Picture perfect

Horizons News - Thursday December 13, 2007

FACES & PLACES

Picture perfect

KARNJANA KARNAJANATAWE

At first glance I thought I was looking at a painting, but when I took a closer look, I realised it was a silk hand embroidery - a traditional art of Vietnam.

The woman in the picture is working on the handicraft at XQ Silk Embroidery Gallery in Hue, central Vietnam. She is creating an image of one of Vietnam's tourist attractions by using a needle and many shades of threads.

She can remember pictures in her head and the secret lies in her steady hands and her concentration. She knows well which colours to use for each stitching until it becomes a perfect picture.

Visitors to the gallery are free to roam around and take a look at the stitching process. There are various types of pictures hanging for sale including scenes of natural beauty, animals, religious festivals and portraits of people as well as contemporary artworks.

The pictures come in a variety of sizes from small to a larger in size than the height of an adult. It's amazing that each of these embroidered pictures can be seen from both sides.

I was very tempted to purchase one of these beautiful pieces, but when I looked at my thin wallet, I thought it would be better just to appreciate them in the gallery.

- Meeting locals makes your travels even more enriching. If you have interesting photographs of such people and a memorable experience to share with other readers, email them to pongpetm@bangkokpost.co.th. The photos must be sent as jpeg files (at least 1MB in size), and the text as doc files. Horizons reserves the right to select and publish the photographs.

Bangkok Post