Dong Ho folk painting craft added to UNESCO’s urgent safeguarding list

UNESCO has inscribed the Dong Ho folk painting craft on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, Vietnam’s 17th element on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. (Photo: VNA)

Dong Ho folk paintings are at risk of disappearing due to the impacts of the market economy and changing aesthetic tastes, which make it difficult for artisans to find buyers. Only a handful of families, such as that of artisan Nguyen Dang Che in the northern province of Bac Ninh, continue the craft, as most villagers have shifted to making votive paper (2019). (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)

Creating a Dong Ho painting model takes a great deal of time. Artisans must carefully choose the subject, symbolic meaning, composition, harmonious colors, and artistic value. (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)

Dong Ho folk paintings fall into various categories: worship paintings, congratulatory paintings, historical paintings, story paintings, proverb paintings, landscape paintings, and depictions of daily life (2025). (Photo: Hoang Hieu – VNA)

Traditionally, Dong Ho paintings were produced at the end of the year to meet the demand for home decoration and ancestral worship during the Lunar New Year (2025). (Photo: Hoang Hieu – VNA)

Only a few families in Dong Ho Village still maintain the craft. Given this situation, issuing policies and measures to safeguard and promote the value of this intangible cultural heritage has become essential (2019). (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)

Dong Ho printing blocks include two types: line blocks and color blocks. (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)

In addition to woodblock printing, large-format paintings are hand-painted. Creating new Dong Ho models is often the collective effort of the entire village across generations. (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)

After printing, Dong Ho paintings are removed from the blocks, placed on bamboo trays, and dried in airy spaces. When dry, artisans continue printing subsequent colors, with the black outline always printed last. (Photo: Minh Quyet – VNA)