From the perspective of Western art history, craftsmanship—especially in a postcolonial country like Vietnam—has rarely been recognized for its rightful place. Countless essays and speeches have argued that it was only after the establishment of the Indochina School of Fine Arts that artisans were "elevated" to artists, and craftsmanship was "raised" to the status of fine art. Yet from an Eastern perspective, we believe this distinction lies merely in differing approaches: craftsmanship has always embodied a deep respect for the collective legacy of creative traditions and the generations that came before, whereas the Western academic tradition of fine art places greater emphasis on the individual signature and authorship of each artist.