Vietnam’s traditional craft villages where artisans for hundreds ofyears have produced bronze, ceramic, silk and bamboo products, amongother crafts, are under threat, according to the Nhan Dan (People)online newspaper.
Suffering from the impacts of economicrecession, as well as a lack of capital, problems with thesustainability of the material supply source, shortfalls in managementand importantly, little recognition for the artisan’s work, Vietnam’scraft villages could be lost.
Villages like Chu Dau and Bat Trangpottery villages, Van Phuc silk village, Dinh Cong and Dong Xuan bronzevilages, Quat Dong embroidery village, and Phu Vinh bamboo and rattanvillage, with hundreds of years of history could eventually becomedesolate.
A key threat to the survival of the villages is thelack of recognition for the artisans, which discourages young peoplefrom continuing on their family history. There are yet to be clearregulations on the criteria for the title nor a specific organisationentrusted with the recognition process.
This poor management hasmeant that not only are the right people not being awarded but also atthe same time unqualified artisans are wrongly given the title.
Forexample, in Ha Tay province (now merged with Hanoi) - the land of manylong-standing crafts - numerous remarkable artisans have not yet beennamed in the awardee list.
The problem spreads widely, withartisans ‘ignored’ in other localities also, such as Tran Thi Y Lan inHo Chi Minh City, the producers of unique sand pictures; Le Van Vong inKieu Ky gold-inlay village; and Nguyen Thi Mai Van in the wine makingvillage.
On the other hand, those who have been honoured do notreceive reasonable economic benefits, such as free training courses,space to show their products at fairs, or invitations to train theyounger generation of their fields.
In short, we are pushingtalent away from the crafts, away from the preservation of heritage andto the end of the villages instead of towards development andinnovation.
Action is needed now in order to save Vietnam’straditional craft villages and help those struggling to carry on withtheir ancestral traditions. Acknowledgement and honour for the artisanscannot be postponed any more.
Firstly, specific ministries andsectors must be assigned to manage the different issues. It is suggestedthe Ministry of Trade and Industry work with those from craft villagesin the production and business fields while it is recommended theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism considers those working intangible and intangible cultural fields. The Vietnam Fatherland FrontCentral Committee should further co-ordination with its memberorganisations and social organisations to ensure that no artisan ismissed from the acknowledgement.
Vietnam can also learn fromJapan, where once many craft villages faced collapse with young peopleflocking en-masse to big cities. To address the issue, the JapaneseGovernment developed policies to ‘preserve’ artisanship and providedthem with preferential insurance. With improved living standards, theartisans had more time to train the younger generations and developtheir crafts. Thanks to the decision, the craft villages recovered.
OtherASEAN countries have been known to show appreciation for artisans byorganising exhibitions of their products and providing them withbenefits such as regular health check-ups.
If we value theartisans now we have a chance to not only save the villages but developthe trades above and beyond what they have ever been.-VNA