RESTORATION OF
MONG
TRANG BROCADE
PATTERN IN THE DESIGN
OF VANHOA
When mentioning VAN•HOA, do you immediately think of the lotus motifs of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long? That was the first time we worked together to Research - Develop - Apply motifs to tangible products! The use of motif elements in the design helps VAN•HOA to shape core values and offer appropriate gift design solutions around cultural themes, craft villages and textures.
Just look around a little, you will see a multitude of diverse, colorful patterns and applications on many materials such as countertops, walls, paper or fabric. One of the familiar motifs that can be mentioned is the Brocade pattern on hand-woven fabrics of ethnic minorities, which has long been a "cultural feature" derived from the perspective of living closely with family and nature.
So in addition to the traditional application on brocade woven fabrics, how to apply it to many other materials and still have bold regional characteristics?
THE PROCESS OF RESTORING AND DIGITIZING THE MONG TRANG MOTIF
From the photo samples provided by the Mong Trang Cooperative in Sa Phin - Ha Giang, the Mong Trang motif is separated into two stages: simplifying the stroke form and recombining the color palette into the simplified version. Because the Mong Trang pattern is extremely prominent and detailed, separating the small layers of the large pattern will help create many sub-pattern systems. From there, the new texture variations will be more useful and more modern while keeping the uniformity of the original texture.
It can be seen that the Mong Trang motif uses a diverse and colorful palette and sometimes has very unique accents improvised by the artisan himself. The rhythmic combination of glossy fabric and embroidered lines are also factors that make up the beauty of the Mong Trang brocade motifs.
APPLICATIONS ON PRODUCTS
The Mong Trang motifs have been applied on the backdrop, invitations, book covers and by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts (VICAS) embroidered on clothes and performed at the Conference event "Cultural identity of Mong people and the role of women in tourism and socio-economic development in Ha Giang province" on March 15-17, 2022.