born in 1972 in Da Nang and raised in Hoi An, a historic trading port and a city of Chinese and Japanese immigrants, Bui often draws inspiration from Vietnam's complex history, including colonial occupation, political independence, and economic progress.

During his residency at the Walden Art Residence in Oppede, Bui Cong Khanh had the opportunity to work on the theme of "Indochinese laborers in France," a subject that had long interested him. He met and discussed with Pierre Daum, a French journalist who conducted extensive research and wrote interesting articles on the same topic. It was also through Pierre Daum that Khanh met two children of one of the soldiers, who now reside in Camargue. They took the artist to visit the salt and rice fields where their father and the soldiers had worked in the past.