A unique direction for Minh Lang high-end art embroidery paintings

The embroidery profession in Minh Lang commune (Vu Thu district, Thai Binh ) has existed for quite a long time, about 200 years ago. In recent years, due to market difficulties, the traditional embroidery profession in Minh Lang has gradually faded away. To preserve the traditional profession of his ancestors, artisan Nguyen Cao Binh is always dedicated and finds his own way with high-class artistic embroidery paintings.

Embroidery paintings by Artisan Nguyen Cao Binh are ready to be delivered to customers.

This year, turning 68, artisan Nguyen Cao Binh (Bui Xa village, Minh Lang commune) has been involved in embroidery for 55 years. Mr. Binh confided that at the age of 13, his father took him to learn embroidery from an elderly local craftsman and he has been following the traditional embroidery profession ever since.

During his years in the profession, Mr. Binh has witnessed the rise and fall of the craft village. Mr. Binh recounted that Minh Lang's embroidery craft has existed for about 200 years. During the feudal period, Minh Lang's embroidery products were mainly hats, shirts, dresses, and costumes of court officials. During the years of war, although affected, the traditional craft was still maintained, however, the number of embroidery frames was not much. The 70s and 80s of the 20th century were the heyday of the embroidery village. Minh Lang became a giant embroidery workshop, with the Hop Nhat Embroidery Cooperative and the Agricultural Cooperative that also did embroidery, attracting thousands of households to do the craft. People from old to young all know how to embroider, the craft village is famous throughout the region. Local embroidery products are often exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Embroidery helps people's lives to be full and prosperous.

Since the 90s of the 20th century, the embroidery profession in Minh Lang has been struggling. In 2000, the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee issued a resolution on developing the profession and craft villages, creating a new breath of life for the embroidery profession in Minh Lang to recover and develop. However, in recent years, partly due to market difficulties and partly due to fierce competition for labor with garment enterprises, the embroidery profession in Minh Lang has encountered many difficulties.

Embroidered portrait of President Ho Chi Minh by artisan Nguyen Cao Binh.

Faced with the ups and downs of the craft village and the desire to preserve the traditional craft of his ancestors, Mr. Binh has found his own path; that is landscape painting, especially portrait embroidery. Mr. Binh confided that the most difficult part of the embroidery profession is portrait embroidery. Anyone can embroider landscapes, but portrait embroidery is more difficult.

According to Mr. Binh, embroidery, especially landscape and portrait embroidery, not only requires meticulousness and diligence, but also imagination and creativity; especially a pair of extremely talented hands.

Mr. Binh's portrait and landscape embroidery paintings are highly appreciated and impressive in the embroidery village nationwide. Many of his works participated in and won prizes in major competitions such as: "Spring Deer" in the Vietnam Handicraft Product Competition in 2011; "Keo Pagoda" and "Portrait of President Ho Chi Minh" were recognized as typical rural industrial products of Thai Binh province in 2012. In addition, he was also trusted by agencies and individuals to embroider many portraits of leaders of countries and large corporations at home and abroad...

A lotus embroidery painting by artist Nguyen Cao Binh.

Ms. Hoang Thi Sim (an embroiderer with decades of experience in Minh Lang embroidery village) shared that with his “golden hands” and born to be involved in embroidery, Mr. Binh always enthusiastically passed on his experience to the next generation. In particular, Mr. Binh has his own direction. When most households and embroidery workshops in the commune only do outsourcing, he has researched and created landscape and portrait paintings to preserve and develop the craft village.

In order to contribute to preserving and developing traditional crafts, in recent years, Mr. Binh has accepted invitations from a number of establishments, companies, vocational schools, and employment centers in Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, etc. to teach and pass on embroidery to students. With his contributions to the local traditional embroidery craft, in December 2008, Mr. Nguyen Cao Binh was awarded the title of Craft Village Artisan by the Vietnam Craft Village Association. In 2016, the Vietnam Craft Village Association continued to award the Golden Board of Traditional Craft Families of Vietnam to the Nguyen Cao family and its representative, artisan Nguyen Cao Binh. Currently, Mr. Binh is the only artisan in Minh Lang embroidery craft village and is also one of the few artisans of traditional embroidery craft villages in our country.

The Golden Board of Traditional Craft Families of Vietnam was awarded by the Vietnam Craft Village Association to the Nguyen Cao family and its representative, artisan Nguyen Cao Binh.

Mr. Hoang Dinh Vuong, Chairman of Minh Lang Commune People's Committee, said that Mr. Binh is the only remaining embroidery artisan in the commune. Over the years, Mr. Binh has always sought his own way to preserve the craft. In particular, Minh Lang embroidery is known to many people at home and abroad thanks to Mr. Binh's high-quality embroidery paintings. He is a "master" of the craft and traditional embroidery village of Vietnam...

Source: https://thaibinh.gov.vn/tin-tuc/tin-kinh-te/huong-di-rieng-cho-dong-tranh-theu-nghe-thuat-cao-cap-minh-l.html