Telling stories about ancient crafts through paintings to preserve traditional beauty

Kim Dong Publishing House has just launched the book series "Vang danh cua co" - a unique series of picture books introducing traditional craft villages of Vietnam for young readers.

Throughout the S-shaped strip of land, there are countless traditional craft villages with a long history of culture. The birth and development of each traditional craft is associated with the characteristics of geography, climate, soil or customs of each region.

The book "Reputation of the Ancient Craft" has been published in 6 books at bookstores nationwide. (Source: Kim Dong Publishing House)

Traditional crafts are passed down from generation to generation, changing and developing to suit each historical period, not only as a means of livelihood but also as a way to preserve the source of cultural heritage.

Each traditional handicraft product contains a lot of heart and soul, is a testament to the talent, ingenuity and creativity of the Vietnamese people.

Nowadays, our country's handicraft products are known all over the world, contributing to promoting Vietnamese culture to friends around the world.

Writing about history and traditional culture for children is always a difficult and challenging topic for domestic authors.

With respect for traditional cultural values, the desire to preserve the quintessence of ancient crafts, and pass on the torch to future generations, the group of authors of the book series Famous Ancient Crafts has cherished this project for many years.

As a producer of many TV programs about craft villages, author Thanh Nguyen has had the opportunity to travel all over Vietnam, meeting and talking with many artisans.

He shared: “In each craft village, cultural and historical stories about the land are shared. When writing this book, we not only aimed to provide readers with the process of making products of the craft village, but also wanted readers to know the talent of their country's artisans, understand the culture, beliefs and customs of that land."

To convey the story of the nation’s traditional crafts in the most understandable and vivid way, each book in the “Vang danh cua co” series is built like a movie episode. The main character of the book series is a girl named An, about 7 years old, extremely clever, intelligent and eager to learn.

Through the story of familiar household items or family memories, An had the opportunity to join her grandparents and parents on interesting experiences at traditional craft villages in provinces and cities across the country.

These are Tan Chau silk land - the place that created the legendary Lanh My A silk (An Giang); Van Chang blacksmith village (Nam Dinh) with a history of more than seven centuries; Chang Son carpentry village (Thach That - Hanoi), Dong Xam fine arts and jewelry village (Thai Binh), Bau Truc pottery village (Ninh Thuan) - the place that preserves the ancient open-air pottery firing technique; Phu Quoc pearl island with its famous fish sauce making profession...

When visiting each land, An's family will stop by workshops, meet artisans and listen to them introduce the basic process to create famous handicraft products.

Besides, there are stories about the history of the early craft villages, the beautiful traditional cultural values ​​hidden in each handicraft product, unique folk craft festivals, pictures of the old and new craft villages, and changes to adapt to the times...

With easy-to-understand, concise, and visual ways of conveying knowledge, specialized and specific knowledge content has become easy to understand and read for children of primary school age.

Young artists Bui Xuan Quynh, NGART, and Ruoc Dang, who participated in the project "Promoting the Ancient Crafts" , said that the book series provides a wealth of information and knowledge about traditional crafts.

Therefore, the group of artists has researched and studied many historical and cultural documents to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of each illustration.

Artist Ruoc Dang said: “Finding visual materials is not too difficult because there are many documents, videos and images available about traditional crafts. However, selecting reference materials that are appropriate, accurate and consistent with the spirit that the book wants to convey is a challenge."

Artist Bui Xuan Quynh also shared: "We have tried to make the content easy to understand and familiar, helping children not only feel the beauty of traditional crafts but also easily associate and sympathize with the stories."

Artist NGART added: “Although we encountered many difficulties during the process, when we saw the completed book, we were very happy and proud to have learned and accumulated more valuable knowledge, helping us to understand more deeply the beauty of traditional crafts and the significance of preserving national cultural heritage.”

The book series has bright, familiar illustrations, imbued with Vietnamese colors, helping children love and appreciate the beauty of traditional craft villages, urging the community to join hands to preserve and conserve ancient crafts that have made their mark in history.

The famous ancient craft has published 6 books at bookstores nationwide: Lanh My A - Silk legend, Chang Son carpentry village - Touch of time, Dong Xam silver carving - Preserving the quintessence, Van Chang blacksmith village - Forging fire remains forever, Phu Quoc fish sauce - Delicious taste of pearl island, Bau Truc pottery village - Golden land on sacred field .

It is expected that in the near future, the book series will launch 4 more books about Phu My bamboo baskets - Going offshore and clinging to the sea, Doi Tam drums - The sound of thunder, Hue casting ward - Heritage masterpiece and Sung village do paper - Simple beauty .

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ke-chuyen-nghe-co-bang-tranh-luu-giu-net-dep-truyen-thong-292527.html