At first, Vu Khanh Tung - the only son of the late People's Artist/Painter/Ceramic Collector Vu Thang did not intend to follow his family's pottery career because "I wanted to live a more adventurous, carefree life rather than a life stuck in the village, working hard all day on the land, working hard on batches of pottery, struggling between contracts... like my parents". Therefore, Vu Khanh Tung "spent his entire youth" working as a journalist as a Producer and Image Director for a leading lifestyle magazine - a job that suited his interests in being adventurous, sociable, as well as his forte of being meticulous and good at managing everything.
But exactly 8 years ago, a major incident happened to his family: His father - 1 of 2 People's Artists of Bat Trang pottery village - Hanoi, while building the Bat Trang Vietnamese Soul Art Museum, unfortunately died, like a "living profession, dying profession" blow. A cruel slice of fate: The first private museum in Bat Trang craft village that the people's artist passionately pursued after nearly 50 years of working in the profession was just about to take shape, and had begun construction right after being licensed in early 2016... Yet only 10 months later, an unexpected accident struck, robbing the pottery village of the golden hands that had created many immortal works, masters in using the techniques of engraving, embossing on pottery and the unique color-overlaying technique, bringing about delicate enamel colors and patterns, rich in variation, full of creative personality.
From father's fortune
Have the past 8 years been enough for you to do anything with the huge legacy your father left behind?
- When my father suddenly passed away, the legacy he left behind was also a burden on the small shoulders of my mother - the only person in the family who accompanied my father on his nearly 50-year journey of pursuing the ceramic profession. As the only son in the family, of course I could not leave my mother alone on the remaining journey to protect the family business, the passion of my life and also my father's last wish. Although at that time, I was really confused because I did not know where to start when I had already separated from my father, and the unfinished work he was doing.
After 50 years of working in the profession, my father left behind a legacy of priceless collections. Many of these works were unique, and he refused to sell them at any price in order to “save” them for his passionate project, which contained a long-term vision: to establish the first private museum in Bat Trang pottery village...
For me, the past 8 years have been an effort with my mother and brothers in the pottery workshop to review and take inventory of the works and artifacts that my father had painstakingly created and collected during nearly 5 decades of his passion for the profession. Then, it was a matter of systematizing, classifying, locating and arranging everything back to its proper place as well as finding a way to give it a new life, a new breath, with the mindset of a young, sociable person with a bit of "family blood" like me.
Thanks to that, the tangled threads have gradually been untangled, enough to initially build in the most systematic and meticulous way possible on the Bat Trang Museum website (www.battrang.museum) - a digital platform for contemporary Vietnamese art in general and the ancient Bat Trang pottery village in particular. In parallel is the long-term strategy to build the Bat Trang Museum, expected to display hundreds of valuable artifacts including ancient collections from the 18th - 19th centuries to the early 20th century collected by the late People's Artisan Vu Thang and many of his unique works throughout his career.
Six years after taking over, in April 2022, he organized a resounding exhibition at the Italian Cultural Center (Hanoi) - Casa Italia, titled: "Bat Trang ceramic shoes and a walk with Italian culture". It can be considered a milestone: The son of the artisan finally "fits the shoes" of his father?
- It was a small and pretty exhibition with only 12 artifacts, which were 12 ceramic shoes that my father had created 10 years earlier, upon an order from the organizer of Dep Fashion Show 10. The number 12 artifacts was considered a surprising choice for those who knew the name of People's Artisan Vu Thang - one of the only two people's artisans of Bat Trang pottery village, owning hundreds of works and artifacts accumulated over nearly 50 years of working, including many works and collections that were awarded and recognized as records.
But the way I chose was “to use less to describe more”. More important than the content of the plot, it is the way of storytelling. The exhibition resonated not only because of the unique value of the artifacts but also brought a new definition of modern exhibition space, through a neat appearance, tight layout, concise storytelling and a consistent identity. Mr. Nguyen Viet Nam, founder
TiredCity - a creative brand attracting attention from young people gave the exhibition respectful comments: "Since the exhibition in Europe, I have never seen an exhibition as beautiful and well-organized as this one. Not only the works, but also the design of the exhibition space and the accompanying postcards are very impressive, forming a very consistent whole...".
You're right, I've worn many pairs of shoes, some fit, some don't, but now I realize that the pair of shoes that fit me best is definitely my father's. Although I don't have his skillful hands, I hope I have his eyes, although I'm still far behind him in terms of vision...
Go to Google Arts & Culture's digital platform
What advantages and opportunities have the acumen and social skills of a journalist/producer and photo director of a leading lifestyle magazine given you to tell new stories about your father's legacy?
- The most interesting meeting I had was with architect Nguyen Ha. She won a full scholarship to get a Master's degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. After working in Switzerland for a while, she returned to Vietnam and founded Arb Architects Vietnam with two Swiss architects. Architect Nguyen Ha's achievements are quite rich thanks to her international experience. Last March, architect Nguyen Ha and her colleagues at Arb Architects Vietnam won the W Award Moira Gemmill 2024, an annual international award for talented architects under 45 years old around the world. In addition to architecture, she is also known as an artist who creates and installs light.
It is expected that next year, she will accompany Bat Trang Museum in the museum's next exhibition project with the desire to bring the museum's ceramic heritage a new format and breath.
Another collaboration that we also cherish is with artist Tran Nu Yen Khe, who is better known as a film actress and later, as an art and costume designer in the famous film projects of her husband - director Tran Anh Hung (Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 - PV). With her training in design, architecture and art, she enthusiastically collaborated with us in creating contemporary, minimalist decorative ceramic works that are both works of art and can be applied...
The Bat Trang Museum Atelier ceramic workshop of the museum, founded by me and my family members, has been carrying out projects in collaboration with many individuals and big brands such as: Creative Director Ha Do, Editor-in-Chief of Elle Decoration Vietnam magazine Nguyen Phan Thuy Duong... or designer Dieu Anh (created the "Street Dragon" collection that was launched in early 2024)... along with handmade product brands such as Hanoia, LeapArt Vietnam... In 2023, the work "Ballerina Table Lamp" - a collaboration between Bat Trang Museum Atelier and LeapArt Vietnam, inspired by ballet shoes, was honored as the interior product of the year at the Asia Architecture Design Award 2023 held in Singapore.
What has been the most significant milestone of the museum since you took over?
- The most exciting thing is that Bat Trang Museum has recently been selected by Google to appear on the digital platform of Google Arts & Culture - Google's global encyclopedia of culture and arts (https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/bat-trang-museum-hanoi) from July 10, 2024. It is known that Bat Trang Museum is one of the few museums in Vietnam to appear on this platform up to now. In addition to displaying more than 30 unique works by the late People's Artisan Vu Thang - the museum's founder, Bat Trang Museum on the Google Arts & Culture platform also introduces many cultural stories about the profession and people of the long-standing pottery village. The resounding exhibition "Bat Trang Ceramic Shoes..." (2022) with 12 unique ceramic boots and the story of "Bat Trang Ancient Village" through rare photos taken by photographer Lam Truc Quynh was also shared on the Google Arts & Culture platform during this launch...
Developed by Google, Google Arts & Culture is the leading digital platform for arts, culture, history and world wonders. Since 2011, the platform has partnered with more than 3,000 cultural organizations in 80 countries, creating a massive treasure trove of knowledge about World Heritage that is accessible anytime, anywhere, from Van Gogh's bedroom paintings, Puerto Rican heritage, Australian sports, the feminist movement to ancient Mayan temples, Japanese cuisine or Indian railways...
In Vietnam, since 2021, the General Department of Tourism has coordinated with Google Arts & Culture to bring Vietnamese wonders, culture and arts to the global heritage treasure, notably the Vietnam Wonders project with Trang An scenic complex, Son Doong cave system...
Although there are still countless difficulties ahead on the journey to digitize museum artifacts, it cannot be denied that digital museums are the shortest way to bring Vietnamese heritage to the world...
"I received a rather "strange" proposal from Mr. Vu Khanh Tung about creating a light work in dialogue with the ceramic vases that Mr. Tung's father (the late NNND Vu Thang) left behind. The combination of light and traditional ceramics, between installation art and family heritage... made me extremely interested. The dialogue with the existing memories of the late artisan is for me a wordless dialogue, a silent moment of contemplation of our generation about the system of values and national identity that our ancestors created.
Previously, when I saw the exhibition "Bat Trang ceramic shoes and a walk with Italian culture", I was convinced by the sophistication and depth in every detail and the ceramic glaze color blocks. I was curious about how the late artisan brought traditional memories into the Vietnamese sausagey of the era, and whether those quintessential techniques and thoughts were passed down to the next generation, Mr. Vu Khanh Tung?
This collaboration will be an opportunity for me to learn more about the story of the artisan's family, about the intersection between the past and the present... I hope this dialogue collaboration will be a bridge to help the audience discover the beauty of Bat Trang pottery, appreciate the heritage of the artisans as well as discover new possibilities of art."
(Architect, light creation and installation artist Nguyen Ha - Arb Architects Vietnam)
