Bringing Nghe An province to the capital city.
Although more than 300 kilometers away from Hanoi, the pride in a capital city with a thousand years of cultural heritage remains strong in every person from Nghe An. This love is being expressed by a collector in Vinh City and will be showcased at the Grand Celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.
On the surface, collector Nguyen Quyet Thang's three-story house looks like many other houses in the city. However, just by stepping up the stairs, a different space emerges, filled with numerous antique teapots, bowls, and plates, some hundreds of years old, displayed throughout the house. Along with these, driftwood sculptures in various shapes are also arranged from the foot of the stairs all the way up to the living room. Seeing the visitor's surprised expression, Mr. Thang smiles and says, "That's been my passion for over 40 years!"
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A collection of antique pottery, fossilized turtles, and driftwood sculptures in the shape of turtles were featured in the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. |
Thang's collecting hobby dates back to his childhood, starting with oddly shaped stones and pebbles. As he got older, whenever he saw someone passing by carrying unusual bottles, jars, or vases, he would urge his grandmother to buy them, even though he sometimes didn't know what he would use them for.
Over the years, he has amassed a considerable collection of antiques, including some dating back thousands of years. He is also well-known in the antique collecting community, nicknamed Thang "the man with nerves of steel." Once he falls in love with an item, no matter how much someone tries to bargain, he will absolutely refuse to sell it. For more than a decade now, besides antiques, he has taken up another hobby: collecting driftwood. He has a peculiar passion for this art form, and it was this passion that led him to the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi.
"Participating in the exhibition in Hanoi was a stroke of luck for me," Thang confessed. Having been a member of the Nghe An Ornamental Plants Association for many years and having participated in numerous exhibitions with the association, he never imagined that the association's products would be selected by the province to participate in Nghe An's exhibition booth during the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.
In preparation for that momentous event, for the past year, they have painstakingly traveled extensively, going to the mountains and the sea, to perfect their artistic driftwood sculptures. For him personally, he has contributed four sets to this exhibition, including some very special ones such as the "Five Petals" set – a replica of the five-pointed Golden Star, and the "Turtle" set, reminiscent of the centuries-old turtle in Ho Gươm Lake.
Leading us down to the courtyard where numerous pieces of driftwood were laid out, waiting to be transported to Hanoi for an exhibition tomorrow, Mr. Thang added: "They're all made from burl wood, a rare and precious type of wood..."
The four sets of artistic driftwood pieces he's exhibiting at the My Dinh (Hanoi) exhibition aren't all he has. He also harbors a bigger dream: to bring his collection of 100 fossilized turtles to Hanoi to introduce them to the wider public nationwide, and then organize a charity auction, donating a portion of the proceeds to the Fund for the Poor in his province.
This collection of 100 fossilized turtles is considered extremely rare today. Regarding dating, some experts believe they are millions of years old, and it is unclear what event caused these turtles to become fossilized shortly after birth.
Moreover, within this fossilized turtle nest were two intact turtle eggs, on which two hatchlings were waiting to be born. Speaking about the turtles' origin, he shared: "I was surprised to buy them from an ethnic minority person. When they brought them to me, I couldn't believe my eyes. For months afterward, every time I thought about the fossilized turtles, I still trembled..."
For him, collecting antiques is a passion, a debt he owes, and also a joy because in it, he rediscovers the soul of his homeland and the values of his nation!
My Ha - Khanh Ly
