Water puppetry, a distinctive Vietnamese art and an intangible cultural heritage of Vietnamese people, has come closer to international friends thanks to efforts made by water puppet artist Phan Thanh Liem.
Phan Thanh Liem performs with a water puppet (Photo: Vietnamnet)
Hanoi (VNA) – Water puppetry, a distinctive Vietnamese art and anintangible cultural heritage of Vietnamese people, has come closer tointernational friends thanks to efforts made by water puppet artist Phan ThanhLiem.
Dubbed “The ambassador of Vietnam’s pastoral arts”, Liem has charmed bothdomestic and international audiences when joining in a line-up of festivals inthe UK, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Canada, Italy andPoland over the past 16 years.
Liem is now rushed off his feet to attending the World Wood Day as a guest ofhonour, which will take place in Long Beach, the US from March 19-27. Theevent, themed “Root”, creates a venue for Liem to deliver stellar performancesand introduce methods to make water puppets.
He has made a big splash with his mini water puppetry stage, including a smallsemi-circular pool made of wood and corrugated iron, which can be easilyassembled, and mini puppets. Those small items help him to deliver solo waterpuppet performances.
Liem also opens a small stage at home in Kham Thien street to welcomeaudiences, helping them to learn more about traditional water puppetry andexperience the life of an artisan.
In addition to restoring traditional puppetry, Liem has created new puppetryshows reflecting current events, including traffic culture, protection of seaand island sovereignty, environment protection.
He was born to a family of seven generations that have been preserving waterpuppetry in Rach village, Nam Chan commune, Nam Truc district, the northernprovince of Nam Dinh. His grandfather, Phan Van Huyen, was a puppet craftsmanand artisan and his father, the famous puppeteer Phan Van Ngai, created themobile water puppetry stage. He also made “chu Teu” (a humourous farmer)puppet, which is being displayed in France’s Louvre Museum.
Water puppetry is a traditional form that dates back to the 11th century Ly Dynasty. Villagers in the Red River Delta and other rice-growing regionsin the north of Vietnam staged water puppet performances to celebrate the endof the rice harvest, religious festivals and other important occasions.-VNA
A talk titled “The Story of Water Puppetry”, hosted by artist Ngo Thanh Bac and puppet artisan/performance artist Phan Thanh Liem, will be held on January 8 in Hanoi.
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Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
Phan Thanh Liem performs with a water puppet (Photo: Vietnamnet) 
