It has been 20 years since Andrea Teufel, a German conservation and restoration expert, first set foot in Hue, and then chose this land as her second homeland.
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| Ms. Andrea Teufel at the exhibition "Discovering the Phung Tien Temple Complex held on the morning of November 20, 2023 |
Cherish Hue Ao Dai
Living in Hue for nearly 20 years, the people of this city are very familiar with the image of Andrea Teufel in a graceful and passionate ao dai every time she attends important events in Hue. However, for her to wear the ao dai naturally like today, it took a long process. Andrea Teufel always loves ao dai in all forms. From everyday wear to festival wear.
The first time Andrea Teufel wore the ao dai, she felt like she was at a carnival. That changed when she realized the exact opposite. Andrea Teufel expressed her respect and appreciation for a culture that accepted her. “Honestly, my first try on of the ao dai was not very comfortable, because none of them fit me. I felt very uncomfortable. Vietnamese women told me that I was right. That it was not comfortable, but that wearing the ao dai was just to highlight the graceful beauty.” Andrea Teufel recounted the first time she wore the ao dai.
Unable to accept this for herself, she found a tailor (after much discussion) to do what Andrea Teufel wanted, to make her a favorite ao dai. Then the ao dai promotion campaign started in Hue and the five-panel ao dai became popular. This style suited her perfectly. Since then, Andrea Teufel wore it “like a second skin”.
In particular, when seeing her wearing the traditional Vietnamese ao dai on the streets of Hue, and attending major events, many people felt that Andrea Teufel herself had contributed to promoting the Hue ao dai in particular, and Vietnam in general, to people around the world. In response to those comments, Andrea Teufel was very modest: “That sounds a bit flattering to me. I don’t think I have that much influence. However, it confirms my point of view that Vietnamese people are very proud of their ao dai. Andrea Teufel shows appreciation when foreigners accept this important part of your country’s culture, thereby spreading it further.”
Having lived in Hue City for nearly 20 years and celebrated the traditional New Year with her family and relatives in this land for many years, Andrea Teufel highly values the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. For her, the annual Lunar New Year is a time for her and her friends to share their experiences of the past year and enjoy life together. “During the traditional Vietnamese New Year, we also meet friends. This Lunar New Year, we have designed a game based on traditional motifs of Nguyen Dynasty art. This game will be an interesting contribution to preserving this cultural heritage,” Andrea Teufel shared.
According to Andrea Teufel, the longer she stayed, the more she understood about Tet in Vietnam, in which traditional Tet dishes are carefully prepared, then served to each other, and enjoyed together according to predetermined rituals, important people are visited and welcomed at home during the traditional Tet holiday.
Devote all your love to your second homeland
As for the ancient capital of Hue, Andrea Teufel's second hometown, she felt that this land is changing every day, but in the subconscious, as well as the personality of each Hue resident, they still want to maintain a balance between cultural preservation and development integration. According to Andrea Teufel's experience, people in Hue have a close connection with their homeland. For example, Andrea Teufel often hears the saying "Hue people can only live in Hue", which is also a good "criterion" for young people to participate in city activities. She thinks that people need to participate in local development developments so that everyone can integrate into this process in the long term. "Young people need to know that each of their opinions is valuable and will be listened to. But they need to have a really good argument", Andrea Teufel advised.
Due to the many similarities between Andrea Teufel’s hometown of Potsdam (Germany) and Hue, when participating in the field of heritage restoration and conservation as well as vocational training for Vietnamese students, Andrea Teufel is very passionate and enthusiastic about the work she has chosen. She said that both cities are royal residences with many palaces and parks. Both have many historical buildings, lakes and green trees, with similar areas and their own beauty. Potsdam is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, like Hue, it attracts millions of domestic and foreign tourists every year.
In Potsdam, there are very strict and clear regulations for the protection of monuments and for careful urban development based on these rules. “For me, Hue and Potsdam are good examples of heritage cities that have achieved a smart balance and optimized their special potential between conservation and development. Hue has become my second home. This is of course due to the fortunate fact that Germany and Vietnam have a close strategic partnership. I can personally contribute my expertise within the framework of this cooperation,” said Andrea Teufel.
Currently, Andrea Teufel and his colleagues are working on their fifth project in the imperial city, in the Phung Tien Palace area - Hue Imperial City. This project has been underway since 2017 and is expected to be completed in 2026. “We chose the broad scope of this project because I believe that more attention needs to be paid to communicating cultural heritage to arouse the interest of the people, especially the young people,” Andrea Teufel shared.
According to Ho Ngoc Minh/baothuathienhue.vn
https://baothuathienhue.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/thong-tin-van-hoa/chuyen-gia-duc-lan-toa-ao-dai-viet-137837.html
Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/chuyen-gia-duc-lan-toa-ao-dai-viet-196514.html
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