At the age of 74, artisan Phung Dinh Giap still creates the traditional products and tells stories about clay statues of Ho village with an expectation to preserve the beauty of Vietnamese folk culture.

Artisan Phung Dinh Giap performs clay statue making techniques in France.

“Our ancestors embedded in clay statues with meaningful messages and long traditional values to educate and remind younger generations of human virtues. The traditional set of clay statues includes 5 characters with different meanings. Particularly, the character of dove implies the aspiration for peace, the turtle is associated with the vast ocean and the legend of Kim Quy (Golden Turtle God), the old man and child embody the succession of tradition and the central clay statue of Buddha carries spiritual meanings and lessons that encourage younger generations to lead virtuous, compassionate, and well-mannered lives”, he said.

Clay products made by artisan Phung Dinh Giap have become well-known for many people.

Ordinary clay lumps are transformed into simple yet rustic statues by Giap’s skillful and experienced hands. Each clay statue has different sizes. Although they are simple in form, the statues are characterized by gentle, unadorned lines and innocent faces, as if they had stepped out from a fairy tale.

When taking his children to Ho village, meeting and taking to the clay statue making artisan, Nguyen Thi Hue (from Hanoi) said, “As watching the artisan making clay statues and listening to his stories, I felt like I was going back to my sweet childhood with simple yet lovely toys. I also learned about the traditional cultural values left by our ancestors to respect them more”.

With silent and resilient dedication, artisan Phung Dinh Giap is the final man preserving the craft of making clay statues in Ho village. He not only protects a traditional craft facing risk of fading, but he also preserves a world of childhood cultural memories of Vietnamese people.

The main material to make statues is clay. The clay must be dug at a depth of 2 to 3 metres, then it is dried, ground into powder and mixed with do (crepe) paper powder.

Statues are sculptured by hand, sundried and processed in many steps including polishing or painting to ensure glossy durability while keeping the rustic beauty of clay.

Artisan Phung Dinh Giap introduces visitors clay statue making processes.

Clay products made by artisan Phung Dinh Giap have become well-known for many people.

Clay statutes of Ho village have been displayed at several tourist sites in Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang and showcased in some museums in the US, Republic of Korea and Japan.

Specially, artisan Phung Dinh Giap and the delegation of Bac Ninh province had an opportunity to show and promote the craft of making clay statues in France as a unique cultural feature of Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh homeland.

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