Thanh Ha pottery village keeps tradition alive

Update: 27/06/2022
A visit to Thanh Ha Pottery Village will allow tourists to not only see the beauty of traditional crafts and experience pottery-making activity, but also enjoy peace and tranquility, far from the hustle and bustle of city life.

A miniature introducing Thanh Ha Pottery Village at the entrance to the village - Photos: Nhu Nhu

It is these skillful hands of artisans that have been preserving and promoting the art of craftsmanship. Pottery-making features such skills as clay shaping, molding, firing, glazing and pattern drawing.

Situated in Thanh Ha Ward in Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An City, some three kilometers west of the ancient town of Hoi An, the pottery village has existed for more than 500 years.

As it sits by the poetic Thu Bon River, the pottery village is attractive to visitors. The village is home to over 30 pottery-making households and more than 130 potters who are keeping the tradition alive, according to the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The village mainly produces pottery pieces used in daily life such as cups, bowls, jars, vases, pots, piggy banks and coffee filters among others in various shapes and styles. The main material used in pottery is clay, which makes ceramics beautiful and durable.

Pottery making in Thanh Ha village was added to the national list for intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2019.

A roadside souvenir shop mainly selling pieces of pottery in the village
 

Flower vases with various shapes and patterns are displayed at a shop

 

Two potters are making pottery pieces on a foot-powered wheel, a traditional tool for the job
 

After completing pieces of pottery, a ceramist places them on strips of wood
 

The owner of a souvenir shop introduces coffee filters made of clay

 

Pieces of pottery have been produced from a foot-powered wheel
 

Ceramics are dried in the sun

 

Ceramic wind chimes hanging, while many other pieces of pottery on display in front of a house in Thanh Ha Pottery Village

 

A corner of a pottery shop in the village

 

After being dried, pottery pieces are patterned

 

A tourist learns how to make pottery from an artisan in Thanh Ha Pottery Village

 

A potter instructs a visitor how to draw patterns on her products
 

A woman divides a piece of clay into smaller ones to make it easier for making pottery
 

An old kiln

By Nhu Nhu

Source: The Saigon Times - english.thesaigontimes.vn - June 26, 2022