VietNamNet Bridge reviews three outstanding miniature works in Vietnam, which have become popular tourist attractions.

Traditional house of northern Vietnam in a flower pot

Pictures of the bonsai artwork named "Mother’s village" were shared by thousands of Vietnamese people on the Internet.

Once the photos were posted on the Facebook page of Duc Toan, an expert from the Planning Institute of Hai Phong Province, they immediately got a lot of compliments.

Initially, the online community mistook that the work was created by Toan.

But Toan said that the miniature work was created by a bonsai artist in Hai Phong and it was on display in an exhibition of the Hai An bonsai club, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Hai Phong City.

Miniature of ancient capital Hue in Saigon

With a desire to help his parents see Hue every day, Nguyen Thanh Tung has made a miniature Hue in bustling Saigon.

In the 1,000 sq.m Ngu Lam Garden on Hoang Huu Nam road, in Long Binh Ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, Tung has created a miniature of the Hue ancient citadel, a World Heritage Site.

The work includes 151 architectural models, which are symbols of Hue city, such as the Imperial Citadel of Hue, the tombs of Nguyen Kings, Thien Mu Pagoda, Truong Tien Bridge and the Huong River.

Tung said the idea to build a miniature model of the Hue royal citadel came to him when he was a high-school student.

Tung has visited many countries but for him Hue’s beauty is extraordinary. He began to turn the idea into reality in 2000. He finalized the design of the miniature model in 2002 and began constructing it.

Firstly, he tried to build the work by wood and coated it with cement. However, the timber stretched in hot weather. Tung asked for help from senior carpenters in Hue and HCM City but they all failed to help him build a miniature model that could resist the weather and last for at least 100 years.

Tung also looked for descendants of workers who built the Hue royal citadel several hundred years ago but they could not help. Some suggested building a roof for the miniature model but Tung didn’t agree because he was afraid that it would be unnatural.

One day, he suddenly realized that the Hue royal citadel was built with stone, so why not build the miniature with ground stone and cement. Since then, Tung and nearly 20 artisans have worked for five years to build the artwork Ngu Lam Vien.

He said he created this work for his parents and his family and to preserve their origins. The work was built within seven years.

The Citadel is fully designed with the palaces of kings, queens, and concubines associated with lakes, gardens, walls, walkways, etc. Small bonsai trees grown in the area make the stones look soft and beautiful. The works are created in a sophisticated manner.

Besides the imperial city, Tung built Thien Mu Pagoda, Hon Chen Temple and the tombs of Emperors Gia Long, Minh Mang, Tu Duc and Khai Dinh. The works are well designed and sculpted.

"A normal artist cannot build this work. This must be a person who has a profound understanding of the culture and history of Hue. But that was not enough, he must have a great love for Hue,” Tung said.

Tung was inspired by his love for his hometown – Hue City and for his parents. “Whenever they miss Hue, they can see it immediately," Tung said.

He also wishes that the miniature model of Hue can be a visual learning aid for students. Since 2007, Ngu Lam Garden has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Many schools take their students to the garden to learn about the culture and history of Hue. The garden is open for free.

The largest terracotta park in Vietnam

The Thanh Ha Cultural Terracotta Park was inaugurated this April, after four years of construction, in the ancient town of Hoi An, covering approximately 6,000 m2 with an investment of about $1 million.

The project is initiated by Nguyen Van Nguyen, a resident of the ancient pottery village of Thanh Ha, director of Viet House Company.

Nguyen left the 500-year-old pottery village to go to Saigon at the age of 18. Becoming an architect, director of the Vietnam House Corp in HCM City, Nguyen still nurtured the desire of doing something special for his homeland.

In late 2011 he decided to return to the village to build a potter park to exhibit, introduce and establish a ceramic fair for products of Thanh Ha village.

Nguyen’s idea faced opposition from some households, especially senior artisans. They were afraid that Nguyen’s project was too ambitious and too different from the tradition.

Nguyen met with all senior artisans in the village to introduce his project and to convince them to believe in the success and benefit from this project.

In late 2011, the project was begun on 5,800 m2 vacant land of the village. The park is believed to be the biggest and most unique terracotta park in Vietnam.

The entire space of Thanh Ha Terracotta Park has many bricks and terracotta pieces. The idea to build this park comes from the spin table, the symbol of a pottery village with its development wheel. Besides, the two kinds of kiln (downward and upward) represent yin – yang.

“With an ambition of building the kingdom of terracotta, we wish to have a cultural space to connect visitors, a place to hold cultural exchange events among craft villages, especially a museum of craft villages set up to promote their traditional values. This park becomes a part of “the charm of Thanh Ha pottery village” inspiring pottery artisans as well as artists who like discovering terracotta,” Nguyen said.

Roby Bellemans, Managing Director of Thanh Ha Terracotta Park, said the park will have many projects for children and young people. Operating as a museum, Thanh Ha Terracotta Park is not only a place for visiting, conservation and development of a traditional village, but also a place to recommend ideas for the future.

Pha Le