An Giang, March 7 -- In the heart of the Tien River, a distributary of the Mekong, Nguyen Van Nghi of An Giang province has spent more than two decades building what many now describe as an open-air "museum" of driftwood, a vast collection shaped by nature and reclaimed by human patience.

What were once tree trunks lying silently beneath the muddy waters have, through his hands, become singular sculptural works, forming an unusual visitor attraction amid the waterways of southern Vietnam.

Gathering "memories" of the river

More than 20 years ago, Nghi and residents of the Mekong Delta province's Cu Lao Gieng commune would dive into the Tien River to retrieve fallen trees lodged in the riverbed, clearing the current to ensure safe passag...