Quang craft village products adapt to the market

Kim Bong carpentry village has developed more souvenir products made from bamboo roots. Photo: KL

Variety of designs

In early 2022, Au Lac Art Wood Company Limited (Dien Phong commune, Dien Ban) switched to producing sophisticated wooden art products with cartoon characters as models, targeting young customers.

Mr. Tran Thu - Director of Au Lac Art Wood Company Limited believes that diversity in designs is necessary and suitable for customer tastes.

Mr. Thu’s son studied fine arts at university. To create new products, Mr. Thu’s son consulted and researched to know which cartoon characters were popular among young people. Up to now, the market for Au Lac products has expanded to many young customers around the world such as the US, France, Australia, Taiwan…

Diversifying product designs is being implemented by many craft villages in Quang Nam . Mr. Le Duc Ha - owner of Le Duc Ha terracotta facility affirmed that changing product designs plays a decisive role for businesses and craft villages.

On average, Le Duc Ha Terracotta introduces about 10 new product models each month. Currently, the total number of models of the facility reaches nearly 500, this number is constantly supplemented and changed according to customer requirements and tastes.

Flexibility in adapting to the market helps Hoi An lantern industry develop well. Photo: KL

“Products now have to be compact to help customers transport easily and save on raw materials. In particular, we must apply machinery to production such as molds and soil crushers to increase the quantity of goods and aesthetics, not just manual work like before…” - Mr. Ha shared.

Preserving craft villages is not limited to old ways of making handicrafts for hundreds of years, but needs to be linked with technological progress.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tiep - Vice President of the Vietnam Craft Village Association, President of the Quang Nam Province Handicraft Association, manufacturing establishments and enterprises must restructure products based on market demand research, review existing product catalogs, identify key products, and resolutely eliminate products that have no market.

Applying new technology, focusing on improving product quality, researching and innovating designs, and exploiting multi-channel markets to consume products.

Never stop creating

Quang Nam has 45 craft villages, of which 34 are traditional occupations, craft villages and traditional craft villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee. The total number of production establishments participating in activities in craft villages is about 2,200 establishments. In addition to improving technology and production methods, diversifying product designs is always a concern of businesses and craft village owners.

Products from Củi Lũ village are crafted on the basis of constant creativity. Photo: KL

At Củi Lũ village (Hoi An), the use of local raw materials and the skills of Kim Bong carpenters have created unique products imbued with the identity of Quang Nam. Opened in early March 2023, this is a space to display and perform hundreds of unique recycled wood sculptures.

What makes the difference of the Củi Lụ village is that all the crafting materials are made from firewood drifting with the flood water from upstream and planted forest wood to convey the message of the art of regeneration and sustainable development to visitors.

Mr. Le Ngoc Thuan (owner of the Củi Lũ village exhibition space) acknowledged that in the context of the fiercely competitive product market as today, to survive, craft village products must not only diversify designs and increase creativity but also convey local cultural values. This is a mandatory requirement for all craft villages.

The products of Cui Lu village are a collection, introducing animals, architecture, and cultural life of communities from all over Quang Nam.

A survey of some craft villages in the province found that adapting to market demand is the key to the survival of craft villages. For example, Kim Bong carpentry village (Cam Kim commune, Hoi An), more than 20 years ago, the products of the craft village shifted from ancient houses, pagodas, tables and chairs... to household products and souvenirs when Hoi An tourism boomed. Even the product materials are more diverse based on the talented carving techniques of Kim Bong craftsmen.

Mr. Huynh Suong - an artisan of Kim Bong carpentry village believes that if a product contains cultural values, it will touch the emotions of customers. That is also a way to help preserve the craft village. And Kim Bong carpentry products are aiming for this.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/san-pham-lang-nghe-xu-quang-thich-ung-thi-truong-3140632.html