The person who contributed to keeping the fire of Bau Truc Cham pottery

Returning to Phuoc Dan town in early May 2025, we met artisan Truong Thi Gach diligently performing pottery making for tourists at Bau Truc Cham Pottery Cooperative. At nearly 80 years old, she is still agile, her skillful hands molding clay into graceful, soulful pottery shapes, making everyone who sees her admire her.

During the recent April 30 and May 1 holidays, the cooperative welcomed 1,500 to 2,000 visitors per day, many groups requested to see Mrs. Gach perform handmade pottery - the traditional technique of "molding by hand, turning by foot" that has been with her for more than 60 years. In just a few minutes, she can create a rustic vase, inspiring visitors to boldly experience and preserve the souvenir. The cooperative at Bau Truc Cham Pottery Exhibition House - known as a "living museum" - has thus become an attractive cultural destination, where artisans like Mrs. Gach contribute to reviving the quintessence of Cham pottery in the hearts of visitors from all over the world.

Mr. Phu Huu Minh Thuan, Director of Bau Truc Cham Pottery Cooperative, discusses techniques for making ceramic vases according to customer requirements.

Ms. Bui Ngoc Huyen, a tourist from Dak Lak happily shared: “Thanks to the friendliness and enthusiastic guidance of Artisan Truong Thi Gach, I was bold enough to experience pottery making for the first time. Although I was still confused with my hands covered in clay, I was very happy to have completed a flower vase thanks to her patient guidance. This is a beautiful and memorable memory during the holiday when I had the opportunity to return to the Cham land of Ninh Thuan - where the Cham pottery art heritage was inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding from November 2022”.

Taking advantage of the break time when there were no visitors, we had the opportunity to chat with Artisan Truong Thi Gach - a veteran potter of Bau Truc village. She was born in the year of At Dau 1945, in a family with a long tradition of making pottery. At the age of 15, she began learning the craft from her biological mother, Artisan Quang Thi Hoa, from the technique of incubating soil, mixing clay with white sand from Quao river in a ratio of 6:4, to the stages of molding, shaping, drying, loading the kiln and watching the fire burning pottery for 6-8 hours to produce a strong, durable and beautiful product.

Artisan Truong Thi Gach creates pottery to serve tourists during the April 30 and May 1, 2025 holidays

When she was young, she often had to walk more than three kilometers to the Nu-Lanh clay fields, carrying baskets of clay home to craft. With her skillful hands and love for the craft, Mrs. Gach’s ceramic products always exude charm, simplicity and “soul” like her. She won the “Golden Hand” award at the Craft Competition organized by Bau Truc village on the occasion of the Kate Festival in 2016.

One of the proud memories was on September 23, 2024, when she was honored to perform pottery making for the delegation of the Ethnic Committee (now the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs), led by Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh (now Secretary of the Ha Giang Provincial Party Committee) - visiting Bau Truc pottery village. Artisan Truong Thi Gach was always dedicated to teaching pottery to her clansmen and local women, with the desire to preserve and develop the traditional craft of the Cham people. Thanks to her dedicated guidance, many women in Bau Truc village have become good pottery artisans, such as: Quang Thi Kim Nong, Quang Thi Pho, Truong Thi Ben, Nguy Thi Tho, Chau Thi Kim Oanh...

Artisan Truong Thi Gach guides tourists through the experience of making Bau Truc pottery.

“As long as I am healthy, I will continue to make pottery to serve the people and tourists who come to visit Bau Truc village. I also want to set an example for the elderly to stick with the traditional craft, so that the descendants of the family can follow suit and continue to preserve the precious heritage of the village,” said artisan Truong Thi Gach.

Mr. Phu Huu Minh Thuan, Director of Bau Truc Cham Pottery Cooperative, said: Artisan Truong Thi Gach has been a member of the Cooperative since its establishment (2008) until now. She is currently the oldest pottery artisan in Bau Truc village, considered a "tall tree with great shade" in the craft village - someone who always actively preserves the traditional flame, inspires and instills a love for the profession in the younger generation.

Artisan Truong Thi Gach makes raw material for Bau Truc pottery making

With her dedication, Ms. Gach is not only a shining example of love for her job but also contributes to creating a cohesive atmosphere, spreading the joy of work, contributing to improving product quality and serving well the needs of tourists for sightseeing and experience. In recognition of these contributions, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Thuan province has built a dossier to propose conferring on her the title of Meritorious Artisan in the field of folk performing arts - Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nguoi-gop-phan-giu-lua-gom-cham-bau-truc-1746869051337.htm