Exhibition depicts history of craft villages

      Each ceramic artefact made in Lai Thieu Market in Binh Duong Province carries a message of the southern culinary culture.
"I can see from these pots that our forefathers’ cuisine was subtle and clever," said ceramic collector Nguyen Anh Kiet.
Many years ago, Lai Thieu Market produced ceramics to export to many regions in the country and other neighbouring countries.
Collectors have amassed more than 600 ceramic and terracotta pieces that were made for household use in the province, which are now on display at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.
Besides these objects, the musuem has 215 other artefacts and another 424 ceramic pieces that were made in the south.
The Lai Thieu style was first used in 1860, when Chinese from Guangdong, Chaozhou and Fujian settled in the district and popularised the traditional craft.
The museum is displaying the objects in three categories of pattern, colour and region.
Nguyen Thi Duc, head of the museum, said many of the ceramics had never been displayed before, some of them having taken more than 20 years to collect.
The exhibition, which ends in May, was organised to mark the 34th anniversary of the South Viet Nam’s liberation.