Khuc Toai villagers in Khuc Xuyen Commune, Bac Ninh City (Bac Ninh Province) have long been famous for their traditional craft of carpentry. In recent years they have also become known for the special fine arts products made from the roots of dead or excavated trees that are much sought after by both domestic and foreign customers.
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| Grafting small wooden pieces into a painting requires the artist’s patience |
In 1975, Nguyen Van Vien, a native of Khuc Toai Village, realized that trees that had been uprooted during the flood season and flooding down the Ngu Huyen Khe River could be put to good use. An idea came to him to use the roots of these trees and graft them into paintings with different themes.
Vien said that the fibber from the tree roots, particularly of valuable timbers such as Dinh (Polyscias filiciflia), Lim (Erythrophloeum fordii oliv), Sen (Basia) and Tau (Vatica vietnamiensis) has unique colour, diverse veins, fragrance and sparkle, so they are very good for grafted paintings.
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“Fir-tree and cranes†|
To graft a painting with tree root fibre the artist has to take several steps. After conceiving a theme the artist will draw the idea on paper, select the proper roots, and produce an over-all sculptural base. Then comes the most important step, i.e. to graft thousands of small wooden pieces into a painting, which has a complete layout and high artistic value. All these undertakings require the artist's patience and creativity.
Paintings made by Nguyen Van Vien are rich in themes and of high artistic value. Some of his famous works are "Buffalo boys", "Countryside", "Rural market", "Returning home to pay thanks to ancestors after achieving academic honours", "Quan Ho (love duets) of Bac Ninh", "Nhu Nguyet River wharf", "Hung Temple festival", "Ly Thuong Kiet", "Old Hien Streets", and "Quan Chuong city gate in Hanoi".
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“Quan Ho singers inBac Ninh Province†|
After years of doing research and making this special type of paintings, in 1987 Nguyen Van Vien was awarded the title "Artisan with gold hands" by the Vietnam Union of Handicraft Co-operatives. At present Vien's wooden paintings are not only sold in big domestic markets such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City, but also exported to Thailand, Canada, the United States and some East European countries.