Delegates visit the Đông Hồ folk painting exhibition area at the Vietnamese Folk Paintings exhibition organised by the Bắc Ninh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. — Photos courtesy of Bắc Ninh City

BẮC NINH — As modern life gathers pace and traditional cultural values risk fading, the family of artisan Nguyễn Hữu Hoa and his wife, Meritorious Artisan Nguyễn Thị Oanh, has worked to preserve and promote Đông Hồ folk painting, an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

Practised in Đông Khê Quarter, Thuận Thành Ward, Bắc Ninh Province, the craft dates back around 500 years and flourished in the 1940s.

After 1945, it faced the risk of extinction as many families turned to making votive paper offerings. Today, down a small alley in the former Mái Village, the family of Hoa and Oanh, together with their children and grandchildren, continues its efforts to preserve and develop the craft.

Oanh said she was born and raised in a craft village. Her mother made Đông Hồ paintings, and she later married into a family with a long tradition in the trade. This upbringing instilled in her a love for the heritage, which gradually became the driving force behind her continued learning, creativity and efforts to find sustainable ways to develop the craft.

Committed to hand-printed paintings made with wooden blocks and natural materials — red from earth, yellow from sophora flowers and white from scallop shells — Oanh has preserved traditional techniques and worked to restore valuable designs from the past.

She has also created more than 50 new designs that bring together the spirit of folk art and contemporary touches, helping the craft reach a wider market.

Delegates visit the Đông Hồ folk painting exhibition area.

Artisan Nguyễn Hữu Hoa is the son of Meritorious Artisan Nguyễn Hữu Sam, a veteran of the Đông Hồ folk painting craft.

Hoa said he had been familiar with the craft since childhood, helping his father colour and hang paintings to dry, as well as tidy up the workshop.

Growing up surrounded by the sound of wooden blocks being carved and paintings being printed, he came to see the craft as a family treasure.

Today, the family preserves around 600 printing blocks in its ancestral home and exhibition room, including some dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also has thousands of Đông Hồ paintings covering a wide range of themes.

Taking Đông Hồ folk painting to the world

Alongside creating works and teaching the craft, Oanh and Hoa regularly give demonstrations at events in Việt Nam and abroad.

Through these activities, they have helped visitors from home and abroad gain a deeper understanding of this distinctive Vietnamese folk art. Each painting carries not only aesthetic value but also humanistic stories that reflect the customs, daily life and philosophy of the Vietnamese people.

A village artisan creates a Đông Hồ folk painting on the theme of the horse for the Tết holiday.

The trip that left the deepest impression on Artisan Hoa took place from December 8 to 13, 2025. He was the only artisan from Đông Hồ folk painting village to accompany the Vietnamese Government delegation to the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in New Delhi, India.

There, he witnessed UNESCO inscribe Đông Hồ folk painting on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Reflecting on the moment when his ancestors’ traditional craft was recognised, Hoa said it had brought honour and pride to Việt Nam and to everyone involved in Đông Hồ folk painting.

That pride has also strengthened artisans’ and the community’s sense of responsibility to preserve traditional values and improve the quality of their products.

Nguyễn Văn Đáp, deputy director of the Bắc Ninh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said artisans played an important role in preserving and promoting heritage. Bắc Ninh now has eight intangible cultural heritage items recognised by UNESCO, 25 groups of national treasures, 33 intangible cultural heritage items on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and 246 artisans working in the field.

Children watch Meritorious Artisan Nguyễn Thị Oanh paint a Đông Hồ painting.

In recent years, artisans have played an important role not only as “keepers of the flame” but also as “creators of value”. They practise, preserve and pass on their heritage while actively promoting it and helping others understand its significance.

Through artisans’ demonstrations and explanations, international visitors can discover Đông Hồ painting, a distinctive Vietnamese folk art created with natural materials and a unique style. — VNS