(BNP) - At 2:38 PM local time on December 9th (3:08 PM the same day in Vietnam), in New Delhi (India), the Dong Ho folk painting craft in Dong Khe quarter (Thuan Thanh ward, Bac Ninh province) was inscribed by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Mr. Mai Son, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province attended the ceremony.
Artisan Nguyen Van Hoa (on the right) instructs tourists on how to make Dong Ho folk paintings.
The craft of making Dong Ho folk paintings originated approximately 500 years ago. The community practicing this craft created paintings with unique characteristics in terms of themes, printing techniques, colors, and graphics using woodblock printing.
The themes of these paintings often include: devotional paintings, celebratory paintings, historical paintings, paintings depicting daily life, and landscape paintings, associated with the custom of hanging paintings during Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, ancestor worship, and deity worship.
The entire process of creating the design, carving the printing blocks, preparing the colors, and printing the pictures is done by hand. The design is drawn with a brush and ink on handmade paper and carved onto a wooden block.
Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province (second from the left) attend the program.
The colors are made from natural ingredients such as: blue from indigo leaves, red from ochre, yellow from pagoda tree flowers and gardenia fruit, white from weathered scallop powder, and black from bamboo leaf ash and glutinous rice straw.
The painting is printed upside down with 5 basic colors on Do paper covered with a layer of Phalaenopsis. The colors are printed according to the principle of printing red first, followed by blue, yellow, and white. The black line is printed last to complete the painting.
According to the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the nomination dossier for the Dong Ho folk painting craft of Vietnam meets the criteria for urgent protection.
Dong Ho folk paintings are closely associated with important festivals such as Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as rituals for worshipping ancestors and deities.
"The Mouse Wedding" is a representative painting of the Dong Ho folk painting village.
