THỪA THIÊN- HUẾ — Craft villages around the country will gather in the former imperial city of Huế for five festive days as part of the Huế Craft Village Festival.

At the event, taking place from April 28 to May 2, villages and their artisans will have the opportunity to showcase their craft products and skills in their natural ambience, created for them in the city.

Visitors are welcome to participate in the craft processes and are also allowed to take home the handmade products made with help from the artisans.

The event will showcase exhibits and performances of products and artisans in 13 crafts, including embroidery, jewelry manufacturing, carpentry and bronze casting, as well as rattan and bamboo making, paper flowers and painting making, and enamel manufacturing.

According to Nguyễn Đăng Thạnh, the city’s deputy chairman, the event is being held to honour villages and artisans for their efforts in maintaining the crafts.

“The event is to highlight the quintessential craftsmanship of Vietnamese people and will help to open links and co-operation bonds for the promotion of craft products,” he said.

Thạnh, who is also deputy head of the event’s organisers, said they would connect craft and tourism by manufacturing handmade tourist souvenir items, an attempt to increase the sale of craft products and ensure craft villages survive around the country.

During the five-day event, 300 Vietnamese artisans will be available as craft guides and to present performances, together with artisans from Huế’s sister cities Takayama, Saijo and Shizuoka from Japan; Busan from South Korea; and Yixing from China.

This year’s event will introduce some craft villages and facilities that have never attended any of the five previous events held biennially since 2005.

These include glass painting represented by young artist Dương Văn Kính and mat making showcased by artisan Nguyễn Viết Nam. Kính is the only artist of his kind in Huế and presents his work on reverse glass paintings. Nam, a middle-aged man, is skillful in making tiny sourvernirs and daily items from grey-rush-plant mattresses knitted by his home village’s artisans.

The event is also a means to foster ASEAN solidarity, with the display of fabric costumes designed by 19 fashion designers from Việt Nam, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Malaysia and Myanmar.

On the sidelines of the event, a food and beverage festival will offer locals and visitors a wide range of specialties from localities around the country.

The highlight of the event is an áo dài fashion show that is proposed to take place on the city’s iconic Trường Tiền Bridge. This is the first time after 15 years that an áo dài show will take place on the bridge. Similar shows have never been held at previous versions of this event.

The collection will comprise efforts of designers, artists and family members of late renowned artists in Huế, including late artists Tôn Thất Đào, Bửu Chỉ and Đinh Cường. Following the proposal, paintings by 20 artists will be reenacted on the áo dài.

According to designer Minh Hạnh, the show manager, áo dài fashion shows have taken place in localities around the country, but the combination of costumes and paintings is unique in Huế.

Deputy chairman Thạnh said Huế’s painters contributed much to the art industry of the country and this was a chance to honour them.

The combination of áo dài and paintings is expected to delight audiences, along with the exhibition of 2,000 unique craft items. — VNS