Nung ethnic painter and unique paintings about the beauty of Buon Ma Thuot on coffee wood

Họa sĩ Nông Hoàng Chiến với tác phẩm ảnh phóng tác trên lát cắt thân cà phê — Artist Nong Hoang Chien with his photo manipulation on a coffee tree stem

Love culture, love collecting photos

I met artist Nohochi at the exhibition, introducing rare images of Buon Ma Thuot from the 60s and 70s of the last century, printed exclusively on coffee tree wood. Artist Nohochi's real name is Nong Hoang Chien (born in 1977), a Nung ethnic in Cao Bang . "The name Nohochi sounds strange, similar to a Japanese name. In fact, it's simply a combination of the first two letters of my last name, middle name and first name. Nohochi is an abbreviation, without accents, of the first two letters of my last name Nong Hoang Chien," artist Nohochi humorously explained about his name.

Leaving his hometown of Cao Bang to follow his family to Buon Ma Thuot to start a career at the age of 8. Therefore, the images of long houses, lithophones, tomb statues, festivals, unique community activities, and the gong cultural space on the sunny and windy plateau nurtured his artistic soul, and then his love and passion for Central Highlands culture grew and became deeply imprinted in the mind of the son of the Northwest.

He began to learn about the history, culture, and people of Buon Ma Thuot in particular and Dak Lak province in general. Then he explored the internet, searched for images of old Buon Ma Thuot. He did not hesitate to visit real locations, asking the elderly for information and ancient place names of this land.

Through his tireless collecting, Mr. Chien now owns a collection of hundreds of photos of Buon Ma Thuot in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Among them are valuable images of the life of the Ede people in the past, of relics, scenic spots, etc.

Họa sĩ Nông Hoàng Chiến chia sẻ tại buổi ra mắt trưng bày, giới thiệu hình ảnh quý hiếm về vùng đất Buôn Ma Thuột in độc bản trên gỗ cà phê — Artist Nong Hoang Chien shared at the exhibition launch, introducing rare images of Buon Ma Thuot land printed exclusively on coffee wood

Mr. Chien shared: Each documentary photo of old Buon Ma Thuot that he collected contains information about the life, culture, and landscape of the people in Buon Ma Thuot. I think that it is a valuable source of information about history and traditional culture. A typical example is the familiar photo of the water wharf, closely associated with the life, culture, and rituals of the Ede people. “The water wharf is a cultural characteristic of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands in general and the Ede people in particular. The water wharf not only feeds the villagers but also has a profound spiritual meaning. In the past, every afternoon, people in the villages gathered at the water wharf to bathe, wash, and carry water for drinking and eating. The Ede people performed many worshiping ceremonies at the water wharf such as worshiping the water wharf, praying for rain, etc.

Holding a photo of a long house reproduced on coffee wood, Mr. Nong Hoang Chien said: This photo of a traditional long house not only shows the unique and distinctive cultural architecture, but also the beautiful customs of marriage and family living space of the Ede people.

In addition, his photo collection also includes photos of the activities, festivals, traditional costumes... of the Ede ethnic group and the space of ancient Buon Ma Thuot.

Unique on coffee wood

Du khách thích thú với những bức ảnh được in theo cách đặc biệt trên gỗ cà phê — Visitors enjoy photos printed in a special way on coffee wood

Wishing to bring precious documentary images of ancient Buon Ma Thuot closer to the people and tourists from near and far, while promoting the historical and cultural values and honoring the value of coffee trees in this land, Nong Hoang Chien researched and adapted 15 photos of Buon Ma Thuot in the 50s, 60s, and 70s onto slices of coffee trees.

If the documents are only kept in storage, they will not create value. "I put the photos on wood to preserve them and hope to spread them widely so that the beauty of old Buon Ma Thuot will not fade over time. Hopefully, this is a plus point for the coffee capital, contributing to spreading the image of the friendly and hospitable people of Buon Ma Thuot to everyone."

Once again, the image of a traditional long house hidden in the green space of the village, a graceful Ede girl in traditional costume, or a herd of domesticated elephants obediently following the control of the mahouts and the wild, peaceful scenery of the village in the city... are recreated by Nong Hoang Chien on coffee wood in a vivid and unique book.

Living in the land of coffee and having many opportunities to visit specialized growing areas, he saw old coffee trees with many buds and very large trunks, so the idea of adapting photos of old Buon Ma Thuot onto coffee trunks gradually formed in his mind. He went to long-standing specialized coffee growing areas to find and select satisfactory coffee trees and bought Robusta coffee trees over 30 years old to process and saw into slices to print the work.

Asked about the production technique, Mr. Chien shared: Actually, the technique of printing photos on hard materials is not new, the steps are not too complicated. In fact, many artists have created on aluminum, copper, stone, porcelain, and ceramic materials. The reason he chose to print photos on coffee tree wood is because the image of the coffee tree has been associated with the lives of the people of the Central Highlands for hundreds of years, as a "specialty".

Tác phẩm một góc Buôn Ma Thuột xưa hiện rõ trên thớ gỗ — The work shows a corner of old Buon Ma Thuot clearly on the wood grain

Reproducing documentary photos on a cross-section of a coffee tree not only promotes the historical and cultural values of Buon Ma Thuot, but also honors the plant associated with the land known as the coffee capital of Vietnam.

This printing technique is completely manual, the process is not very complicated, but requires meticulousness and carefulness to have a perfect photo. First, he prints the photos on A4 paper, then uses specialized glue to stick them to the wood for 6 to 12 hours until the glue is completely dry. After that, he sprays paper bleach to wet it, then separates the paper layer from the wood surface, the precious images are perfectly transferred onto the wood.

Nong Hoang Chien's photo works adapted from coffee tree cross-sections are being displayed at Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Book Street and attracting the attention of visitors from near and far.

View precious images of old Buon Ma Thuot on coffee tree stumps

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