'New life' for folk paintings

Once an indispensable “spiritual food” for many centuries, Vietnamese folk paintings, for many reasons, are now only a distant memory for many contemporary residents. Reminiscing about the golden age, many folk painting revival projects have been initiated, aiming to bring “new life” to the ancient art of painting. Latoa Indochine is one of them.

“Soul” of heritage in contemporary art Located amidst the grass and trees on the banks of the Red River in Tran Phu ward, Hoang Mai district, Latoa Indochine painting workshop has a simple, rustic look, far from the splendor and luxury of the lacquer folk paintings carved here. The quiet atmosphere covering the working space shows the artist's high concentration with his brainchild, only occasionally "broken" by the sound of trickling water hitting the engraving or the steady sound of sandpaper grinding on the wood surface... Paying close attention to the path of the sandpaper, artist Luong Minh Hoa carefully instructed: "Grinding is the most important step because in lacquer carving, grinding is the drawing. You must have aesthetic thinking, sensory ability... to feel the grinding force, how much grinding is enough. Sometimes just one or two lines too much, the work is no longer as expected. This also determines the uniqueness of each engraved lacquer folk painting, because each time it is made, it has its own beauty, based on the technique, emotions, and color sense of the author". Painter Luong Minh Hoa is a member of the Latoa Indochine project group, established in June 2022 by artists who have been involved in the lacquer painting profession for decades, especially interested in researching and learning about folk painting, such as: Nguyen Van Phuc, Nguyen Manh Ha, Nguyen Trong Khang, Pham Huy Tuan... Understanding and appreciating the quintessence of traditional paintings, regretting the artistic values ​​​​containing knowledge for generations, they sat together, struggling to find a way to spread those values ​​​​in modern life. From here, the engraved lacquer folk painting line - a combination of lacquer and engraving art was born, contributing to realizing that desire. Painter Luong Minh Hoa shared: “Putting a contemporary coat on the quintessence of ancient capital - sounds great but is not easy to do. We spent many months struggling with the experiment of recreating folk paintings on a new technical basis but could not achieve the desired “quality”. Only when we coincidentally used two complementary painting techniques did we perfect the technique of making engraved lacquer folk paintings as it is today”. Specifically, engraved lacquer folk paintings by Latoa Indochine incorporate many manual painting making stages, such as: Processing the wood core, “lowering the base” to carve the shape, creating colors, gilding, silvering, inlaying mother-of-pearl, eggshells… then grinding and repainting until the gloss of the color sinks, creating depth for the painting. “Each work requires the artist to always maintain “balance” to ensure harmony between traditional elements and creativity. “If it is too meticulous and detailed, it will resemble a handicraft product lacking in artistry, and if the soul is too free, it will lose the soul of folk paintings,” said artist Luong Minh Hoa. With this method, artists from Latoa Indochine have created to bring “new life” to dozens of folk paintings belonging to the once-famous painting genres: Dong Ho, Kim Hoang and Hang Trong, by reflecting the soul and spirit of folk paintings into a contemporary work. The creative process allows for changes in color and shape to create artistic effects, or further, taking inspiration from classic paintings to create new works.

Artists working at Latoa Indochine painting studio (Hoang Mai district).

Illuminating the national quintessence From a new way of making paintings, Latoa Indochine has illuminated the "national color" in the flow of contemporary art, immediately attracting the attention and love of the art-loving community, always passionate about traditional cultural values. From the first exhibition opened at the Hanoi Museum, Latoa Indochine has participated in many activities to honor and promote folk art domestically and internationally, such as: Hanoi Creative Design Festival - 2022; Vietnamese Cultural Space in Korea..., giving viewers new, unique and interesting feelings about traditional paintings, thereby arousing the awareness of preserving and maintaining the cultural and historical beauty of the nation in general, the artistic value of folk paintings in particular, creating the premise for making folk paintings become a unique cultural product of the capital Hanoi. Painter and researcher Phan Ngoc Khue commented: “Not only does it encapsulate and convey the essence of folk paintings, the art of lacquer carving with layers of gold and silver gilding also creates contrasting and light-catching color blocks, making folk motifs more luxurious and fresh. The images in lacquer carvings are expressed sharply and deeply. If you observe carefully, you will see layers and layers of splendid and graceful colors, contributing to enhancing the artistic value of the work. This is truly a meaningful project to preserve and promote folk paintings, which needs to be expanded and developed.” According to Professor, Doctor Truong Quoc Binh, member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, lacquer carving folk paintings are a very commendable initiative, both promoting the value of traditional art such as lacquer and carving, and promoting the quintessence of folk paintings, which cannot be done without ancient passion. “In the context of increasingly modern social life, the need to enjoy and use folk paintings is no longer as popular as before, bringing new life to folk paintings is very much needed to be encouraged, in order to arouse and spread love and pride for traditional art”, Mr. Truong Quoc Binh stated. Understanding this, Latoa Indochine has recently opened a program to introduce and guide how to complete a lacquer-engraved folk painting in the format of a workshop, in order to introduce more deeply to the public, especially young people, about traditional lacquer and engraving art, the history of folk paintings as well as the beauty of ancient paintings; at the same time, they are guided to practice and experience some basic techniques of lacquer-engraved art, to create their own work of art. According to Chairman of the Board of Directors of Latoa Indochine Pham Ngoc Long, with this approach, old works will become closer, the beauty of folk paintings will be known to more and more people. “Folk paintings are the summation of culture and art for generations, reflecting the mark of a golden age in the country's history. Latoa Indochine wishes to bring the public "to the end of tradition", back to the days of ancient folk paintings to admire, feel and cherish, and then, together, preserve, continue and spread the quintessence and national cultural identity on the path of strong development of the times. That is also the way for tradition to always be present in today's life", Mr. Pham Ngoc Long expressed.

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