In the last days of the year, Mr. Le Ngoc Du was busy repairing the King Kong model made of straw and cogon grass at the foot of Ba Den mountain to prepare for the New Year 2025. In addition, the young man living in Bau Nang commune, Duong Minh Chau district also worked tirelessly to create some works of art from bamboo.
Mr. Le Ngoc Du tells about his process of making King Kong from straw and cogon grass.
Turn childhood games into works of art
In 2024, twin brothers Le Ngoc Du and Le Minh Hai suddenly became famous on social networking sites and were known by many press agencies for their giant King Kong sculpture made of straw and cogon grass in the Village Inn at the foot of Ba Den Mountain.
To make his work perfect to welcome the new year of At Ty 2025, Du spent a lot of effort replacing the old parts of King Kong with new straw. When we visited, this "garden artist" said that the only remaining step was to cover the entire King Kong with a layer of PU paint to match the color and somewhat limit the impact of the weather.
At noon, the sun was hot, the work of repairing King Kong was temporarily stopped. Taking advantage of this time, Du started assembling the parts for the hermit crab sculpture. The materials to make this sculpture were roots, branches, and thorny bamboo stems. He said that to find these materials, he had to travel to many places for many months to find enough details suitable for the shape of the hermit crab.
Big cricket.
“For example, for the tail of the snail, I had to find a completely natural curved bamboo blank, the size also had to match the overall model. After bringing it home, I just chiseled, removed the unnecessary details, and minimized the impact on the remaining parts,” Du said.
After a few hours of assembly, the hermit crab gradually took shape. Under skillful hands and creative minds, the inanimate bamboo roots and branches suddenly transformed into works of art. Placed on a rock by the lake, viewers felt as if the hermit crab had just crawled out of its shell to look for food. This work was named “hermit” by Mr. Du.
Besides the model mentioned above, the young man born in 1987 also showed us many other works made from materials close to life such as bamboo, coconut shells... The works all left a strong impression on viewers such as: a giant cricket, so vivid that it feels like it can jump when held in hand; a field crab raising its pincers in a defensive position. Or bees, praying mantises and many giant yellow ants...
In particular, Mr. Du has created many animal models that can move when the wind blows or is impacted. These include dragonflies, an eagle that balances on a bamboo stem; and a turtle that transforms into a dragon with a funny swaying head and tail.
Or the dragon wind chime product set, every time a gentle breeze blows, the dragon moves, wagging its tail as if wanting to fly. The crane spreads its wings fluttering in the mountains and forests, the woodpecker, the frog in the lotus pond, the stork eating fish... It is estimated that, up to now, Du has produced nearly 100 products from bamboo and coconut shells. These products are all sought after by many people, not enough to supply the market.
The crab raised its claws high.
Turtle turns into dragon.
Du said that he was born and raised in a family with poor economic conditions, so he did not have money to buy toys like his peers. When he was young, he and his brothers often used coconut leaves to tie into the shapes of grasshoppers, locusts, and deer to play with. When they grew up, Du and Hai went to Ho Chi Minh City to learn hairdressing and made a living by beautifying people.
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, the two brothers returned to their hometown to practice social distancing. In his spare time, he made a dragon-shaped fishing rod and posted it on social media for fun. Surprisingly, this object received a lot of attention and praise. With his active, curious, and creative nature, and with more encouragement from the online community, Mr. Du thought of recreating childhood toys from bamboo.
When the Covid-19 pandemic was pushed back, Hai returned to Ho Chi Minh City to continue his career as a hairdresser. Du stayed in his hometown, devoting all his time and effort to creativity. According to Du, to have a product, first of all, you need to have an idea, then start looking for materials.
The search process was not always smooth. Holding the newly completed hermit crab in his hand, Du cited that he could not find any parts of the hermit crab in the bamboo bushes in the village. He had to go to barren, harsh lands where the bamboo trees were crowded together.
There, he found bamboo roots with special shapes that met his needs. “It only took a day to assemble this screw, but the time to find the materials took about 4 months,” Du said.
The crane fluttered and flew between the mountains and forests.
Cute yellow ant.
Spread the love of art
Not only satisfying personal needs, in recent times, Du has also spent a lot of time organizing workshops to meet and guide methods and skills to create this art form for those with the same passion, in order to spread the love of nature to young people.
Mr. Tran Van Hien, residing in Hon Quan district, Binh Phuoc province - a content creator, quite famous for his YouTube and TikTok channels specializing in village cuisine , has rented a house in Tay Ninh three times to "learn" how to make handicrafts from bamboo from Mr. Du.
Hien has now completed the bamboo ant, which he uses to decorate his home, and he feels very happy every time he looks at this work. The young man from Binh Phuoc shared: “I am also a content creator, I want to learn more from Mr. Du so that in the future I can film more bamboo handicrafts. Through that, I want to spread to you my passion for the rustic bamboo of my homeland.”
Mr. Le Ngoc Du assembles the hermit crab work.
The King Kong model made of straw, cogon grass and bamboo artworks by Mr. Du have contributed to creating a lively and attractive space at Lu Quan Village. Ms. Truong Thi Ha - director of a fashion company in Ho Chi Minh City and her group of friends came to Lu Quan Village and said: "The first feeling when stepping into this campus is the fresh air, lots of green trees and beautiful hills. In particular, the decoration here is very rustic, reminiscent of my childhood, so I really like it."
Village Inn representative - Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao said that in addition to continuing to maintain the King Kong model, in the near future, a shop will be set up here to display and introduce Mr. Du's bamboo handicraft products for visitors to visit and admire. At the same time, the Inn will develop more green tourism, grow many new ornamental flowers and experience tourism with activities such as letting students bathe in streams, catch crabs, catch snails, make mixed rice paper, make shaved ice...
Recently, the young man from Tay Ninh, Le Ngoc Du, was invited by Vietnam Television (VTV3) to come to the studio in Hanoi for a week to make the program Vietnam Multicolor. In the program, Du recounted the process of making handicrafts from bamboo. "I am cherishing the dream and determination to make the work of Saint Giong riding a horse, holding a bamboo stick to fight off foreign invaders" - Du confided.
Ocean
Source: https://baotayninh.vn/voi-nhung-tac-pham-tu-tre-truc-a183713.html
Comment (0)