Finding a new direction for the rattan and bamboo weaving craft village.

The rattan and bamboo weaving craft villages in some communes of Hai Phong are facing difficulties and are at risk of disappearing. The villagers hope for a new direction to preserve the traditional craft of their homeland.

People in Tien Cam village, An Hung commune, take advantage of their free time to produce products from bamboo.

Difficulty competing with other products.

In Hai Phong, there are several rattan and bamboo weaving villages such as Tien Cam (An Hung commune), Xuan La (Kien Thuy commune), An Xa (Nam Sach commune), An Nhan (Tu Ky commune), and Cham rattan and bamboo weaving (Gia Loc commune)...

A typical day in Xuan La village (Kien Thuy commune), a traditional bamboo and rattan weaving village, is quite peaceful. A few elderly people are still meticulously splitting bamboo and shaping strips to weave baskets, sieves, and other sieves.

Mr. Chung Van Lam, residing in Hamlet 5B, Xuan La Village, stated that he has been involved in this craft for nearly 50 years. The trade has been passed down from his ancestors; he learned it as a child. Recently, he suffered an accident and broke his leg, leaving him with no opportunity to find work. Every day, when he feels well, he and his wife weave baskets and trays; when they are tired, they rest. This profession yields low income; even after a full day of hard work, he and his wife only earn a little over 100,000 dong in wages.

Only a few people in Xuan La village (Kien Thuy commune) still practice the craft of rattan and bamboo weaving.

In Tien Cam village (An Hung commune), a traditional bamboo and rattan weaving village, people used to mainly weave baskets and trays... But in the last 10 years, the demand for these products has been difficult, so people have shifted to weaving paper offerings, which are easier to sell, but the daily wage is also not high...

Ms. Nguyen Hong Thinh from Tien Cam village said that she mainly did weaving during her free time between farming seasons. Now she has shifted to weaving paper offerings, but the main sales are during the Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the 7th lunar month) and the Lunar New Year...

Other rattan and bamboo weaving villages are in a similar situation, finding it very difficult to maintain operations. The biggest challenge is selling the products because rattan and bamboo items face competition from many similar products made from plastic, aluminum, stainless steel, etc.

In recent years, rattan and bamboo weaving villages have lacked local raw material sources, relying instead on supplies from several mountainous provinces. During periods of raw material scarcity, villagers produce at a loss. Recently, the price of bamboo and rattan has tripled, from 15,000-20,000 VND per stalk to 40,000-50,000 VND per stalk, further reducing the daily wages of those involved in rattan and bamboo weaving.

Hoping for a new direction to preserve the craft.

Residents of Tien Cam rattan and bamboo weaving village report low daily wages due to the high cost of materials used in their work.

Despite the difficulties in production, the villagers still hope for new directions to preserve their traditional craft. In Xuan La craft village, Mrs. Ngo Thi Phoi, despite being 85 years old, still regularly contacts many buyers of rattan and bamboo products to sell the products of the villagers. Mrs. Phoi said that at the end of each day, she goes to the households still producing in the village to buy the products, then finds buyers and delivers them to traders who sell them in many places in the city...

In some communes with traditional bamboo and rattan weaving villages, many young people are passionate and dedicated to developing their ancestors' traditional craft in a new direction. A group of five young people in Tien Cam village (An Hung commune) recently joined forces to develop handicraft products from laminated bamboo.

Ngo Van Duc, from Tien Cam craft village, said that initially, seeing the low income from his parents' bamboo weaving business, he learned mechanics and worked in the craft for a while. However, fate later led him back to his hometown's traditional craft with a group of friends.

According to Anh Duc, using bamboo and rattan as raw materials, it's difficult to compete in the market if you only produce traditional products. However, modern consumers recently have a strong preference for souvenirs made from bamboo and rattan. Therefore, a group of young people in Tien Cam village have researched, invested in machinery, and developed products for home and office use made from laminated bamboo, such as picture frames, bookshelves, and storage boxes. Their products are currently ranked as OCOP 3-star. Combined with their astute marketing and sales strategies through social media platforms, their products have received quite a few orders.

A group of young people in Tien Cam rattan weaving village are developing products from mosaic bamboo paintings.

For example, Ms. Dang Thi Van Anh from Le Thanh Nghi ward is passionate about products made from rattan and bamboo. She says that traditional rattan and bamboo products are difficult to compete with in the market. She has combined rattan and bamboo with other materials such as silk fabric and rice paper to produce decorative handicrafts for restaurants, cafes, companies, offices, and homes. Her products are chosen by many consumers.

Along with the efforts of many young people who love developing traditional crafts, several city agencies such as the Cooperative Union and the Hai Phong Artisans Association are actively supporting declining craft villages, including rattan and bamboo weaving villages. (Pham Sy Hiep, Director of the Training Center, Hai Phong Cooperative Union) The information center will survey rattan and bamboo weaving villages in the city, identify difficulties and obstacles, and advise on directions for restoring and developing the villages; at the same time, it will support training so that the villages can gradually overcome challenges, survive, and develop in the future.

HO HUONG

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/tim-loi-re-moi-cho-lang-nghe-may-tre-dan-524097.html