Butterfly specimens from different regions in Vietnam, overlaid with images of the Vietnam War, are on exhibit at Denmark’s Arken Museum of Modern Art.

Located 20 kilometers south of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, the museum offers visitors worthwhile experiences of modern and contemporary art as well as striking architecture.

One of the museum’s prized artworks is a collection of butterfly specimens titled “The World of Butterflies” by Danish artist Peter Holst Henckel.

The collection is a gorgeous-looking series of 68 butterfly specimens from all over the world.

Upon closer inspection, the depth of the works becomes obvious, as each of the butterfly specimens is overlaid with a message of war and conflicts in a particular region where the specimens were found and in a particular period of time.

The date and location of the historical event depicted on each of the specimens are also specified.

Eight specimens came from Vietnam’s cities and provinces, including Hanoi in the north, Quang Tri and Hue in the central region and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

The specimen scientifically termed “Papilio Philoxenos” from Quang Tri Province features crying kids, reminding viewers of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, or the “Napalm girl.”

Phuc, then 9, was captured in a Pulitzer-winning photo running naked in Tay Ninh Province in southern Vietnam in 1972 during the Vietnam War as most of her body got seriously burned from napalm bombs.

Meanwhile, the specimen termed Tenaris which was found in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City now) bears an image which is indicative of the 1968 Mau Than Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War.

The collection’s author once said that art would be meaningless if it was not linked to the rest of the world.

The Arken Museum of Modern Art was designed by the Danish architect Søren Robert Lund in a distinctive architectural form. It was opened in March 1996 by Her Majesty of Denmark, Queen Margrethe.

The museum re-opened in January 2008 after major revamps.

The place features modern works by Danish, Scandinavian and international artists and has amassed an assemblage of around 400 post-war contemporary art pieces.

Each year the museum awards a prize of DKK100,000 (US$17,931) to an outstanding contemporary artist.

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