Sinh village, located 10km north of Hue, is famed for its colourful folk paintings. Not only inherited woodblock printing techniques, the colours, the topics depict Hue unique cultural values that have been transferred through generational. Originally, Sinh paintings serve religious purposes during Tet holidays, worshipping rituals. Nowadays, it add more stories about daily life and become an exotic souvenir or decorative objects.
Sinh folk paintings are totally handcrafted. The process includes seven steps: paper cutting, applying scallop shell powder, pressing papers on woodblocks, drying papers, mixing colors, coloring and finally, adorning with figures’ eyes of the paintings. Paper must be made from the inner bark Dó tree (Rhamnoneuron balansae), covered with a layer of scallop shell powder (collected from Tam Giang lagoon) for gaining durability and color retention.
Originally, Sinh folk paintings is divided into three main theme categories, human figures, animals and objects. These are used for praying. Now, the paintings add scenes of village life or spring landscapes, scenes taken from stories and legends, pictures featuring the animals of the Vietnamese horoscope (especially those of the upcoming and current lunar years). The prints are produced with pictures carved into wooden printing blocks. The prints’ five colours are of natural origin, the black being from charred bamboo leaves, the orange from gardenia flowers, the blue from indigo and so on.
There was a period that the authority considered worshipping and votive offering as superstitious. That leaded to the downfall of the craft village. Artisan Ky Huu Phuoc dedicated his thirty years to safeguard this crafts and inspired other villagers to sustain. We are striving to promote this heritage by intergrating into tourism activities, through immersive tours and gift design.
Meet the resilient artisan who dedicate his life to preserving this art during “Bao Vinh Craft village” tour. You will try your hand making a Sinh folk painting and keep it as souvenir. It is not only an enriching cultural journey but also help to sustain local craft.
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