QUẢNG NAM — Researcher Trần Tấn Vịnh from Quảng Nam provincial library has completed a 200-page book on the Cơ Tu ethnic group’s artistic wood sculptures.

Vịnh told Việt Nam News that 800 copies of the book will be released later this year.

The book features culture of wooden sculpture of the central province’s Cơ Tu ethnic group, an artistic approach that has been preserved by the community from past centuries.

Vịnh said he took 15 years to study and research the Cơ Tu culture and lifestyle.

Traditionally, Cơ Tu people create wooden masks and sculpture on timber columns to decorate their Gươl (communal house) and play as spiritual protection figures for the community.

The artwork has been preserved for a few hundred years, since the appearance of the ethnic group in the region.

Pơrning Village, which has a large population of Cơ Tu people in Quảng Nam Province’s Tây Giang District, still preserves the longest-standing tradition of the Cơ Tu people.

According to Cơ Lâu Nâm, 86, one of the oldest sculptor living in Pơrning, wooden carved masks are believed to represent the souls of the dead, the good and the evil, while depict the daily lives of the Cơ Tu people.

He said masks used to hang on the village’s gate and all columns of the Gươl – two spiritual places of Cơ Tu community – to drive away devils and protect the villagers from supernatural disasters.

The book, written in Vietnamese, will also feature photos and collections of wood statue sculpture. — VNS