My image of the American-Vietnamese artisan Trinh Bach appeared to be false when I met him in a narrow room on the second floor of a house in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

Looking at the plain-dressed man, not many people thought that he was a recognised music composer and painter who had lived in the US for more than two decades. It was also difficult to understand what attracted the young artist to the restoration of traditional handcraft, which is unconnected to his normal occupation.

Back arrived in the US in 1972. During the 1980s, he learnt guitar with the most famous classical guitarist of the 20^th century, Andres Segovia. In the early 1990’s, Trinh Bach and his friends published the English language VietNow magazine to disseminate information on Vietnam’s history and traditional culture overseas. He was really attracted to royal objects and wished to restore after 1994, when he returned to Vietnam with the intention of restoring a y mon (an embroidered altar cloth) at Hong Lien Pagoda, which was built by his maternal great grandfather in Tay Mo, on the outskirts of Hanoi.

A royal costume restore by Trinh Bach and his colleague

During the search for an embroider who could reproduce the y mon, Bach understood that while Vietnam’s traditional embroidery was not completely lost, if no one tried to restore it, our children and grandchildren will never know that such an ancient embroidery technique had existed. In 1995, he met two old embroiders, one 91 and the other 88, who worked for the royal court in Hue half a century earlier. Bach thought he must grasp this chance, because if he didn’t, he would never have another opportunity after these two old men passed away. He called the meeting with two old embroiders “a predestined affair”, which led his life in another direction.

However, it was also national pride, which encouraged him to focus on the work. He said many American friends thought that Vietnam’s fine arts and handicrafts were still in their infancy and worthless. These comments stirred up his national pride. According to Bach, Vietnam’s rich natural resources can provide good raw materials for handicrafts development. For example, the wood of wild jackfruit trees in Quang Tri province is better than other types of wood found in other countries. It is pest and termite resistant and can be used for fine arts. Vietnamese handicraft artists are skilled, industrious and clever and will make much progress if they have a chance to restore old techniques combined with new technology.

“Despite the great potential of Vietnam’s handicrafts, Vietnamese handicraft people do not know how to protect it” he said. They are seemingly careful at the beginning, but gradually become careless after their first sales. I really hope that they will not pursue profits and instead learn from their foreign colleagues through books, newspapers and the Internet. It is impossible to progress if fine arts sales are weighted in ta (100 kilograms).”

Throughout the decade of restoring royal court objects, Bach never thought of his long journey. He said he did not know how long he could stay in Vietnam so he tried his best to fulfill as much as he could. However, he has done a lot of things so far. He was the co-restorer of 14 court gowns of the King, Queen, Imperial Concubine, Prince and Princess and many other royal court objects, all of which have been displayed in the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

The reproduced objects are so finicky and refined that visitors can imagine the life in the old imperial court through imperial gowns embroidered with dragons or phoenixes, a dragon-engraved royal bed, a lamp stand, an areca nut and betel tray and a tobacco box.

Bach is very modest when talking about of the reproduction process. He said he was just a co-ordinator and a student. The artisans that created these products shared their experience and learnt from each other through each object. According to Bach, the artisans were all hardworking and hard learning and never hesitated in their work.

However, it was known to everyone that Bach carefully designed all the patterns for the embroidery and carvings himself. To make the reproductions closer to the original objects, Bach had to study the museum’s archival documents, search for old artisans, consult handicraft people from craft villages, and provide training and funds. The programme to reproduce royal objects from the Nguyen dynasty alone cost him more than US$400,000, money he had earned from playing the guitar in foreign countries. Bach said he also got financial support from his friends. Sometime he joked, “I should play more to raise money for the restoration work.”

Leaving his house, I hoped Bach would continue his work and more people would join him in restoring and saving our precious national heritage from fading with the passage of time.

 

By Vong Ha