Le Van Khang is no ordinary bronze casting artisan. The Hanoiancraftsman creates traditional bronze reliefs using modern industrialmethods, an innovation that helped him earn the title of MeritoriousCraftsman, one of 13 artisans nationwide formally recognised by theState in 2010.
His three-storey house is located in asmall alley on Hang Khoai street in Hanoi's Old Quarters, near HangDong, a street famous for the production and trade of bronze casts.
The house is like a private museum, full of bronze statutes and othercasts created by the artisan himself or collected from trips around thecountry.
Khang was not born into a family of bronzecasters. After graduating from a technical college in Hanoi in 1963, hestayed on to teach metallurgy. "During this time, I discovered mypassion for bronze relief," Khang said.
For thesubsequent 30 years, he worked in craft villages in the north such as Vocommune in Bac Ninh province, Nom commune in Hung Yen province and NguXa commune in Hanoi.
However, he realised that thetraditional techniques, for all their beauty, had many technicalshortcomings. So after leaving the craft villages in 1993, Khang triedto combine the skills he had learned with modern industrial methods.
"Even a few kilograms of bronze were expensive, and there were fewpeople buying bronze products at that time," Khang said. "Depending onhow intricate the detail is, it can take weeks or months to complete aproduct."
But after starting to sell his works atsouvenir shops in Hanoi, he found himself receiving many orders. "Theresults far exceeded my expectations," Khang said.
Commissions continued to pile up. In 1999, Khang received an order toproduce miniatures of the Temple of Literature and a bronze drum asVietnamese souvenirs for heads of state at the Francophone Summit.
His bronze statue of Buddha Kwan Yin won two awards: national prize"Vietnam Quintessence" and the Indochina Arts Partnership "Golden Hands"award.
At 71, Khang is still passionate aboutbronze relief. Frequent motifs in his work include the four supernaturalcreatures (dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix) and four preciousplants (pine, daisy, bamboo and apricot). He also creates bronze bustsof Vietnamese celebrities and heroes such as Tran Hung Dao, the SupremeCommander of Vietnam during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), celebratedpoet Nguyen Du and well-known doctor Ton That Tung.
When casting busts, he always tries to illustrate the underlying character of each individual.
"Besides sculptures and other artistic casts, artisans should knowabout physiognomy to make busts more lively," Khanh said.
He was once commissioned to cast a bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh, which can now be found at the Government Office.
The artisan is now working on a series of miniatures of famous placesin Hanoi such as Thap Rua (Tortoise tower), Khue Van Cac (Pavilion forLiterature Discussion) and Chua Mot Cot (One Pillar pagoda). Theproducts, intended primarily as souvenirs for foreign visitors toVietnam, will be available for purchase after he completes copyrightregistration.
Khang hopes that his fellow artisans will continue the process of innovation.
"Bronze casting artists in other countries have applied moderntechnology to their creations to improve their products' beauty andquality. Vietnamese bronze workers now have to open their minds andlearn some of these new techniques so that we will not fall behind,"Khang said.-VNA
His three-storey house is located in asmall alley on Hang Khoai street in Hanoi's Old Quarters, near HangDong, a street famous for the production and trade of bronze casts.
The house is like a private museum, full of bronze statutes and othercasts created by the artisan himself or collected from trips around thecountry.
Khang was not born into a family of bronzecasters. After graduating from a technical college in Hanoi in 1963, hestayed on to teach metallurgy. "During this time, I discovered mypassion for bronze relief," Khang said.
For thesubsequent 30 years, he worked in craft villages in the north such as Vocommune in Bac Ninh province, Nom commune in Hung Yen province and NguXa commune in Hanoi.
However, he realised that thetraditional techniques, for all their beauty, had many technicalshortcomings. So after leaving the craft villages in 1993, Khang triedto combine the skills he had learned with modern industrial methods.
"Even a few kilograms of bronze were expensive, and there were fewpeople buying bronze products at that time," Khang said. "Depending onhow intricate the detail is, it can take weeks or months to complete aproduct."
But after starting to sell his works atsouvenir shops in Hanoi, he found himself receiving many orders. "Theresults far exceeded my expectations," Khang said.
Commissions continued to pile up. In 1999, Khang received an order toproduce miniatures of the Temple of Literature and a bronze drum asVietnamese souvenirs for heads of state at the Francophone Summit.
His bronze statue of Buddha Kwan Yin won two awards: national prize"Vietnam Quintessence" and the Indochina Arts Partnership "Golden Hands"award.
At 71, Khang is still passionate aboutbronze relief. Frequent motifs in his work include the four supernaturalcreatures (dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix) and four preciousplants (pine, daisy, bamboo and apricot). He also creates bronze bustsof Vietnamese celebrities and heroes such as Tran Hung Dao, the SupremeCommander of Vietnam during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), celebratedpoet Nguyen Du and well-known doctor Ton That Tung.
When casting busts, he always tries to illustrate the underlying character of each individual.
"Besides sculptures and other artistic casts, artisans should knowabout physiognomy to make busts more lively," Khanh said.
He was once commissioned to cast a bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh, which can now be found at the Government Office.
The artisan is now working on a series of miniatures of famous placesin Hanoi such as Thap Rua (Tortoise tower), Khue Van Cac (Pavilion forLiterature Discussion) and Chua Mot Cot (One Pillar pagoda). Theproducts, intended primarily as souvenirs for foreign visitors toVietnam, will be available for purchase after he completes copyrightregistration.
Khang hopes that his fellow artisans will continue the process of innovation.
"Bronze casting artists in other countries have applied moderntechnology to their creations to improve their products' beauty andquality. Vietnamese bronze workers now have to open their minds andlearn some of these new techniques so that we will not fall behind,"Khang said.-VNA
