Sculpting Da Nang: Preserving one of Vietnam’s oldest forms of art

Chi Mai

http://www.livehoianmagazine.com/index.php/features-article/334-sculpting-da-nang.html

The grey gate slides open to a spacious yard peppered with white and grey marble statues of different sizes and shapes. A Maitreya Buddha figurine stands next to a Greek winged guardian statuette. A Cham-styled head rises from behind Christian carvings. From different corners of this bleak looking establishment one can hear the soft, monotonous grind of blades and drills on stones.  

This is the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation home base, humble and quiet. It is the first non-profit, non-governmental cultural foundation in Da Nang, and the only foundation in Vietnam that’s dedicated to preserving the country’s art of stone sculpture.

That is why Phan Quynh Huong is here – as the foundation director. “This is probably the only traditional craft that Da Nang still has. Non Nuoc (Marble Mountains) is the only established village of traditional stone sculpture in Vietnam. I am from Da Nang. As such, I am proud of our craftsmanship and history, and I’d like to think that it will last for many years to come.”

As of today, Non Nuoc is still a popular break for travellers on the route from Da Nang to Hoi An. The sculpture business here appears thriving. There is no sign indicating that the practice will go out of existence anytime soon. But the Foundation does more than simply keeping men working on stones. It recruits young men from underprivileged backgrounds and immerses them in an intensive training program, in which they get to acquire modern stone-carving techniques from international artists, and a higher standard of professionalism while working with local and international established sculptors.

“I first decided to join the Foundation’s training program when I read in the newspaper that a Norwegian man was providing classes”, Tran Huu Son, a long-time apprentice at the foundation says. “Some people joined, got training, then left to work at Non Nuoc, but I chose to stay. If for economic reasons, it makes sense to work as a carver in Non Nuoc. But here, you learn more.”

The Norwegian man Son talks about is Oyvin Storbaekken, the Foundation’s father. In 2001, on a visit to Non Nuoc village, he initiated a project to pass on Western-educated techniques to local carvers. It eventually scaled up, changed hands and officially assumed the identity of a Foundation in 2009 by the Da Nang People’s Committee, and became the trusted and locally managed foundation it is today. Since its inception as Storbaekken’s personal project, the Foundation has ceaselessly sustained collaborative ties with Norwegian artists and reached out to others around the world.

“I met Oyvin in 2001 on his visit,” says Pham Hong, a Board of Advisors member to the Foundation. “I was delighted to meet him, a foreigner sharing the same vision. Since 1984, I myself have been pushing for an international sculpture camp in Da Nang. Nothing was really achieved until recent years. But having this Foundation was a big step.”

The Da Nang Sculpture Foundation today is actually still small, speaking of size. On a regular basis, it employs 10 people: five as full-time carvers/ apprentices, the other five, including Ms Phan Quynh Huong as the director, for office work and everything else.

These 10 individuals work in a large rock-bottom yard, a garage-like workshop, and a basic office, befitting of the modest roots of the Foundation.

Simple as it appears, the Foundation provides a priceless gateway for young apprentices to pave their way into a future where they can not only practice their art, but earn a living from it. “We [the locals] have been making stone sculptures for generations, but all was intuitive. Even now, most of carvers working in Non Nuoc make measurements with their eyes,” Son explains to me. “From Mr. Oyvin and foreign artists, I learn to work with precision. There are all these tools to do things efficiently and correctly. Plus, we get to go overseas every year, to work and learn. That, I love.”

Son has spent all his 20s here. According to Ms Huong, it takes 4 years on average for an apprentice to get the basic training they need to be able to “stand on their own two feet”. “I’ve been with the program for 10 years,” says Son. “I am 30 now. I’ve been here the longest. Some trainees left [after training] for economic reasons. But because it is commercial at their work, each carver takes care of only one part of the process.  Here, I get to do everything from A to Z. Here, I feel more passionate about my craft.”

The Foundation’s training programs run on non-committal terms. Upon recruiting, the Foundation prioritizes candidates with a strong interest proven by their sketches, designs, or past works, and those from a less privileged background.

“Some are as young as 16 and cannot go to high school. They don’t have many occupational options. So this could be an alternative route, or another chance,” says Ms Huong. After four years, trainees are free to either move on with the acquired skills, or to stay. “It is an endless path to learn and master the craft. It takes determination, persistence, and talent,” she added.

After 12 years in operation, the Da Nang Sculpture Foundation has helped nine professional carvers and six young trainees acquire intensive training from both Norwegian and Vietnamese sculptors. Due to budget limitations, the Foundation does not organize annual recruitments. But at the core of what they do, it is not about mass-producing manual carvers. Mr. Pham Hong, himself an awarded sculptor, told Live Hoi An: “One significant achievement we had was this: two apprentices trained in this Foundation later became real artists whose artworks were recognized by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and featured in national and regional exhibitions. That’s the whole point of this.”

On the other hand, the Foundation has hosted about 50 international artists, who came for assistance in realizing their works. It has also produced a large number of artworks, catering to orders that have come in from all corners of the globe. Some of the more impressive are: 'Turbinen', 3 metre high granite – marble stone sculpture by Hans Martin Øien, displayed in Drammen, Norway; the series of black granite sculptures “Tol”, “Zaaddoos”, “Trom”, “Rammei” and “Figuur” by Dorothé Jehoel, displayed in Rotterdam, Netherlands; “Flow”, an 8m³ public sculpture by Mrs. Gunn Harbitz displayed in Oslo, Norway and Danang - Tolga Friendship bridge, a 10-metre long, 2.5 meter wide work, weight of 120 tons of carved granite stone in Tolga, Norway, to name but a few.  

From July 11^th to 7^th August this year, Da Nang will play host to an international event honouring the art of sculpture. Dubbed as the International Stone Sculpture Symposium 2013, this festival comes with generous offers for residency and exposure to sculptors from around the country and the world. The Da Nang Sculpture Foundation is currently pitching its well-trained carvers to be the executers. Whether the city may, partly or wholly, be motivated by tourism revenue, Ms Huong simply said: “I don’t know how we will fare pitching for this big event, but that doesn’t matter. It’s wonderful as long as our city name is known and our crafts develop.”

Speaking of their long-term future, she says: “We are currently recruiting trainees from Quang Nam and Da Nang only as we are quite budget-bound. But we aim to, and we will expand our network to other regions in the country, and to Laos and Cambodia. Isn’t it beautiful to think of an ‘Indochina’ network of stone sculptors?”

As for Son: “Will I leave the Foundation to make money like other guys? I don’t know. It’s been good so far to learn and keep learning. I am not doing this for money. When I need money, I’ll figure what to do about it then. As for now, I just love training and working at the Foundation.”