• This mural in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, calls attention to the harms of unsustainable and polluting industrial fishing practices on marine ecosystems.

Positives

• The unsettling, wrinkly hand and human-faced fish make for a jarring first impression that will captivate students.
• The spiky black sea urchins showcase the ecosystem disruptions occurring due to the pollution from fish farming and unsustainable fishing practices.

Additional Prerequisites

• Cá means "fish" in Vietnamese.
• Students might benefit from researching the imbalance that fish farms have created in the marine ecosystem, causing many sea urchins to grow on the coral reefs.
• For more information, watch this video (7 minutes, 28 seconds) about the creation of this mural.

Differentiation

• This could be a hook for biology students to research more about the coral reefs in Vietnam and the impacts of overfishing and fish farms on marine ecosystems.
• In art class, students can analyze this mural using some of the following questions:
  • Why did the artists choose to give a human face to the fish?
  • Are the sea urchins properly scaled? Why or why not? What impression does that give to the viewer?
  • Does the swimming pool next to the mural change how one perceives this mural?

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.