In the afternoon of December 14, the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism led by Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien visited and worked with the People’s Committee of Van Canh Commune (Hoai Duc District, Hanoi) on the implementation of the Dispatch No. 2662/BVHTTDL-MTNATL on the non-use of symbols, products, and mascots that were not suitable with the fine customs of Vietnam, the restoration and production of Kim Hoang folk paintings, and the effectiveness of management and promotion of local relic sites.
Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien visiting Kim Hoang traditional painting village
Kim Hoang (Van Canh, Hoai Duc) was one of the three traditionally prominent painting villages of the Northern Delta. After centuries of oblivion, in 2015, the village’s heritage started to get reintroduced to the public through a project named “Restoring Kim Hoang Craft Village” by collector Nguyen Thu Hoa. In November 2016, some paintings of Kim Hoang Village were sold on the market. During the Lunar New Year of 2017, Kim Hoang Paintings reappeared, got welcomed by the public and were highly appreciated by experts. Currently, besides Kim Hoang Communal House, the local authorities and people also let Mrs. Thu Hoa use other sites to produce new paintings and teach the art of making traditional paintings.
The patterns of Kim Hoang Paintings are mascots, such as chicken, pig, horse, and so on. Mrs. Thu Hoa is currently in the process of researching to create a pattern for Nghe (a lion-dog hybrid figure), a Vietnamese traditional mascot, based on the couple of Nghe placed at the Temple of the Dinh and Le Kings (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh) in order to promote the mascot in response to the Dispatch No. 2662 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien and investors who invest in the restoration of Kim Hoang Paintings
Besides restoring ancient engravings, the village has also invented a number of patterns of pure Vietnamese mascots. The village has sent villagers to take part in art courses and Han-Nom script courses, sought approaches to expand production sites, organized extra-curricular courses on printing paintings for local youths, and so on. In addition to the restoration of traditional professions, the work of preserving and promoting the value of local relic sites has also been focused on. After 3 years of implementing the Dispatch No. 2662 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, 100% of the relic sites in the commune no longer use mascots that are not suitable with the fine customs of Vietnam.
Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien highly appreciated the effective implementation of Dispatch No. 2662 in Hoai Duc and in many localities throughout the country. The Deputy Minister was of the opinion that the preservation of the nation’s cultural values was extremely important. “Culture is the essence of the peoples in that economic forms may change, but cultures cannot be lost. In the current trend of economic development and integration in Vietnam, we integrate, but we will not lose our identity. We shall jointly preserve and promote our cultural tradition […], intensify promotional programs about the utmost significance of cultural conservation. The restoration of Kim Hoang Painting Village is a joint effort of the community in response to the Dispatch No. 2662 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism”, the Deputy Minister affirmed.
Nghe patterns are being introduced into Kim Hoang Paintings
Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien also suggested the People’s Committee of Van Canh Commune to continue to seek for new approaches to develop the local painting tradition, introduce Kim Hoang paintings in various relic and tourism sites in and out of the city, and develop the commune’s heritage tourism so that the villagers could make a living out of the profession, laying foundation for strong development of Kim Hoang Paintings in modern life. “The conservation of heritages can only be sustainable when people are in agreement and support us”, Deputy Minister Dang Thi Bich Lien emphasized.
News and photo by Hoang Nguyen