When I came to Southern Utah University, I noticed I was the only Vietnamese student in the whole school. What made me surprise more was the fact that not many people knew the location of Viet Nam and vice versa. I thought that since the people around me did not know about Viet Nam and its culture, I should introduce them. Then, I remember the conversation my father and I used to have when I was still in middle school. He told me that he once saw the elders sew colored threads on a piece of fabric. That turned out like a real painting that could be viewed on either side of that fabric. I was interested in what my father told me and decided to see that for myself, so I did a project on it.
Vietnamese Traditional Double-sided Embroidery Art
On May 30th, 2016, I started my search for the locations of the Double-sided Embroidery Art. The middle region of Viet Nam was where I found this type of art. I thought that since it was embroidery, they would just sew something that Asian people typically showed on TV or on the Internet such as flowers, birds, Asian mythical creatures, and words. I was wrong. The artists here were actually made a landscape painting and portraits out of the colored threads.
Moreover, the fact that those people were actually advanced the technique into three dimensional pieces of artwork was fascinating. Under observations, the three dimensional portraits had the view of the person face on one side with the hair and the back of that person on the other side. Those portraits were said to be done after six months of work each. The normal double-sided embroidery paintings took approximately three months to make depending on the size of each painting. Additionally, the threads could be normal colored threads we normally found in the handcraft stores, or one single threads with different colors on it, or it could be real hair for the portraits.
When I was in the art studio, the studio guide would not let me took pictures of the art pieces. They worried that if I took pictures, other guests would do the same and blocked the hallways. Fortunately, they allowed me to take pictures when the space was vacant after I explained my project to them. I also wanted to buy some pieces of embroidery to put on my Art Exhibition on the campus. However, almost all of the double-sided embroidery pieces were very expensive, but I did manage to bring back a small piece. I also planned to make an embroidery artwork before the Exhibition, but my Biology major schedule was very busy. Thus, I did not have enough materials to put on an Art Exhibition, so I decided to put on a small showcase during the International Week on November 12, 2016.
Although my showcase only last for two hours due to the event's schedule, I was still able to present my project to students and teachers that came to the event. Many people did not believe that the painting they were viewing was the work of sewing. The technique behind the art was also what people were interested about. Through the showcase, those people were able to know more about the Vietnamese culture. Additionally, they were exposed to a new type of art, and that had broaden their point of view of how traditional arts could do.
I was glad that so many people loved my project, and it ended in success. It also gave me a broader idea of how fascinating traditional arts could be and how great our ancestors’ creativity were. I also learnt a new art technique and the historical side of it. Moreover, being able to introduce my culture to people from other countries was what I took pride on. It was an experience that I would carry with me for the rest of my life.
