A person who helped keep the flame of Cham pottery in Bau Truc alive.

Artisan Truong Thi Gach is a prime example of an elderly person dedicated to the traditional pottery craft in Bau Truc Cham village, Phuoc Dan town, Ninh Phuoc district, Ninh Thuan province. With her familiar image of chewing betel nut while nimbly shaping pottery, Mrs. Gach is like a "tall tree casting a shadow," contributing to preserving and spreading the essence of Cham pottery.

Returning to Phuoc Dan town in early May 2025, we met artisan Truong Thi Gach diligently demonstrating pottery making for tourists at the Bau Truc Cham Pottery Cooperative. At nearly 80 years old, she remains agile, her skillful hands shaping clay into graceful, soulful pottery forms that inspire admiration in all who witness them.

During the recent April 30th and May 1st holidays, the cooperative welcomed 1,500 to 2,000 visitors each day. Many groups requested to see Ms. Gach demonstrate her traditional pottery-making skills – the "hand-molding, foot-spinning" technique she has been practicing for over 60 years. In just a few minutes, she can create a rustic vase, inspiring visitors to boldly experience and keep the product as a souvenir. The cooperative, located at the Bau Truc Cham Pottery Exhibition House – dubbed a "living museum" – has thus become an attractive cultural destination, where artisans like Ms. Gach contribute to reviving the essence of Cham pottery among visitors from all over the world.

Mr. Phu Huu Minh Thuan, Director of Bau Truc Cham Pottery Cooperative, discusses the techniques of crafting pottery vases according to customer requirements.

Ms. Bui Ngoc Huyen, a tourist from Dak Lak, happily shared: “Thanks to the friendliness and dedicated guidance of artisan Truong Thi Gach, I bravely tried my hand at pottery making for the first time. Although I was still a little hesitant 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 experience during my holiday, as I had the opportunity to return to the Cham region of Ninh Thuan – where the Cham pottery art heritage was inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguard since November 2022.”

Taking advantage of a break between tours, we had the opportunity to chat with Artisan Truong Thi Gach – a veteran potter from Bau Truc village. Born in 1945, she comes from a family with a long tradition of pottery making. At the age of 15, she began learning the craft from her mother, Artisan Quang Thi Hoa, from the techniques of preparing the clay, mixing it with white sand from the Quao River in a 6:4 ratio, to the processes of shaping, drying, setting up the kiln, and carefully controlling the fire to fire the pottery for 6-8 hours to produce strong, durable, and beautiful products.

Artisan Truong Thi Gach creates pottery to serve tourists during the April 30th and May 1st holidays in 2025.

In her youth, she often walked more than three kilometers to the Nu-Lanh clay fields, carrying baskets of clay back home for crafting. With skillful hands and a love for the craft, her pottery products always exude a charming, rustic, and soulful quality, just like her own personality. She won the "Golden Hand" award at the craft competition organized by Bau Truc village during the Katê Festival in 2016.

One of her proudest memories is on September 23, 2024, when she had the honor of performing pottery making for the delegation from the Committee for Ethnic Minorities (now the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion ), led by Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Hau A Lenh (now the Secretary of the Ha Giang Provincial Party Committee) – during their visit to Bau Truc pottery village. Artisan Truong Thi Gach is always dedicated to teaching pottery making to her relatives 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 skilled 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 in experiencing the crafting of Bau Truc pottery.

“As long as I have my health, I will continue to make pottery to serve the people and tourists from near and far who come to visit Bau Truc craft village. I also hope to set an example of an elderly person dedicated to the craft passed down from mother to son, so that my descendants in the clan can follow suit and continue to preserve the precious heritage of the village,” shared artisan Truong Thi Gach.

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

Artisan Truong Thi Gach prepares the raw materials for making Bau Truc pottery.

With her dedication, Ms. Gach is not only a shining example of love for her profession but also contributes to creating a cohesive atmosphere, spreading the joy of work, improving product quality, and better serving the needs of tourists for sightseeing and experiences. Recognizing these contributions, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ninh Thuan province has prepared a dossier proposing that she be awarded the title of Outstanding Artisan in the field of folk performing arts – an intangible cultural heritage.

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