Embroidery lines dyed with gold

Silk thread embroidered with Vietnamese colors

In the quiet space of Tu Thi communal house, No. 2 Yen Thai, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, the creative residency combined with the opening of the workshop "Silk - tree colors, embroidery lines, dyeing lines of the past - present" brings the public the opportunity to admire ancient embroidery paintings, natural dye palettes and directly watch the artists at work. With colored threads and traditional materials such as Do paper, cotton fibers... artist Pham Ngoc Tram skillfully highlights the shape of two fighting cocks, with lines and colors that bring ancient beauty, vivid on the fabric.

Artist Pham Ngoc Tram (wearing Ao Dai) shares about Vietnam's embroidery heritage with international experts

The artist residency program at the place worshiping the founder of embroidery Le Cong Hanh - part of the project "Story of Communal Houses in the City" (curator Nguyen The Son) - is carried out as a way for artists to practice contemporary art connecting with tradition and telling the story of the golden age of Vietnamese embroidery, which until now has been covered with the dust of time and very few people know about.

Not born in a traditional embroidery village, but taught by her grandmother and mother since childhood, Ngoc Tram has spent many years studying and practicing the art of hand embroidery, inspired by traditional techniques, materials and native nature. The exquisite beauty and stories told through ancient embroidery paintings have captivated and urged her to explore deeper into traditional embroidery techniques. The trip to the once-famous embroidery villages also left her with concerns, when the technique of natural dyeing embroidery threads gradually fell into oblivion, many exquisite embroidery designs remained in storage...

In 2023, Ngoc Tram accidentally discovered embroidery patterns and tools of artisan Vu Thanh Long - who founded a famous embroidery workshop in Saigon - Gia Dinh. In 1954, due to historical fluctuations, he returned to the North, leaving behind intact archives of tools, embroidery patterns and embroidery workshop documents in Saigon, which were later brought back to his hometown Ninh Binh.

Artist Pham Ngoc Tram copies ancient embroidery patterns with naturally dyed thread

“When I told about my journey of researching the ancient embroidery craft, the son of artisan Vu Thanh Long, Mr. Vu Thanh Luan, tearfully brought things down from the warehouse, opened the embroidery samples - including the dragon pattern that I was inspired to draw and embroider, along with the tools from the past... I was lucky to have Mr. Luan's family allow me to photocopy and store those documents for research. When looking for the origin of ancient embroidery, by chance, an ancient book printed in 1939 in Saigon - "Le Broderie Annamite" (Annam Embroidery) by author Gabrielle Dain had the following translated messages: Annamese girls studying in Western schools, learning to embroider lace and fringe in Western style, they were delighted. But I would also like to remind you that "the Annamese embroidery craft of our sisters is very beautiful and very interesting in every way: delicate needlework, wonderful color mixing, unique techniques" and "the sisters' duty should not be hidden", if they cannot maintain the tradition "The extremely wonderful embroidery of our ancestors will one day disappear. And it is true that until now, that heritage has faded away over the years" - painter Pham Ngoc Tram said.

Embroidery has a long tradition in Vietnam and is still quite developed, but it has not been studied and preserved from a heritage perspective. Many documents and artifacts are scattered and damaged over time. A conversation with Ms. Young Yang Chung, a leading expert on the history of textiles and East Asian silk embroidery and owner of the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum, who also studies embroidery and has published The Art of Oriental Embroidery (1979), Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam (2005) left Ngoc Tram with many deep impressions.

Embroidery painting "Village Festival", 2019

“She urged me to research and archive the embroidery heritage of Vietnam, otherwise it would be too late. Her words 3-4 years ago moved me, and I wanted to contribute to the archiving and research of Vietnam's embroidery heritage. Having traveled to many countries, I feel like I am truly a "rich kid" when I was born in a land with many heritages, but I do not know how to exploit that treasure. How to move from the root to the contemporary is a really good story that I observed in Korea”. That is a systematic research, honoring embroidery as a heritage and a part of national visual arts; there are art fairs on embroidery and sewing, many contemporary artists delve into this field to change the perspective on traditional crafts and elevate them to new heights.

The door to unlimited creativity

“I still remember the time when I came across old Vietnamese embroidery paintings, some expensive, some cheap. I bought the cheap ones, even the torn ones, because it allowed me to see the back of the embroidered fabric, to analyze the techniques, materials, and stitches of the embroiderers of the past,” said Pham Ngoc Tram, introducing the four seasons embroidery painting hanging on the left side of Tu Thi communal house, a corner of the painting lifted up so that people could see the stitches behind.

Artist Pham Ngoc Tram at Tu Thi communal house. Photo: Nguyen Huy Khanh

Through research on documents and embroidery paintings from the Indochina period, Pham Ngoc Tram realized that this was a turning point in the development of Vietnamese embroidery, when the French soon saw the ingenuity and value of embroidery and placed orders. If before, the embroidery village mainly served traditional handicraft products such as y mon, votive doors, flags and fans... and embroidered on royal costumes which were strictly following the pattern, then the exchange with Western art opened up endless creative horizons. Fine art embroidery with diverse themes and liberal styles has become a unique phenomenon, affirming the position of Vietnamese embroidery.

What makes the uniqueness of Indochina embroidery paintings is the pure Vietnamese material. From soft silk, embroidery threads dyed with colors from plants, the craftsmen skillfully created vivid works, realistically depicting Vietnamese village life, recreating ancient stories, or images of village festivals, weddings, rustic nature with chickens, ducks, bamboo bushes, lotus flowers...

“In the period of cultural exchange, traditional embroidery art has collided and developed hidden subtleties. I was fascinated and realized a whole heritage that I could learn from. The Indochina period has enough specimens, evidence, and quite solid historical documents for research. Looking at the embroidery heritage, we can see many perspectives of culture, history, people, society, women... Hopefully, there will be embroidery collectors who will allow me to approach to research more about the threads and embroidery methods of this period.”

With the desire to create a unique color palette, she spent a lot of time researching and practicing dyeing silk threads, based on some of her ancestors' natural dyeing techniques; learning how to spin threads to create embroidered silk threads with different thicknesses and textures. In 2023, she completed the natural dye palette, from which a series of embroidery paintings inspired by folk culture were made.

Not only practicing as an embroidery artist, the female artist also cherishes the plan to research and explore the embroidery treasures of Vietnam, as well as of the region and the world, as a foundation for publishing books on Vietnamese embroidery heritage, and establishing a museum on Vietnamese embroidery and needlework in the near future. This not only contributes to preserving the country's embroidery heritage but also serves as a source of inspiration for contemporary art creation, where tradition is continued, delicately blended with new creations.