VietNamNet Bridge – The Thanh Ha Cultural Terracotta Park is being built in the ancient town of Hoi An, covering approximately 6,000 m2 with an investment of about $1 million.

The project is initiated by Mr. Nguyen Van Nguyen, a resident of the ancient pottery village of Thanh Ha.

Nguyen left the 500-year-old pottery village to Saigon at the age of 18. Becoming an architect, director of the Vietnam House Corp in HCM City, Nguyen still nurtured the desire of doing something special for his homeland.

In late 2011 he decided to return to the village to build a potter park to exhibit, introduce and establish a ceramic fair for products of Thanh Ha village.

Nguyen’s idea faced opposition from some households, especially senior artisans. They were afraid that Nguyen’s project was too ambitious and too different from the tradition.

Nguyen met with all senior artisans in the village to introduce his project and to convince them to believe in the success and the benefit from this project.

In late 2011, the project was started on 5,800 m2vacant land of the village.

After nearly four years, the park is nearly complete and is expected to be inaugurated on April 30.

Although the park has not opened yet, thousands of pottery works made by the villagers are on display and many tourists have come to the park.

The park is believed to be the biggest and most unique terracotta park in Vietnam.

Pictures of the terracotta park:

Photo: TN/Infonet

Tien Phong