Revival of traditional handicrafts

"Awakening" the craft village

Born in Hanoi , from a young age, Ngo Quy Duc was exposed to many traditional handicraft products, such as Dong Ho folk paintings, Hang Trong paintings, or rattan and bamboo tables and chairs, mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinets, lacquer boxes... at his grandfather's house.

Mr. Ngo Quy Duc and his journey to "awaken" traditional craft villages

Growing up, Duc realized that traditional products were gradually disappearing in modern times. With the desire to preserve and develop traditional cultural products, for nearly 20 years, the young man has been working hard on many projects: My Hanoi, Ve Lang, Phuong Bach Nghe.

On that journey, Mr. Nguyen Quy Duc witnessed the meticulous craftsmen making each product that seemed to only exist in his memory. "At first, I went to the craft villages because I wanted to learn about their lives, work, and customs. Gradually, I realized that those products not only had cultural value but also had higheducational value, urging me to pursue and carry out projects to support artisans in preserving the products of the craft villages," Mr. Duc confided.

Handicraft products at Bach Nghe Ward cultural space

During many years of wandering around the craft villages, Mr. Duc was almost alone but never lonely because of the warm treatment of the people where he visited. "From the first time I came to Ba Duong Noi kite village, I was welcomed by the people there like a family member. I have been attached to the craft village for quite a long time now, almost every year I come back 3-4 times, especially on traditional holidays. There are many photos I took from 2008-2009, of children running around the village, now they have all become young men, every time I come back I show the photos to everyone and recall old memories", Mr. Duc recalled.

Currently, Mr. Ngo Quy Duc has collected data from more than 500 large and small craft villages, but among them, many craft villages have been lost because the families who do the craft have switched to other fields. To "awaken" the craft villages, he has carried out many activities to support people, introduce products and spread cultural values to the public such as organizing many experiential trips combined with tourism , building a website to introduce stories of craft villages, organizing exhibitions and cultural projects...

Handicraft products at Bach Nghe Ward cultural space

Bringing ancient values into contemporary life

In operation since June 2024, Bach Nghe Ward Creative Cultural Space (Mo Lao Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi) was born with the idea of Mr. Duc to restore, preserve and promote the value of traditional handicraft products. This is a place to display and introduce products, take place interactive activities, experiences between artisans and the public; and is a place to organize cultural events in Hanoi. Mr. Duc and young people studying fine arts and design will research together to make the products closer and more suitable for the market, improve many functions but still retain the inherent traditional features.

What makes Bach Nghe Ward different from other art exhibition spaces is that the cultural themes are renewed every month. For example, June opens with the theme "Woodblocks", July continues with the painting craft, August and September with the colorful Mid-Autumn Festival theme.

With prices ranging from 10,000 - 200,000 VND, visitors can experience a variety of handicrafts such as drawing clay figures, printing and painting woodblocks on Do paper, making star lanterns, papier-mâché masks, making a stick-beating man in a paper doctoral set...

Young people participate in experiencing a variety of crafts at the workshop of Bach Nghe Ward

With this new approach, Bach Nghe Ward is both a center for research, development and application of Vietnamese craft village products, and a creative space for developing traditional handicraft products.

What Mr. Duc is most excited about is that the project acts as a bridge between craft villages, artisans and people who love handicrafts in Hanoi. Here, artisans not only introduce their products but also share their stories about their work, spreading their passion for their work.

Visitors have the opportunity to meet design experts and artists, creating a space to connect, improve products together and create new development directions for traditional craft villages.

For traditional handicrafts to continue to exist and develop in the future, Mr. Duc said, the most important thing is the participation of young people. "Young people today always have a great love for Vietnamese folk culture. Therefore, bringing cultural spaces like Bach Nghe Ward and handicraft cultural products closer to young people from a young age is extremely necessary. This will help the young generation imbue national cultural values, creating a solid foundation to preserve and develop cultural products in their own way," Mr. Duc said.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoi-sinh-nhung-san-pham-thu-cong-truyen-thong-185241031165752492.htm