The zither was not made by artisans, nor by a salt worker, but was the product of Mr. Ho Chi An. Art teacher at Long Dien Tien Primary School (Dong Hai district, Bac Lieu province).

The guitar uses about 500kg of various types of salt (including white salt, black salt and pepper salt) to stick on the guitar.

Talking to Giao Thong Newspaper reporter, Mr. An shared that the idea for him to create this guitar made from salt was on the occasion of Bac Lieu province organizing the Vietnam Salt Festival - Bac Lieu 2025.

"For such a big event, I needed to do something unique related to salt. I thought of making a stylized zither from salt grains because the raw material is available locally in Dong Hai.

What worries me is that if salt is left out in the sun and wind, it will be difficult to retain the created image. Therefore, there needs to be a "secret" to keep it from melting," said Mr. An.

Initially, when coming up with the design idea, Mr. An had to draw the zither dozens of times on paper. Initially, the instrument did not have strings, but if he wanted strings, he had to redesign it to ensure balance.

After finishing the drawing, he went to buy salt himself, then washed it to remove small salt grains and keep the large, solid salt grains.

Next, roast for about 30 minutes (roast in many pans, each pan roasts about 0.5kg of salt) so that the salt grains no longer have moisture, with different temperatures, to create different color patches.

To limit melting in natural conditions, Mr. An had to do it over and over again nearly ten times. The optimal solution was to use a chemical compound to penetrate each salt grain, then use an intermediate chemical to create adhesion and another type of substrate to bind the salt grains together. After creating adhesion, these salt grains were attached to the iron frame to create the current shape of the guitar.

"The process of attaching salt grains is done from simple positions to complex details (curves) and must be very elaborate, using small tools to pick up each grain. If not careful, the salt grains will explode (break) and have to be redone.

The most difficult part is attaching the salt grains to the zinc strings. This step requires using a teaspoon to absorb the salt grains into the compound. If your hand shakes, the salt grains will fall out and you have to do it again. It takes a lot of work. You have to be patient and meticulous to complete the product. The strings alone take four days to make," An added.

The meaning of the stylized zither frame is explained by Mr. An, as a whole it looks like a sailboat sailing out to sea, welcoming a new and better future.

In detail, the triangles are mounds of salt, many of which represent the rise of the salt industry, the curved lines along the body of the instrument are the flow of the harmonious melody from the top of the triangle to represent the salt industry reaching its peak, from the peak connecting with "don ca tai tu" to the peak of goodness.

The base of the guitar is stylized in the shape of the ocean, with salt fields on the surface. On top is the national flag, the horizontal lines symbolize the provinces joining hands towards each other.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Han, Vice Chairman of Dong Hai District People's Committee, said that the stylized zither made from salt grains creates a unique and novel look. The work aims to honor the salt profession, bring salt grains far and wide, the savory value of salt grains is crystallized, converging into the zither, becoming the culture of Bac Lieu, imbued with love for the land and people.

Below are some pictures of the stylized zither made from more than 500kg of salt in Bac Lieu:

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/doc-dao-cay-dan-kim-duoc-che-tac-tu-hon-500kg-muoi-o-bac-lieu-192250304190223945.htm