Some of the RoK's traditional handicrafts displayed at the 2017 Hue Traditional Craft Festival (Photo: toquoc.vn) Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The biennial Hue Traditional Craft Festival has established itself as a big economic and cultural event thanks to the display of unique traditional crafts of not only Vietnam but also other countries.
The eighth edition of the festival will be held in Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, from April 26 to May 2.
Chairman of the Hue People’s Committee Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the festival’s organising board, said in recent years, relevant agencies have worked to promote the scale of this event by inviting artisans of famous traditional crafts in several countries.
He noted 68 artisans from eight cities that have twinning and cooperative relationships with Hue, along with some craft and business associations from Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China and Brazil have confirmed to attend this year’s festival.
Gyeongju city of the RoK has taken part in the festival since 2015, introducing its traditional arts of hair and pottery making. At the 2017 event, Dongnae – another city of the RoK – grabbed visitors’ attention with a diversity of handicrafts like Korean knots, necklaces, lacquerware, and traditional dolls.
Besides exhibiting traditional handicrafts, the RoK also organised film screening and exchanges with its directors, actors and actresses at the Hue festival.
Cultural identities of the RoK will continue to be introduced at this year’s festival by artisans from Gyeongju, Dongnae, the Korean Traditional Arts and Craft Association, and other associations.
They will show not only products but also the processes of crafting bronze trays, the traditional Korean dress of Hanbok, and hanji (paper) products. Notably, mother-of-pearl inlaid and lacquered objects of Namyangju city, Gyeonggi province, will also be displayed.
Meanwhile, Japan has participated in the Hue Traditional Craft Festival since 2013, when Saijo city impressed visitors with its traditional dress and cuisine. This city returned to the 2015 festival with many signature products like the kimono and traditional paper handicrafts, including dolls, lanterns and envelops, thus attracting the interest of visitors and local residents.
Besides Saijo, other cities such as Takayama and Shizuoka, along with businesses from Japan, also showcased their country’s traditional crafts at the subsequent festival in 2017.
The upcoming event promises to feature many more unique handicrafts from Saijo, Takayama and Sasayama cities.
The organising board said this year’s festival will also see the presence of representatives from Konya city of Turkey, São Luís city of Brazil and Jiangsu province of China.-VNA
VNA
