Khmer ethnic female artisan "revives" bamboo and rattan weaving village

Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative regularly receives many delegations to visit and learn from their experiences. Photo: NVCC

Passionate about traditional profession

Born and raised in a family with a traditional weaving profession in Phuoc Long district, Bac Lieu province, from a young age, Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy learned to weave bamboo baskets to sell at the market. After graduating from high school, Ms. Thuy learned more about handicrafts and boldly applied to open a bamboo product business when she was only 17 years old.

“However, due to market fluctuations, woven products cannot compete with household items made from plastic. I had to leave the craft village and do many other businesses to make a living. Although my life is stable, I always feel attached to my family’s traditional profession,” Thuy shared.

Returning to her hometown in Phu Tan commune, Chau Thanh district, Soc Trang province, she took advantage of the opportunity when consumers were aware of returning to bamboo products to protect the environment. Accordingly, Ms. Thuy established the Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative.

Ms. Thuy confided that Phu Tan has a traditional weaving profession, with abundant human resources and high skills. However, people only operate on a small scale, not knowing how to do business and develop the craft village. “The locality has available raw materials, just need to be skillful and creative to have unique handicraft products. Therefore, I established a cooperative to act as a “bridge” to build a chain of links to purchase and consume handicraft products for people in the area,” Ms. Thuy said.

Currently, the cooperative is a place to improve women's economic capacity and skills, creating stable jobs for 32 members and more than 60 women's association members in the surrounding areas. Each household has an average income of 7 to 10 million VND/month from weaving, so everyone is very close.

Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy has a burning desire to bring the bamboo and rattan products of Phu Tan craft village far and wide.

Bringing craft villages far and wide

Visiting the product display area and storage area of ​​Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative, we were overwhelmed by the sophisticated products crafted by the skillful hands of Phu Tan farmers.

Currently, Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative has more than 600 products of all kinds, from household products, consumer goods, decorative products, tourism products to gifts... consumed domestically and exported to Switzerland, Laos and European countries.

“Phu Tan craft village has 90% of its workers being Khmer ethnic people. Along with the advantage of having many skilled workers in craft villages in Soc Trang, the cooperative also develops and applies bamboo to the construction of architectural works to promote the values ​​and cultural identity of the Vietnamese people,” said Ms. Thuy.

Thanks to improved designs, rattan and bamboo products in Phu Tan traditional craft village are increasingly popular.

With her dedicated efforts, Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy was honored to be recognized as a National Artisan of the bamboo and rattan weaving industry. In 2023, in the Women's Startup Ideas Contest to Promote Indigenous Talents organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union, Ms. Thuy and Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Weaving Cooperative were honored to win the special prize at the Regional Competition held in Ben Tre province and the first prize at the National level held in Hanoi.

This is a source of pride for Ms. Thuy to continue her journey to develop Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative, continue the project of restoring craft villages and community tourism, maintain traditional craft villages and bring bamboo and rattan products in Soc Trang further and further.

Ms. Duong Thi Trang, Secretary of the Phu Tan Commune Party Committee, said: Artisans like Ms. Truong Thi Bach Thuy are typical examples. The "revival" of local craft villages is a good sign. Many bamboo weaving products from the craft village are not only household products, but also creative tourism products, inspiring, contributing to preserving and promoting the unique traditional cultural values ​​of the nation.

Currently, Thuy Tuyet Bamboo and Rattan Cooperative provides stable jobs for 32 members and more than 60 women members in the neighboring areas. Each household has an average income of 7 to 10 million VND/month from the weaving profession, so everyone is very close.

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nu-nghe-nhan-dan-toc-khmer-lam-song-day-lang-nghe-1733714323420.htm