Spreading the quintessence of traditional crafts

Passion to keep the "fire" of the profession

The simple house of Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh (born in 1960) in Thuan Thanh ward is simple with a mossy tiled roof shaded by areca trees and fruits. That space is both a residence and a painting studio, a craft training room and a living museum of Dong Ho paintings. In the rooms with the faint scent of Do paper, mother hens and sticky rice glue, many paintings are preserved such as: "Mouse wedding", "Mother hens and their children", "Yin and yang pigs", "Returning home to pay respect to ancestors", "Collecting coconuts"... Here, Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh, her husband - Artisan Nguyen Huu Hoa and their children diligently bring folk culture into every line and color on the paper. Each stage is carried out meticulously and carefully, from sketching ideas, mixing colors to printing each layer of color on the paper so that the painting achieves sharpness and vividness.

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Thi Oanh in her family's painting room.

The talented hands of the artisans create unique and close-to-life paintings, containing the meaning and aspirations of the Vietnamese people for a prosperous and happy family life, a fair and good society. With more than 50 years of experience in the profession, the female artisan said: Dong Ho painting village has existed for a long time, famous for its unique color-overprinting technique, creating vivid color effects. The village is preserving about 1,000 woodblocks, reflecting the simultaneous development of tradition and innovation in Dong Ho painting art. During its heyday, the whole village had more than 220 households, most of whom participated in making paintings.

Income from the profession helps people have a stable and prosperous life. Through the changes of the times, the painting profession has gradually subsided, currently only a few households are participating, but Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh still perseveres in keeping the "fire of the profession". Generations in her family are determined to gradually restore the traditional craft village to preserve and develop the cultural heritage of her homeland. Not only recreating ancient paintings, the female artist also created more than 40 new paintings suitable for modern life. After a period of immersing herself in painting, Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh and her family also teach the profession for free to students, university students, and painting lovers; regularly participate in activities to introduce, promote, and exhibit national and international paintings.

With the same passion and creativity, Mr. Dang Ngoc Phung (born in 1963) in Xuan Hoi village (Tan Chi commune) has gradually brought traditional rattan and bamboo products to the international market. Living in a family with a long history of the craft, the artisan learned to weave rattan and bamboo when he was less than 10 years old and has been doing so until now. He said: “In the past, the products were crudely produced, including items used in daily life. To keep the craft stable, I researched and created new designs with delicate patterns and colors, suitable for modern living spaces.”

Mr. Dang Ngoc Phung introduces bamboo and rattan products.

Products such as vases, bronze drum pattern trays, decorative lamps and export handbags... are all highly appreciated for their aesthetics, durability and cultural value. Up to now, 7 items have been recognized as OCOP products; many models have been selected for display at exhibitions, introductions and promotions on social networks and e-commerce platforms. Thanks to the connection between artisans, cooperatives and businesses, Xuan Hoi rattan and bamboo products have reached the markets of Japan, Taiwan (China), Korea, Russia... bringing high economic value. Every year, Mr. Phung coordinates to open vocational training classes at home or at vocational training facilities in the area to maintain the traditional profession. Currently, the craft village is developing stably with more than 80% of households participating in production, the labor force is mainly middle-aged, elderly and children.

Accompanying Government

Bac Ninh province currently has more than 100 craft villages in the fields of: wood art, paper, pottery, metal casting, rattan and bamboo... which have been recognized by authorities and functional units at all levels. Many craft village products have built brands, collective trademarks, and geographical indications such as: rice noodles of Thu Duong craft village (Nam Duong commune); Van village wine, rice paper of Tho Ha craft village (Van Ha ward); rice paper of Sau craft village ( Bac Giang ward); Phu Lang pottery (Phu Lang commune), Dong Ky wood art (Dong Nguyen ward)... In particular, with its unique value, recently Tho Ha rice paper making craft village has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage. Craft villages bring in significant revenue, creating jobs for tens of thousands of rural workers.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Tao, Tho Ha residential group (Van Ha ward) has been preserving the traditional rice paper making profession for more than 50 years.

Contributing to "passing on the torch" to spread the quintessence of traditional crafts is an important role of artisans. Over the years, through many ups and downs of the profession, many artisans have persisted, created, and passionately passed on their craft. For example, Mr. Luu Xuan Khuyen (born in 1977), was born and raised in Ngoi village (now Tan Ninh residential group, Canh Thuy ward). With innate talent, knowledge trained at the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts and the process of diligently learning in many famous pottery villages across the country, he has created unique products, imbued with the breath of folk culture.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Khuyen and the artisans of Ngoi village have created their own path, building a ceramic brand that is both simple, elegant, unique, and rich in Kinh Bac spirit, recognized as "Quintessence of the craft village". In particular, colored glazed ceramic relief paintings - a unique and sophisticated product line of Ngoi village ceramics - are currently popular in the market. He said that the facility is actively teaching the craft to local workers, organizing for students and teenagers to visit and learn about the pottery profession. Thereby, it not only contributes to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, but also arouses love for the homeland, national pride and awareness of preserving heritage in the younger generation.

International tourists experience Dong Ho painting printing.

The dedication, creativity and responsibility of artisans are effective when accompanied by the government, functional agencies and the community. In recent years, the two provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh (old) have paid attention to supporting human resource training, improving quality and improving packaging, labels, and building brands for craft village products. At the same time, focusing on building craft village infrastructure to meet production and business conditions. Many artisans have received financial support to open vocational training classes, participate in vocational competitions and have been honored. Currently, the whole province has 50 artisans who have been awarded or posthumously awarded the titles of People's Artisan and Meritorious Artisan. In addition, artisans are given opportunities to participate in domestic and foreign fairs and exhibitions to promote their products.

In order for traditional craft villages to develop further in the new era, many opinions say that preserving and maintaining the craft needs to be linked with economy - tourism - education to create a sustainable value chain. Artisans hope that the province will continue to pay attention to and support vocational training, introduce and promote products, connect and expand markets, and bring traditional crafts into schools through extracurricular activities, thereby fostering love for national culture and suggesting future career paths for the younger generation.

According to Mr. Duong Thanh Tung, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, vocational training is not only a cultural task but also a solution for sustainable rural economic development. The Department will coordinate with other sectors to focus on developing craft villages associated with experiential tourism, building a model of "traditional occupations in schools". At the same time, it will pay attention to training young artisans, building a team of successors, promoting support for the application of digital technology, digitizing products to widely promote and expand the market for consuming craft village products.

Le Thanh - Ngoc Anh

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/lan-toa-tinh-hoa-nghe-truyen-thong-postid421609.bbg