Start with familiar faces.
Quick to adapt to new work trends and technologies, a segment of young people are starting their content creation careers with simple, down-to-earth stories, such as: family meals on ancestral commemoration days, attending the Ky Yen festival, and local traditional crafts…
Young man Huynh Xuan Huynh rediscovers the traditional Lai Thieu pottery of the old Southern Vietnam.
After more than three years building her personal media channel but only starting to receive advertising commissions about six months ago, Do Tinh (born in 1993, from An Giang province) shared: “I have a job as a sales employee, but I still like building my channel and telling stories about my family and hometown. Because there are things that I find familiar, but they are the unique identity of my hometown. If I don't tell and share them with everyone, when the generation of my grandparents and parents passes away, those beautiful things will easily fade away…”
Starting her journey of growth with something familiar from her hometown, and with nearly five years since her non-GMO corn noodles have been on the market, Hoang Phuong (29 years old, President and Director of Vietnam Napro Cooperative, Lang Son province) and her sister have persistently worked to preserve the local corn variety. The corn crop is an asset deeply rooted in their family, supporting Phuong and her sister's education – becoming the main source of raw materials for the young woman's dream of exporting Vietnamese agricultural products. “My family has been growing this corn variety for over 20 years, and it's a local, non-GMO variety. We have researched and produced gluten-free corn noodles – a food type that is becoming increasingly popular,” Phuong said.
With stable products and a welcoming market, Hong Phuong, starting from a cooperative developing indigenous corn varieties, began building the "Bowl of Love" fund, because sustainable value always requires a parallel journey of giving and receiving. The fund is drawn from the profits of Vietnam Napro, with its main activities being planting trees to protect the environment, beautify the local landscape, and awarding scholarships to underprivileged students who overcome difficulties.
Opportunities arising from urbanization
Contrary to the common choices of today's younger generation, Huynh Xuan Huynh (born in 1998, Director of Nang Ceramics Co., Ltd., Ho Chi Minh City), despite being born and raised in An Giang, still deeply cherishes the rustic Lai Thieu pottery, a tradition deeply rooted in the lives of people in Southern Vietnam for generations. Xuan Huynh shared: “In the city, I see many people, especially young people, using disposable plastic items or shiny porcelain bowls and plates that aren't very safe for health. I remember my childhood; my family, like many people in my hometown, used bowls and plates made from Lai Thieu pottery – what we call earthenware in my hometown – not flashy but very durable and safe. So I started searching for pottery kilns in Lai Thieu, buying familiar items for myself, and began connecting with the artisans in the village.”
Traditional craft villages are gradually fading away in the urbanized world, but for young people, challenges are also opportunities with new ways of starting. By contacting and persuading pottery workshops with small orders, Xuan Huynh reaches customers through introductions on social media platforms and trade fairs for young people. Traditional pottery is making a comeback in a new form, with a communication method that keeps up with new, youthful trends, and the customer base is gradually growing…
"It's not wrong to say that rapid urbanization has led to the decline of many pottery workshops; there aren't many long-standing artisans still practicing the craft. But it's precisely this rapid pace of urbanization that has forced the remaining workshops to engage more with the outside market, and they've begun to adapt. When they understand the superior quality and value of their products compared to cheap, low-quality porcelain from abroad, they become more confident in reviving traditional products, a heritage passed down through generations," Xuân Huỳnh expressed.
Besides traditional Lai Thieu pottery products, Xuan Huynh now also organizes tours and experiences of Southern Vietnamese craft villages for tourists. "If we don't create, share, and let tourists experience these things, how will they know that our homeland also has quality craft villages, products that have been improved with new patterns and designs, and most importantly, are durable and safe for health…?" Xuan Huynh shared.
OCEAN
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/truong-thanh-cung-di-san-que-nha-post803909.html
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