Discovering your inner art talent at Bat Trang Moment

On Monday, to me it seemed like fate was on my side as I discovered quite by chance Bat Trang Moment-DoItYourself Pottery Art Studio in District 1.

I was like a kid lost in a land of colorful toys when I saw bowls, flower vases, pots, cartoon characters and animals in diverse sizes and colors. I totally indulged myself in a pottery gallery which was a bit messy due to the materials for the pottery wheels, sample colors and clay pots in some corners of the rooms. In most cases, though, they were finished works.

Bat Trang, the traditional porcelain and pottery village for a number of centuries, is an interesting attraction close to Hanoi that is famous not only for local but also for international tourists and pottery enthusiasts like me.

“As a Bat Trang villager, I know the sacred value of the mission of preservation and development of the craft in younger generations, that is why I opened the studio with an aim to promote Bat Trang ceramics to Saigonese,” said artist Pham Quang Khanh, a member of Fine Arts

Association of Vietnam and owner of the studio.

Born in a family with a long tradition of working in the Bat Trang pottery village, Gia Lam District, about 15 kilometers from Hanoi, Khanh has grown with the ups and downs of the business with pottery, pottery wheels and clay, images of artisans absorbed in making pottery products and love for pottery has been engrained deeply in his heart. “Although I graduated at Hanoi Open University, Faculty of Industry Plastic Arts, I still decided to do something to keep the craft alive in these industrial times,” said Khanh, adding that he and his friend artist Nguyen Van Kien have opened KNK Art Ceramics Company in Hanoi which export high-quality products to the U.S., New Zealand, Italy, France, Germany and Belgium.

Following Khanh’s instructions, I started kneading clay, then modeling clay on a pottery wheel, drying it, adjusting its shape and finally drawing in the work.

I have seen thousands of cups in daily life, but for the first time I’ve made one by myself  and to me, it is the best in the world, despite it being misshaped and lumpy with weird and naive patterns in my drawings.

“All that we can do is nourish and bring the love for Bat Trang pottery art to everyone from beginners to professional pottery artisans, then we can share our love, ideas and passion with the public,” said Huynh Phuong Thao, manager of the studio.

The studio also arranges pottery classes for people of all ages and levels of skill. There is also a private space for pottery artists to create artworks and anyone who has limited time can make a ceramic work in just one day.

Moreover, enthusiasts can have their hands and feet imprinted on pottery shapes of paintings with optional colors of enamel and their own decoration.

“I hope this will be a meaningful art venue for kids in summer time, for adults to relax at weekends and for enthusiasts to nourish their passion,” said Khanh, adding that he hopes that anyone who has the time or the opportunity to go to Bat Trang village, they can still learn more about the craft and own some products. Cat Minh, a guest to the studio said after finishing making a ceramic flower pot: “Now I have discovered a talent which I never thought I had, and with just a little bit of patience and dexterity I can create some art.”

After drawing on the works, guests have to leave them at the studio for one or two weeks and wait for them to be polished with enamel and baked in a kiln. With the sweet melodies of northern folk songs in the background which bolster our creativeness and imagination, I stared at my newly-made ceramic work and dreaming until the day I use it to drink coffee in my office.

I still daydream of what I have done – a Bat Trang ceramic cup – and what hidden talent has been lying undiscovered in my makeup – a fully-fledged Bat Trang pottery artisan.

I came home with a sense of joy and nostalgia about childhood dreams. I swore myself to be back to the studio and make some more artworks as gifts for my friends.

It only costs VND50,000 for clay, construction, color and enamel, and VND70,000 for the baking fee and it is a fun day out for such a ridiculously small fee.

The studio is located at 53/104 Tran Khanh Du Street in HCMC’s District 1, tel: 0989 432 234.