2.5 billion VND for preservation of Dong Ho folk prints

A centre to preserve the Dong Ho folk print making craft is being under construction at a cost of 2.5 billion VND (156,250 USD) in Song Ho commune, Thuan Thanh district, northern Bac Ninh province, 30km northeast of Ha Noi.

The centre, built by the joint efforts of the local authorities and craftman Nguyen Dang Che, one of very few masters of the craft, will include a courtyard, a garden and buildings for displaying and making prints with the typical architecture of ancient houses in the northern delta region.
Scheduled to be put into use in early March, the centre will display some 200 Dong Ho prints of various patterns, and preserve close to 1,000 wooden blocks, including many valuable ones dated back over 200 years. The artifacts have been collected by Che and his family for several decades.
Che is also preparing for compiling bilingual books in Vietnamese and English to introduce the values of these distinctive rustic prints, once essential decorations during the northern region’s Lunar New Year festival.
Before 1945, more than 150 families were engaged in making these prints, as compared to only three families at present.
In his late 60s, Nguyen Dang Che can trace his family's involvement in the print making business back 20 generations. Like his ancestors, Che makes his own paper from the bark of the “do” tree, then brushes it with a paste made from crushed mussel shells to give it an iridescent shine. The paints themselves are also derived from natural ingredients: red from clay and rocks; orange from gardenia flowers; black from charred bamboo leaves; and blue from indigo leaves.
Traditional prints often feature common barnyard animals like roosters, buffaloes, goats, cats, and pigs. During New Year festivals, people would adorn their homes with cheerful prints that portrayed scenes and animals associated with good luck, family, fertility, happiness and prosperity.
According to scholars, the popularity of these prints probably peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries.

(Source: VNA)