A prize winning dragon at a fruit festival in Can Tho

Legendary monsters, fierce reptiles and powerful deities are putty in the hands of a fruit sculptor.

Fruit sculpture is unique to the southern land as it is the country’s main orchard.

Succulent oranges, watermelons, longans, rambutans, grapefruit, mangos and much besides can be found in abundance in Tien Giang, Tay Ninh, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Dong Thap provinces.

No one knows when or where the idea of fruit sculpture arose. It seems to be a recent phenomenon though its origin could well lie in antiquity.

It’s most popular in the Mekong Delta, which is after all a paradise of fruit, and now Ho Chi Minh City has taken fruit sculpture to new heights.

Fruit festivals with many artistic creations thrown in have become annual fixtures in several places since Suoi Tien Park on the city’s eastern edge held its first event in 1996.

Suoi Tien’s success prompted emulation by other recreational parks, notably Dam Sen in District 11 and Tao Dan near the center of town.

Nowadays, even Ben Thanh Market in the heart of the city often boasts an impressive array of the distinctive artworks.

“The fruit must be brightly colored but the color combinations need to be harmonious so the end result doesn’t look gaudy,” says Mai, one of HCMC’s better known fruit sculptors.

“For example, the yellow of grapefruit and papaya skillfully arranged alongside daisies signifies radiance, joy and happiness, and breathes freshness and novelty into familiar objects.”

Another sculptor is Hai from Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta, a region where the fruit is so gorgeous and abundant that he felt an urge to honor it.

“The longer I’m involved in the craft, the more passionate I am about it,” he says.

These days, the exquisite fruit works are a common feature of harvest festivals and the festivities around Tet, the Lunar New Year.

“The art of combining fruits not only requires an aesthetic eye but also a profound knowledge of fruit.

An outstanding work must have stunning natural beauty and reveal the artist’s dedication and soul,” says Mai.

It takes a lot of time to create a fruit sculpture.

For starters, it takes one to two months to prepare the frame, which can be made of steel, wood or even a banana trunk.

Then comes the long process of selecting the fruit that will form whatever it is that the artist has in mind. The fruit must be of the highest quality and be able to stay fresh for a long time.

Vegetables like peas and red hot chili peppers can also be used, albeit sparingly. For example, red chillies are needed to make authentic looking dragon fins, claws and scales, while another vegetable, dau bap (okra), is used in the dragon’s tail.

Pineapples aplenty are a must for dragons as they make the legendary beasts look appropriately fierce.

Be it a dragon or phoenix, both sacred animals in Vietnamese culture, a dinosaur, tiger or crocodile, or the gods of happiness, prosperity and longevity, the final products suggest the sculptors have boundless creativity.

Dragons and phoenixes are received by best with the public, which is why they are the staple fare at competitions and exhibitions. They are most popular around Tet.

According to Mai, the finished works honor the fruits of labor and express a desire for prosperity and happiness.

Tran Van Lam, who won gold medals in six consecutive years at the Southern Fruit Festival in Suoi Tien Park, says it takes almost a full year to create a decent contender for first place.

His creation Dat nuoc no hoa (Blooming country), which won gold at the 2007 Southern Fruit Festival, incorporated more than 50 kinds of fruit that had taken Lam much time and travel to gather.

Reported by Diem Thu