The Impression conical hat set designed by Truc chi Art One Member Co. Ltd has been handed over to Do Thi Ni conical hat enterprise to produce for tourists
After receiving 4 designs, including the models of the Holy Cannons, Thanh Toan tile-roofed bridge, Nguyen Dynasty’s Seal and Hien Lam Cac, designed by designing enterprises and transferred by the Department of Industry and Trade (DOIT), the bronze casting enterprise Nguyen Phung Son from Thuy Xuan ward, Hue city, studied the drawings and selected materials to produce souvenirs and gifts for selling to tourists and displaying at Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2019.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son, the owner of the enterprise, said that he received 7 samples designed by Can Studio Co. Ltd such as the models of Truong Tien bridge, Thien Mu pagoda, Phan Boi Chau statue, Lau Ngu Phung (Five-Phoenix Pavilion)... in 2016 and successfully produced bronze souvenir and gift sets to launch to the market, which were highly appreciated by customers. In 2019, the business received 4 more designs to develop souvenir products, diversify product categories in addition to traditional items such as bells, large-size bells, monuments, large-size Buddha statues.
After receiving the designs from the DOIT, this business changed from sand casting technology to full-mold casting technology and focused on producing souvenirs and gifts to supply to the market and meet its partners’ orders. Currently, its souvenir and gift products have been present in many provinces and cities in the country.
With more than 30 years of experience in bone carving, enamel and lacquer arts, the biggest concern to Truong Tien fine art manufacturer was to design product models.
According to the owner, Ms. Le Thi Le Huong, model designing was the most important and most costly step for each souvenir and gift manufacturer. To successfully design a product model, it would take from 1 to 3 months and costs a few dozen million dongs. Upon receiving the designs from the DOIT, the manufacturer quickly utilized them and produced and supplied to the market such souvenir and gift products as the models of the Citadel and the statues of Phan Boi Chau which are made of bone and composite materials.
In the near future, the manufacturer would continue to register to receive other designs to reduce its costs for sample designing and diversify its souvenir and gift products.
A DOIT’s leader shared that due to an scarcity of souvenir and gift products that characterized Hue’s cultural identity to serve tourists’ demands, the department has associated with designing enterprises and placed orders with them in 2016 to design models simulating objects, architectural buildings being recognized as Hue’s cultural heritage, and famous landscapes, which can be produced by industrial machinery and equipment and on many different materials.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, Director of HP Design and Investment Consultancy Co. Ltd., one of the designers, said that before accepting to design 4 souvenir and gift samples (models of the Holy Cannons, Thanh Toan tile-roofed bridge, Nguyen Dynasty’s Palanquin and Seal), it had taken them more than 3 months to research data related to the Nguyen Dynasty and Hue’s historical and cultural relics to produce designs with the most accurate parameters to create favorable conditions for a successful manufacture of products on a variety of materials.
As for the DOIT’s Vice Director Mr. Nguyen Luong Bay, Hue is the cradle of traditional crafts with 92 craft villages, including 42 traditional craft villages with a long history of bronze casting, bamboo and rattan weaving, wood sculpture, pottery, paper paintings... Yet, there have not been many unique souvenir and gift products characterizing Hue’s cultural identity. This was the reason for the Department to hire leading designers to research and design models with a simulation of architectural buildings and typical landscapes, then to hand over to enterprises for their productions in large number to sell to tourists.
After 3 years of implementation, many innovative designs have been created and could be produced with many materials such as rattan, bamboo, bronze, bone, wood, stone, phap lam (enamel bronze), gold... to meet a part of tourists’ demands for gifts and plan towards perfecting Hue’s souvenir and gift collections.
Up to present, there have been 17 designs completed and handed over to enterprises to manufacture souvenir and gift products to supply to the market and being as gifts to the provincial partners. In particular, the simulation models of Truong Tien bridge, Lau Ngu Phung, Hue’s Flag Pole, the tower of Thien Mu pagoda, Nguyen Dynasty’s palanquin, Thanh Toan tile-roofed bridge, Nghe (Vietnamese mythical lion with a lion’s head, a long tail and a dog-like body), statues of Phan Boi Chau... were produced in large number, and highly appreciated by customers.
Story, photo: Thanh Huong