A lacquer of Saint Gióng riding on horse back is created at Driftwood Village in the ancient town of Hội An by local carpenters of Kim Bồng Village. A collection of 26 lacquer-based firewood had been transformed into pieces of art for display in Hội An during Tết (lunar New Year). — Photo courtesy of Driftwood Village

HỘI AN — A collection of 26 horse-themed lacquer designs transformed from firewood and debris has been on display at Driftwood Village in the ancient town of Hội An, offering a distinctive attraction for tourists visiting during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

The studio is seen as the town’s only wood recycling workshop, where skilled craftsmen from Kim Bồng carpentry village turn firewood and debris washed ashore after floods into striking art sculptures.

Lê Ngọc Thuận, the founder of the studio, said the horse collection aims to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Horse, while introducing locally inspired innovations in recycled crafts.

A man riding on horse is designed from a piece of firewood that drifted from flood on the beach of Hội An. Local craftsmen had turned the debris into art pieces for display in the tourism hub. — Photo courtesy of at Driftwood Village

More than 100 sculptures and interior decorations made from drifted firewood and timber collected after floods on Hội An’s beaches are on display at the space, and the new horse design collection helps decorate the site as it hosts the upcoming Lunar New Year, or Tết, and welcomes tourists exploring Hội An’s tourism offerings, he said.

Thuận said every piece of firewood can be reused in another cycle of life, and innovation by skilled local carpenters helps make Hội An a new centre of creative recycled art within a ‘green’ tourism trend.

Local craftsmen have used lacquer-based designs for the horse sculptures to tell tourists stories of the strength and spirit of horses, he said.

A horse art piece is displayed at Driftwood Village in Hội An ancient town. A collection of firewood-created art pieces is on display in the town during Tết (lunar New Year) holiday that falls on February 15-22. — Photo courtesy of Driftwood Village

“Local people in the central region had struggled against historic floods that damaged the area between October and November 2025, and the horse-riding design depicts the resilience of local people as they rebuild their lives after disaster-induced destruction,” Thuận said.

“The image of a man riding a horse reflects how local people found rooftops to be their last shelter in flood-stricken areas. Yet, in spiritual terms, disaster victims see the horse as a life-saving symbol that helps them keep going during the post-flood recovery process,” a local craftsman added.

Thuận said more than 400 firewood-recycled sculptures have been created by the skilled hands of traditional carpenters from the 400-year-old Kim Bồng Village in Hội An, with all pieces on display at Driftwood Village.

He said the driftwood sculpture collection has been displayed at the Hội An Garden in Wernigerode, Hội An’s twin town in Germany. — VNS