Unique value of Bau Truc pottery of Cham people in Ninh Thuan

(TITC) – Bau Truc pottery is a unique pottery product of the Cham people in Ninh Thuan. Bau Truc pottery products are indispensable in the daily life of each family and in the cultural beliefs of the Cham community.

Raw ceramic products are decorated with patterns and smoothed before being put out to dry in the sun

Bau Truc pottery is currently present mainly in two villages: Ligok (Tri Duc, Binh Thuan province) and Hamu Crok (Bau Truc, Ninh Thuan province). Existing since the late 12th century until now, Bau Truc is considered one of the very few ancient pottery villages in Southeast Asia that still retains the primitive production methods from thousands of years ago.

The traditional Cham pottery making process includes many stages and processes connected together. The first step is selecting and collecting soil. The treatment of soil before making pottery determines the quality and performance of the product after firing.

Bau Truc pottery is made entirely by hand, the artisans walk backwards around the pottery making table, not using a turntable like most other pottery villages. The Cham artisans’ way of shaping pottery is straight, different from the horizontal way of shaping in pottery villages that use turntables.

Cham pottery is not fired in closed kilns. The time it takes to fire a ceramic product depends on the quantity of ceramics. For some handicraft products, artisans also use some natural coloring methods such as sprinkling or spraying cashew nut water or gold apple tree water – while art statues can be simmered with rice husks or firewood to create black stains from smoke and fire.

On Bau Truc pottery, it is easy to see the soft figure and dance of Apsara, the dance of Shiva through statues or reliefs, linga-yoni genitals, male-female vases, Cham dances, saranai trumpet players… and other works simulating spiritual and cultural life.

All of these have created the special precious value of Bau Truc pottery. UNESCO has listed Bau Truc pottery as “Cham pottery art on the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding”.

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