Finding a new way for bamboo and rattan weaving villages

Bamboo and rattan weaving villages in some communes in Hai Phong are struggling to operate and are at risk of disappearing. Villagers hope for a new direction to preserve their homeland’s traditional craft.

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

Difficulty in product competition

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

A normal day in the bamboo and rattan weaving village of Xuan La hamlet (Kien Thuy commune) is quite peaceful. Here and there, some elderly people still sit meticulously splitting bamboo, whittling strips to weave baskets, trays, winnowing, sieves...

Mr. Chung Van Lam in hamlet 5B, Xuan La village said that he has been involved in this profession for nearly 50 years. This profession has been around since his father's time, and he knew it when he grew up. Recently, he had an accident and broke his leg, so he had no chance to find a job. Every day, when he was healthy, he and his wife weave baskets and trays, and when they were tired, they rested. This profession has a low income, and he and his wife weave all day long but only earn more than 100,000 VND in wages.

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

In the bamboo and rattan weaving village of Tien Cam (An Hung commune), people used to mainly weave baskets, trays... But in the past 10 years, the consumption of this product has been difficult, so people have switched to weaving votive paper, which is easier to consume, but the labor cost is not high...

Ms. Nguyen Hong Thinh in Tien Cam village said that she mainly weaves during her free time. Now she has switched to weaving votive offerings, but the main consumption is during the full moon of the 7th lunar month and Lunar New Year...

Other bamboo and rattan craft villages are in a similar situation, struggling to maintain operations. The biggest difficulty is selling products because bamboo and rattan products are competing with many similar products made of plastic, aluminum, stainless steel, etc.

In recent years, bamboo and rattan weaving villages do not have local raw material areas, depending on goods from some mountainous provinces. When raw materials are scarce, villagers do not make a profit. Recently, the price of bamboo has increased 3 times, from 15,000 - 20,000 VND/tree to 40,000 - 50,000 VND/tree, so the labor cost of bamboo and rattan weaving products is even lower...

Looking for a new direction to keep the profession

People in Tien Cam bamboo and rattan weaving village report low labor costs because the materials used are now quite expensive.

Despite the difficulties in production, the villagers still want to find a new direction to preserve the traditional craft. In Xuan La village, Mrs. Ngo Thi Phoi, although 85 years old, still regularly contacts many sources to buy rattan and bamboo products to sell to the villagers. Mrs. Phoi said that at the end of each day, she goes to the households that are still producing in the village to buy the products, then finds the customers, and gives them to traders to sell in many places in the city...

In some communes with bamboo and rattan weaving villages, many young people have the passion and enthusiasm to develop their ancestors' traditional craft in a new direction. A group of 5 young people in Tien Cam village (An Hung commune) recently joined hands to develop handicraft products from bamboo.

Mr. Ngo Van Duc in Tien Cam craft village said that at first, he saw that his parents' bamboo weaving profession had low income, so he learned mechanical engineering and worked for a while. But then fate brought him back to his hometown's traditional profession with a group of friends.

Mr. Duc said that from raw materials such as bamboo and rattan, if only producing traditional products, it would be difficult to compete in the market, but modern consumers recently really like souvenirs made from rattan and bamboo. Therefore, a group of young people in Tien Cam village has researched, studied, and invested in machinery to develop household and office products made from bamboo such as photo frames, bookshelves, storage boxes, etc. The group's products are currently ranked 3 stars OCOP. Along with the group's sensitivity in promoting and selling products through social networking platforms, the group's products have many orders...

A group of young people in Tien Cam bamboo and rattan weaving village develop products from bamboo mosaics.

Or Ms. Dang Thi Van Anh in Le Thanh Nghi ward is passionate about products made from rattan and bamboo. She said that in reality, traditional rattan and bamboo products are difficult to compete in the market. She has combined rattan and bamboo products with many other materials such as silk and wind paper to produce decorative handicrafts for restaurants, cafes, companies, agencies, families... Her products are chosen by many consumers.

Along with the efforts of many young people who love to develop traditional crafts, some functional agencies of the city such as the Cooperative Union and the Hai Phong Artisan Association always actively support the dying craft villages, including the bamboo and rattan weaving craft village. Director of the Training Center (Hai Phong Cooperative Union) Pham Sy Hiep Information, survey center of rattan and bamboo weaving villages in the city, find out difficulties and problems, advise on restoration and development of craft villages; at the same time support training so that craft villages can gradually overcome challenges, be able to survive and develop in the future.

HO HUONG

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