Ancient town’s digitalisation of craft villages wins Kotler Award

Representatives of Hội An City receive the International Kotler Award 2024 for the project titled: ‘Hội An-Craft Villages Go Digital’. Photo courtesy of Hội An City's Information and Sports Centre

HỘI AN — A project called ‘Hội An-Craft Villages Go Digital’ which promoted transformation in the ancient town, has won an international marketing award.

The project took an International Kotler Award 2024 in the category of ‘Impactful Digital & Inno-tech’, for efforts made by the ancient town in the digital transformation of craft villages for sustainable development and preservation.

The awards, founded by American marketing author Philip Kotler, are a way to honour the best marketers, businesses and organisations and sharing creativities on an innovation network among 100 countries in the world.

The Hội An City’s information and sports centre said the programme was started in collaboration among Hội An City’s people’s committee, HoiAnLife Innovation Lab and Tonkin Media, in May.

It said experts had shared their experience and knowledge in digital and technology applications in improving the value of craft products and accessing to domestic and international markets among family business owners and craftsmen in Hội An.

The ancient town has preserved 50 traditional crafts with the establishment of five craft villages. Three villages have been given the status of national intangible heritages, while the remaining two villages are in the process of trying to get official recognition.

Võ Tấn Tân, an owner of Taboo Bamboo Workshop in Cẩm Thanh commune of Hội An ancient town, creates a Koi fish decoration from bamboo and environmentally-friendly materials. — Photo courtesy of Võ Tấn Tân

According to the Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation in the city, there are 1,700 households and 685 small-scale enterprises engaged in crafts and folk arts, including carpentry, terra-cotta, lantern-making, bamboo work, nipa-palm processing, garment production and leather crafting.

Approximately 4,000 labourers and craftsmen generate an annual average income ranging from US$3,500 to $4,000 through their involvement in performance arts and craft trades, the centre reported.

Hội An, a UNESCO world heritage site, has received eight national heritage certificates. One for the annual Nguyên Tiêu (full moon day of lunar January) Festival, for Thanh Châu edible bird's nest, recognising Thanh Hà Pottery village and carpentry of Kim Bồng Village, the vegetable planting in Trà Quế Village, the mid-autumn Full Moon Festival (on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month), Chàm Islands’ hammock weaving from tree bark strings and making houses from bamboo and nipa palm in Cẩm Thanh commune.

Võ Tấn Tân, who owns the Taboo Bamboo workshop in Cẩm Thanh commune typifies one of the new generation of craftsmen, turning to making sustainable and low carbon souvenirs and decorations and boosting the creation of non-plastic, zero-waste and recyclable products.

Last year Hội An became a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

A young carpenter at work at the Driftwood village in An Bàng beach of Hội An. The shop creates useable wood sculpture from firewood. — Photo courtesy of Lê Ngọc Thuận

The ancient town and its twin town, Wernigerode, in Germany, won a joint sustainability award from the German Federal Government.

Meanwhile, the ‘Establishing Comprehensive Bicycle Plan and Free/low-cost Bicycle Sharing Programme in the city’ project scooped the Global Urban Mobility Challenge Award of the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative. — VNS