Project for preserving Vietnamese pottery

Phu Lang is one of the two ancient pottery villages in northern Vietnam. Leonard Pascal, chairman of a Belgian pottery association, paid a visit to Phu Lang two years ago and discovered that many Japanese pottery items were produced in this small village.
Pascal was surprised to learn that the beautiful Vietnamese pottery is not displayed at international pottery exhibitions, where Japanese and Chinese pottery rules.
He was also incensed because Vietnamese pottery is sold under the name of foreign partners.
He surveyed northern pottery villages and worked with Vietnamese potter artisans on how to build pottery brand names for Vietnam.
Realizing the cultural value and the attraction of pottery villages on the banks of the Red River, some Belgium agencies have cooperated with the Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Agency to conduct a project called “A Cultural Itinerary of Traditional Craft Villages” since 2004.
This project aims to preserve and develop the intangible and tangible cultural herigates of the ancient pottery villages of Bat Trang, Chu Dau, Phu Lang, Cay, Tho Ha and Dong Trieu.
Visiting Phu Lang last week, a VietNamNet reporter was impressed by the brownish pottery products and ceramic paintings displayed everywhere in the village.
Phu Lang potter products are diversified, but the most special ones have fine patterns and unique paintings made by the village’s famous artisans like Vu Huu Nhung and Nguyen Minh Ngoc.
Nhung’s pottery business rests on thousands of square meters of land. This enterprise’s products are not only available in Vietnam, but also in many other countries, especially Japan.
Reporters were allowed to watch, but asked not to take photos of the products at the request of their client to keep the sample designs secret.
Artisan Nhung said that his enterprise has produced pottery for Japanese partners for years. They supply samples and then the enterprise manufactures them. The products are very unique and meticulously-crafted