Hue fest promises crafty time

      Outstanding researchers and artisans from craft villages around the country are taking part in this year's Traditional Craft Festival in the former royal capital of Hue.
The opening ceremony yesterday, June 10, featured a special music and dance programme and an exhibit of old porcelain and enamelware.
An exhibition of porcelain, enamelware, lacquerware and other traditional crafts will be on display the first day, as will a lacquer painting exhibition of artist Do Ky Hoang and Le Ba Dang, two of the founders of lacquer painting in Hue.
The festival will also feature an ao dai show, exhibitions of preserved masterpieces, Hue court objects and art and sculpture from well-known collectors, as well as photographs and enamelware.
Several art museums in HCM City are showing pieces from their collections.
This year's festival will also celebrate the 110th anniversary of the construction of Truong Tien Bridge and Dong Ba Market in Hue.
In addition to the regular programme, a group of ceramics up to 2,000 years old found in the Huong River and purchased by Ho Tan Phan and other collectors will also be on display.
Phan said he chose the theme "Rivers that Tell Story", because all of the pieces were collected from rivers, mostly in Hue.
"By showing these artifacts, we can uncover thousands of years of history and culture," Phan said.
The festival shows have several themes, including The Mark of the Rivers, Several Thousand Years of History, The Champa Era, Traditional Culture, Glimpses of Thang Long-Dang Do-Ha Noi, Extending the Day and Shortening the Night, Culture of Vietnamese Cuisine, and Old Ways of Life that Live on Today.