Project “Reimagine The Artist/Artisan” – Event No. 3: Talk “Đất xanh gốm sành”

Sun 25 Sep 2016, 4 pm
Six Space

From the organizer:

Project “Re-imagine the Artist / Artisan” has successfully traveled halfway through its journey and obtained positive results from event 01 and 02. In the third event of the series, Six Space would like to present to the community interested in Vietnamese craft villages the art of pottery from the village of Huong Canh (Vinh Phuc). The event attendees will witness a conversation between artisan Tran Van Hai, one of the only remaining local artisans who mastered technical processes, and the ceramic firing method; and sculptor Thai Nhat Minh. The talk will brief artist Thai Nhat Minh’s journey from learning techniques and green clay characteristics of Huong Canh pottery during his residency at artisan Tran Van Hai’s to testing and practicing on his own sculptures. Also, in reverse, the process of the artisan spending decades of experience observing the transformation of materials and shapes in the hands of ceramic artist.

Some representative works of artisan Tran Van Hai and artist Thai Nhat Minh will be on display 30 minutes before and during the event.

Event No. 3 will include:
A dialogue between the artist & artisan
Artisan’s performance on wheel wedging
Exhibition of equipment, products and works of the artist & artisan (during the event only)

ABOUT CERAMIC VILLAGE HUONG CANH

Huong Canh ceramic village is an old ceramic and pottery craft village located in Binh Xuyen district of Vinh Phuc province which is beyond the age of 300 and known for rustic line of products such as jars, pans, pots and cups. These products are significant for their high strength and practicality to serve the essential needs of rural life. In the past, people in the North of Vietnam had the saying “Mong Cai porcelain – Huong Canh jars” to confirm the product brand of Huong Canh ceramic quality. Due to the structure of green clay, Huong Canh terracotta products that go through long firing in the oven makes clanging sound like the sound of metal, which reserves not only the authentic characteristics of clay material but the sinewy, energetic, rich in personality and fascinating peculiarities as well. However, the mass production of plastic and ceramic art have distressed Huong Canh ceramics. Huong Canh ceramic village has been through many ups and downs, events after events, sometimes it was thought to be almost closed. Local artisans are no longer interested in pottery profession which thereby lead to the oblivion of Huong Canh ceramic village.

ABOUT ARTISAN TRAN VAN HAI

Artisan Tran Van Hai, 62 years old, is now the owner of Hai At ceramic company – one of the last four families that produce ceramic and pottery in Huong Canh craft village. Mr.Tran is the fourth generation in his family’s profession. Among those four remaining households, Tran Van Hai is the only person who knows how to build a hand-built kiln. “Not everyone who works in this field knows how to observe the color of the flame in order to adjust the temperature of the kiln. At the moment only a few in this village actually have “an eye for ceramics” – shared Mr. Hai. Along with the ups and downs of the craft village, his family has been through those periods of time where it seemed impossible to stay in business with ceramics and pottery but he was determined enough to be steadfast follower and keep up with the job of preserving traditional ways of making pottery.

ABOUT ARTIST NHAT MINH THAI

Nhat Minh Thai sculptor, born in 1984 in Lap Thach, Vinh Phuc, graduated from Vietnam University of Fine Arts in 2009 and received his master’s degree here in 2012. He is now living and working in Hanoi. Thai Nhat Minh has over 10 years of experience in art field. He has participated in many exhibitions, domestic and international art camps with diverse material range, from cast aluminum, cardboard, colored composite and is currently testing ceramic material.

Significant exhibitions inclue: group sculpture exhibition “New Form” 2012, 2013 & 2014, “Reproductive Cycle” – Artspace Manzi, 2014, “Chinh phu, chinh phu” Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, 2016, “the Seed” – Dong Phong Gallery, 2016.

Thai Nhat Minh also achieved numerous awards including an award from Vietnam Fine arts Association in 2014, second prize of 3rd National Youth Arts Festival (2011-2014), Honorable Mention in Nationwide Sculpture Exhibition 10th Anniversary (2003-2013) …

Please learn more about the artist at: www.thainhatminh.net

ABOUT PROJECT “REIMAGINE THE ARTIST/ARTISAN”

The project is created and run by a group of multidisciplinary artists and art researchers who are inspired, nostalgic and passionate about the history, knowledge, aesthetics and possibilities of art craftsmanship and craft villages in Vietnam.

Launched in 2016, this participatory art-based research project aims to foster learning, dialogue and collaboration among artists, artisans and the wider public to openly converse on:
• The cultural, aesthetic and social functions of the artist/artisan in the creative process and production
• The present and future relationship as well as shared influence between artists and artisans
• Internal and external factors that influence the aesthetics, creative process and production of craft villages and artisans
• Transformation in ways of seeing and practicing craftsmanship
• Revitalizing and reimagining craftsmanship in handicraft and art production
• Preservation and possibilities, cross-fertilization and innovation in art and crafts

The project includes participatory art-based research; mapping of handicraft villages in North Vietnam; a peer-learning residency program linking artists and artisans in handicraft villages; and a series of public workshops and exhibitions featuring distinguished artisans and innovative artwork inspired by traditional Vietnamese handicrafts.

The project is managed by Six Space with financial sponsorship from Prince Claus Fund “The future is handmade – Redesigning Crafts”.

Free admission. The event will be hosted in Vietnamese language.

Please feel free to contact our number at 0126.620.3694 (Ms. Linh) for any questions.