War Nearly Killed This Vietnamese Art. Meet One Family Keeping It Alive | Still Standing 

I once heard a story of how this art came to be. There was a king who wanted a painting to decorate his castle. He sent a message to all of the artist in the country that he would reward them if they could paint for him. But there's a catch. The painting was supposed to be painted on fabric but not on paper. Many people tried but instead ruined the fabric. Soon after, no one was willing to try because it was impossible to paint on fabric. However, in a village somewhere(Dong Ho village), there's an artist who was persistence in try the new method. He tried painting with whatever he could find. He came up with an idea of applying the base coat(made out of crushed 'diep' seashells) on the fabric. Not only that it worked, it created a shiny background to work on. With his idea finalized, he went to the castle. As he was painting, he noticed there weren't any art tools. He then go rouge by utilizing what he had. He used his hands, leaves, branches and dipped them in paint. As a result, a simple yet beautiful and dynamic painting was made. The king was satisfied with his performance and rewarded him he hefty sum. With his reward, he went back to his village(Dong Ho village). He wanted to improve and popularised the new art. Thank you for reading this. I'm sorry if the sentences don't make any sense. I typed the story as as I remember so there might be wrong information or missed details. However, you still can get the gist of it(I guess).

I’m Vietnamese and I never knew! I was born in the US and so am always interested in learning more about my culture and my parent’s home country

It could be a great initiative to share details on how to reach the business or where to buy this from, so we can continue to support this art.

I live nearby this village. Every year, I buy some for my family and for my international friends to support these artists. I am very proud of this.

I'm Vietnamese. This art form is quite popular in our country. In schools, history classes make brief mentions of it, literature classes talk about its influence on our culture, and art classes use it as inspiration, etc. But, to be honest, I've always thought the trade was completely lost since the art form is so ancient... Until I clicked on this video. Thanks.

When you talk about a struggling business trying to save a lost art I really think you should include some contact information. As I'm writing this over 3000 people have watched this episode. I would think someone out of all those people would want to purchase a piece

It could have been much nicer if they have had mentioned the papers being used, as it is an art form on its own. As in 0:04 you can easily notice that the paper's texture is somewhat different to our usual printing papers. The best type of papers they could use in Đông Hồ paintings is called "Giấy Điệp" (literally: Điệp-paper or seashell-paper), which is made of "Giấy Dó" (Dó-paper, a type of papers originated from Vietnam and is made from the bark of Rhamnoneuron trees) coated in a mixture of sticky-rice glue and seashell-starch (shells of a specific scallop called Mimachlamys, in Vietnamese they are called "Sò Điệp"). For the coating, they use a pine-leaf-broom to sweep the above mentioned mixture on the surface of the Dó-paper. The result is a sheet of Điệp-paper which possesses a charming white background with nice identical parallel rays of light coming from the remaining sparkling micro shell-particles. The Dó-papers alone could last up to 500 years, now the Điệp-papers last not only that long but they are even waterproof and glittering. Đông Hồ paintings can be made with either Dó-paper or Điệp-paper.

It's so amazing to see how she put each block precisely by hand using just simple dots. Modern screen printers mess up the alignment frequently even using fixed mechanical arms. What an skill. God bless them!!

As a Vietnamese, thanks you for making the video. However, I have a comment that the video mention about Vietnamese war with French but using Chinese images at 5:55. Please using Vietnamese images which are very popular and easy to find. Thank you again for making the video.

*Can we all appreciate this true craftsmanship?*

I hope the art will live on. I definitely want to buy one when I travel back to Vietnam someday.

I used to live in Vietnam for a couple of years. It is one of the most incredible cultures of anywhere in the world. I've traveled and lived all over the world and Vietnam has always been, and always will be, my favorite country.

'folk art is rarely hung in modern homes today" I have one in my home and believe me every time someone new visits my house they admire it for a while... easily one of the most beautiful pieces of artwork I own.

Vietnamese art is criminally underrated. I have a Mai Trung Thu that I bought at auction in the 2000s and I wouldn't sell it for the world! 😁

its a beautiful art and if i ever go to veitnam i will buy at least one

Look at how beautiful these prints are. So beautiful.

Wow ....I can't believe am seeing this...because I still remember a painting from late grandfather home, me remember him saying that it was passes on to him from his late grandparents..said when there in Vietnam as refugees and kept that as a reminder and somehow got back to India after the war. After all these years am learning the story behind it...Feeling very Euphoria seeing many pieces of this ancient art! 💕

My nephews are Thai-Vietnamese, and it saddens me to know such a tangible part of there cultural inheritance is at risk of disappearing. I hope they are able to embrace it once they are old enough to understand.

I actually got to do this in my school. It is definitely intensive, because you're talking about carving a block of wood with precision so that you can print it on the picture. Any mistake incur is fatal. Đông Hồ art is beautiful that the labor into making it is worth it. This family is not the only one doing it.

kì công lắm - this art is so detailed and is a famous national treasure but it's sad it's lower in demand. i want to buy it. we have to preserve it!!

I believe this family is from the Dong Ho Village in Song Ho Commune, Thuan Thanh District, Bac Ninh Province. Hopefully the art will survive this pandemic and tourist will return to Vietnam. I sure will be getting a few paintings.

Thank you for this episode. I was born in Saigon and left when I was younger. This is giving me a sight of history that I didn’t know of.

Please! Keep this art alive!

They don’t even talk about the paper, which is how you can tell a real painting from a fake one. Really important point missing. In short, real Đông Hồ paper has sparkling from its sea shell content, and is not damaged by water. Also the painting is insusceptible to mold because of its material.

Tự hào nghệ thuật Việt Nam 😊

Omg I'm impressed with the translate, thank you guys promote our tradition.

So many of these struggling businesses would thrive of thier products could authenticated and marketed.

I am learning printmaking myself, and their work is so incredible, i hope to own some someday

I love to see the history and story behind what you record but to help these business you should also add a link of their site or even an address where people can actually wright to them to buy something to help save the history.

Still standing is the best series.

Such a beautiful authentic art. Thank you for sharing this!

Wow!! She applied the color layer by layer without any deviation

I love an respect this art work.. I love old traditional art work like this.. I'm a tattoo art lover and there's is just something bout this art I love

They should open a museum to showcase all of that beautiful art and history.

I'm a Vietnamese. I live in Ha Nam, Viet Nam. We also have some traditional village such as Thanh Ha embroidery village, making drum village in Duy Tien,...

This is simply a magic thing

I think there are more of these traditional arts in the developing parts than in the west. Poor areas especially with tourism looks to me like the highest chance for such tradition to live on.

those wooden stamps of white wood with black streaks are black and white ebony, that's really hard stuff. definitely takes a lot of time to carve. they probably use it because it holds fine details without much risk of chipping, and its grain structure is very fine so it doesn't show in the print.

While I greatly enjoy all of these Business Insider 'Still Standing' videos - why cant they assist the craftsmen they rare featuring and getting youtube revenue from by either including links where we can purchase/support these crafts -or- open a shop themselves to help sell these works

I hope it continues to exsist.

I LOVE MY COUNTRY VIETNAM

💡What a shame that modern Vietnamese families are not supporting this cultural art.👈🏿 💡Every Vietnamese household should have AT LEAST ONE of these traditional paintings in their home.✅

I'm such appreciated to your hard work and those deeply- understand experiences to our idiosyncratic cultural and craftmanship. Dong Ho village owns a very specific position in Vietnamese cultural and it deserves more concentration, popularization of world. I was feared that someday and somehow, it will faint and totally disappear but i'm glad to see many people- both national and foreign are focusing to protect, reserve and puvblic it

Could anyone help me get in contact with these wonderful people so I can buy a few paintings and have them sent to Norway?

I need that coloring book!!!

I wouldn't mind taking a Zoom lesson or several from these folks, as a carver myself! New styles and techniques for the ol mental "tool box" are always welcomed!

The carving of the blocks is also an art…

I would buy 1 or 2

hand used offset printing press used before the advent of offset printing press

I remember coloring these pictures in elementary school.

I am a watercolor artist, and I think they could find a market in making essentially adult coloring books. I would certainly love to paint a few of those!

Old is gold 🤷‍♂️👍

Can you please share contact details of Families who are still making Dong Ho painting? We want to buy from them.

I wish I saw it earlier, I know a Vietnamese priest that went home to visit his family, I would've loved to bought a piece of art for my study room.

Did we seriously just overlook the fact the US spent nearly 2 decades waging a war in this country?

I'm less interested on the paintings, but more interested on the carvings

I wish I could buy one

they should start a museum for the old prints and for preservation sake, then they can earn some also from a souvenir shop also selling those paintings

Its like Japanese woodblock painting eg. Hokusai paintings

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

In Europe, a stupid painting costs millions of Euros and here in Asia, Artists are struggling for their Art's survival.

I want that calendar At any cost

Incredible!

I'm excited for you

Nice video.

They could have open class session for children to experience, at the same time also gain some profit to survive.

They can use Online Platforms for reaching out more customers and keep the art alive!

India also has similar printing methods but for the clothing, especially saree

Where to get this?

Reminds me of tshirt rinting

Happy new year

I think the best way is to have their kids utilise the online international market.

Great traditional print art

pls do cambodia agian pls my home country

These dung paintings are so cool

They should start a museum for extra income

I like them it’s different

I can’t tell if the subtitles or the pronunciation of the artist name is wrong. EDIT: It’s definitely the pronunciation… A lot of non-Vietnamese people mispronounce Nguyen.

Good.

Funny how BI blames France for the loss of this fine craftsmanship, like the US going in there and rolling thunder carpet bombing everything for years had nothing to do with it either.

everyone has met the advanced technology of digital drawing and printing that has given dongs in their hands

Nice

Should sell it online so that foreigners can buy it from overseas

Interesting

What if all the old crafts feature here in insider form a guild?

Not one's going to mention that dude's mole hair!? That's wild!!! 😂🤣😂

👋 helllloooooo

1:00 what is the background music and which instrument is played?

Vietnamese are responsible more for preserving their own heritage. Hope they will do pride in own culture.

Graças de donativos.

04:45 The original one is prettier tho

its just blockprinting

MOLY MOLY MOLY MOLE!!!

Authenticity is at an all time low, now.

It's basically a Vietnamese Ukiyo - e?

The wisest thing that should be on everyone mind currently should be to invest in different streams of income that doesn't depend on the govt. Especially with the current economic crisis around the word. This is still a good time to invest in Gold, silver and digital currencies(BTC, ETH..).

I must apolagize in advance if this seems insensitive but Arent vietnamese dong hos famous for their art and thriving atm?

Do they sell these online?

they need a TikTok, they'll blow up!

Bummer that consumer tastes change and leave behind craftsman. Good they are adapting how they can to stay in business.