(CLO) With more than 50 years of dedication, preservation and development of traditional crafts, lacquer artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi (68 years old) has always been dedicated, meticulous and diligent in every brush stroke to decorate patterns on ceramic vases, wooden vases, folk paintings... to create unique works of art, imbued with Vietnamese folk culture.
Born and raised in Duyen Thai commune (Thuong Tin district, Hanoi), artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi began her career in ceramics at the age of 16. At the age of 17 (1 year), she stopped studying and was then sent by her father to work in a local cooperative. Diligent and hard-working, at that time she and her colleagues in the cooperative produced simple objects such as chess boards, vases, etc. In 1991, the cooperative was dissolved. During that time, she stayed home to do farming. In 1993, she still missed the profession deeply. With the help of her friends, she returned to ceramics and has stuck with the profession ever since.
“My family has a tradition of making ceramics, my father and brothers and sisters in the family are all painters, my sister-in-law is a painter… At that time, the art profession was not developed, we did not make vases like today, we only made screens to sell in Hanoi, we did make paintings but only 30cm, 40cm in size, there were no large paintings like today. However, products such as ceramic vases and small paintings sold very well,” Ms. Hoi recalled.
Meritorious artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi (right cover) introduces lacquer vases and paintings to customers.
Artisan Hoi added: “After a long time developing the profession, when the orders increased day by day, my family started hiring workers. In particular, the most prosperous time of the profession was when I started participating in fairs in the provinces/cities, since then many customers from all over the country came to buy my products, the number of customers increased day by day. To expand the range of ceramic products, in 2010, I started producing lacquered ceramic vases, wooden vases and lacquer paintings like now.”
Many people know that, with increasing orders, Mrs. Hoi exports her family's ceramic products to foreign countries, most of which are familiar business relationships from before. With high profits from selling products, the production of ceramic vases, wooden vases, and paintings has become the main source of income for the family. However, the work was going smoothly until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, orders completely decreased, so Mrs. Hoi decided to stop exporting abroad, only selling and exporting domestically to consumers.
"Whenever I buy something, I make it for them to display at home. As for orders, customers usually order vases as gifts. The paintings they buy are usually to hang in their homes, they are rarely ordered as gifts. I remember there was a time when a customer ordered 300-400 vases to give to other customers," Ms. Hoi confided.
Lacquer products of meritorious artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi always attract domestic and international customers.
Currently, Mrs. Hoi’s family workshop is about 300 square meters wide, with 3 to 4 workers, while those who make the frames usually go home to make the frames for vases and paintings. “Currently, there are about 300 households in the village who still maintain the profession, they make both the frames and the finished products to sell to the domestic consumer market,” Mrs. Hoi revealed.
Regarding the product creation process, Ms. Hoi said that for a vase, if the product is simple, it takes about 12 stages to produce, while colorful products go through dozens of different stages. In addition, for paintings, it can take about 17 to 18 different stages to complete. For large-sized paintings, it is very time-consuming, even taking several months to complete.
“I directly depict images of Vietnamese culture such as lotus paintings, Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, and landscapes on each vase and lacquer painting… As for paintings such as Vinh Quy Bai To and Ma Dao Thanh Cong, usually large houses place orders and I will complete them within a few months before returning the order,” Ms. Hoi added.
Regarding product prices, currently the smallest products such as ceramic vases and landscape paintings will cost from 250,000 to 300,000 VND/product, while large products cost several million VND, even tens of millions VND. Products costing several hundred million VND are usually large-sized paintings.
Some impressive lacquer products made by the talented artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi.
In 2024, the lacquerware workshop of artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi is still developing, with steady orders, but compared to the past decade, it is much worse. “Every year, the locality still opens classes for Associations, and the Association also organizes classes for students on summer vacation. In that program, students still master their profession, and classwork takes place normally so that they can learn more traditional crafts for the future,” Ms. Hoi added.
With her silent contributions to traditional craft villages, artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi was awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan (in 2020); the Ministry of Industry and Trade awarded a commemorative medal (in 2021); the Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee awarded a Certificate of Merit (in 2021); achieved the title of Good Person - Outstanding Good Deed (in 2022) and many other awards from Thuong Tin District People's Committee in preserving, conserving and developing traditional crafts and craft villages...
Recently, according to Decision No. 3717/QD-UBND dated July 17, 2024, artisan Nguyen Thi Hoi is one of 8 outstanding female artisans and skilled workers in the capital city to be commended by the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee for their outstanding achievements in preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of craft villages and craft streets in Hanoi in 2024.
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nu-nghe-nhan-luon-tam-huyet-gin-giu-nghe-son-mai-ha-thai-post334650.html
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