Female artist spends nearly half a century "preserving the soul" of Dong Ho folk paintings

VHO- Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh is the only female artisan in Bac Ninh who has "kept the fire" of making Dong Ho folk paintings for nearly half a century. Recently, she was awarded the title "Meritorious Artisan" by the President.

Walking along the Duong River dike, I visited the house of artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh (Song Ho commune, Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh ) when she was just awarded the title of "Meritorious Artisan" by the President. Mrs. Oanh was busy printing black dots for the "Shepherd Playing the Flute" paintings, while enthusiastically talking about the genre of paintings that has been associated with her for nearly half a century.

Female artist spends nearly half a century "preserving the soul" of Dong Ho paintings

Nearly half a century of preserving the "fire of the profession"

Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh (60 years old) is the eldest daughter-in-law of the late artisan Nguyen Huu Sam - the first outstanding artisan of Dong Ho folk painting village. The late artisan was the one who guided and trained Mrs. Oanh and her second son Nguyen Huu Qua to become the people who are attached to and preserve the craft of making Dong Ho folk paintings.

Female artisan spends nearly half a century preserving the soul of Dong Ho folk paintings - 1Click to enlarge photoArtisan Nguyen Thi Oanh is absorbed in wind paper and printing boards.

Artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh expressed her excitement and pride when talking about Dong Ho folk paintings, because this is a historical and cultural treasure that needs to be preserved and passed down.

Ms. Oanh said: "In the past, my village had 17 families making paintings, but then they all stopped, leaving only 2 families, Nguyen Huu and Nguyen Dang, each family only had 1 family making paintings."

Having been involved with Dong Ho folk paintings since she was 14 years old, and now having worked with wind paper and printed boards for nearly 50 years, artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh expressed: "Since I was young, I have been exposed to Dong Ho paintings. I went to school in the morning and drew in the afternoon, so I know by heart the steps and secrets to making paintings. When I grew up, I became the main worker, and then by chance became the daughter-in-law of the late artisan Nguyen Huu Sam."

In 2010, due to old age and poor health, artisan Nguyen Huu Sam handed over the entire folk painting production facility to Ms. Oanh. She both manages and maintains the collection and production of Dong Ho folk paintings.

She also created some paintings with new themes: Dau Pagoda, But Thap Pagoda, etc. Up to now, Ms. Oanh is the 6th generation in a family of 7 generations making Dong Ho folk paintings.

Folk paintings have been associated with the female artist for nearly 50 years.

Mrs. Oanh dedicates 4 rooms in the house to display paintings created by her and generations of her family.

She actively participated in a number of major exhibitions and was awarded a commemorative medal by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the title "Artisan of Vietnamese Craft Villages" and "Artisan of Bac Ninh Province".

Most recently, she was awarded the title "Meritorious Artisan"by the President and is also the only outstanding female artist of 62 craft villages in Bac Ninh province.

"It is a joy and an honor when my efforts and contributions to Dong Ho folk paintings are recognized," Ms. Oanh said emotionally.

Passing on the "professional passion" to the younger generation

Dong Ho folk paintings are a long-standing genre of Vietnamese paintings with unique content and artistic values. Dong Ho paintings are both simple, rustic and profound, philosophical, passed down from generation to generation, and have now become a unique feature of national culture.

Ms. Oanh said that her main job is to sketch the model, but to complete a Dong Ho painting, she can do every step.

Each Dong Ho painting has as many colors as there are prints. This "Shepherd Playing the Flute" painting has 4 colors, there will be 4 corresponding prints.

She also created and produced many other products to attract more customers. Not only paintings, but also notebooks of all kinds, even wood prints for people to print complete paintings themselves.

The special feature of Dong Ho paintings is that all the materials are completely made from Vietnamese natural plants and flowers, such as yellow from Sophora japonica flowers, white from sea buckthorn, pink from red pebbles on the mountain, black from bamboo leaf charcoal and straw charcoal.

When carving wood, you must pay attention to choosing wood for carving. For carving lines, you must choose star wood, for carving colored wood, you must choose fat wood. When printing pictures, you must print red first, then blue, yellow, white, and finally print black lines.

Poet Hoang Cam wrote about this genre of painting: "The national soul shines brightly on the paper."

Dong Ho folk paintings not only meet the cultural, spiritual, religious and artistic needs of the people, but also contain educational content about human personality in daily life.

During the conversation, artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh expressed her concern: "I just hope that Dong Ho folk paintings will always exist with the development of the country, because it shows the quintessence and unique cultural values ​​of the Vietnamese people."

With passion, artisan Nguyen Thi Oanh still works hard every day on folk paintings.

She is also teaching her son and daughter-in-law the craft. In addition, she regularly guides and introduces traditional paintings to students and tourists who come to visit and learn about this genre.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/nu-nghe-nhan-danh-gan-nua-the-ky-giu-hon-tranh-dan-gian-dong-ho-20382.html