Passing on Binh Duc pottery craft

A class without a projector, without paper or ink, and not confined to a certain standard classroom, where the hands of both the teacher and the students are covered in mud and dirt all day long. There are only voices and bustling joy. This is a special class right in the middle of Binh Duc pottery village (Phan Hiep commune, Bac Binh district) for the children of the village.

img_6566.11.jpg — Students participating in pottery training

Apprentice

The sunlight through the makeshift umbrella made Tien Thi Kim Lai's face red and sweaty. It seemed that all her senses were focused on the pot placed on the molding table. Her feet moved slowly, rhythmically, stroking the shape with her fingertips. The touch was very light and smooth. This was the 10th product after the first lesson, surpassing her goal. "Born in the traditional pottery village of Binh Duc, I only know the simplest steps such as scraping the clay, decorating with colors, but now I know how to make pots and vases. These are really difficult steps, because even the way to hold the clay must be neat to create the shape of the product, the feet must move back and forth evenly so that the product does not get distorted. In addition, handmade ceramic products do not have a turntable, so they have to move in many continuous circles, so at first it was quite overwhelming," Tien shared.

Ms. Tien Thi Kim Lai is being taught the craft by artisan Lam Hung Soi.

The class was organized by Binh Thuan Provincial Museum in coordination with Phan Hiep Commune People's Committee, taking place from November 1 to 4, 2023. Students will practice the profession directly and experience and learn pottery making techniques at Bau Truc pottery village (Phuoc Dan town, Ninh Phuoc district, Ninh Thuan province). This is an activity of the Project "Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development" under the National Target Program on Socio-economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the period 2021 - 2030 in the province. It is quite interesting that all 5 instructors and 35 apprentices are people in Binh Duc village. The learners are of different age groups, including a 13-year-old. This shows that each student who registers to participate is aware of their responsibility in learning to preserve and develop traditional crafts.

Artisan Vo Thi Thuy Duyen's daughter studies the profession

13-year-old Luong Y Van is being taught a profession by her grandmother.

Watching the class, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang - Vice Chairman of Phan Hiep Commune People's Committee could not hide her joy because this is not only a vocational training class for women, but also contributes to preserving the traditional profession of the people. Currently, the number of households attached to the traditional pottery profession in the commune is not much. Currently, there are only 43 households (accounting for about 11% of Cham households in the village) with 46 people still working and maintaining the profession regularly. Most of the households following the profession are old, if it is not passed down between generations, the pottery profession of the village will be lost and disappear in the near future.

Products made by students during the lesson

Hands of Heritage

Looking at the hands of the women kneading the clay, shaping, pulling the mouth, decorating... one can see that holding a finished product in one's hand is not simple, without the skill and meticulousness of the craftsman. Artisan Lam Hung Soi said: "The difficulties in the pottery profession and the market mechanism have affected, making young craftsmen lose their passion, love for the profession, and lack diligence and hard work. Therefore, being able to pass on the profession to the younger generation is something that makes him very happy, so that the children of Cham Binh Duc village and those who are passionate about traditional pottery can firmly grasp the techniques of practicing the profession."

The pottery profession will be passed down from generation to generation.

Born in the middle of a pottery village, from a young age, the children of the village have been "immersed" in games of shaping with clay. Therefore, according to the artisans, learning and making traditional pottery products is not difficult, but the most difficult thing is that the learner must have passion, love the profession, be diligent and hard-working. Just having all those factors, in a period of a few months, the craftsman can make products from simple ones such as ginger, du, fire oven, banh xeo mold, banh can mold to more technical groups such as pots, kettles, jars, large jars, small jars, basins, spittoons...

The art of Cham pottery was officially listed by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on November 29, 2022. Along with joy and pride, the authorities and the Cham community in Binh Duc village are aware of their responsibility to join hands to preserve, conserve and promote the value of the heritage. Therefore, vocational training classes will be a motivation for young people with a passion for starting a business to exploit the tourism strengths of the locality.

“The village’s life is closely linked to the craft. Traditional Cham ceramic products have special features in culinary culture. Therefore, the traditional ceramic craft will not be lost, this generation will continue to the next generation” - Meritorious Artisan Don Thi Hieu affirmed.

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