Artisan’s success encourages village to revamp handicraft trade
Viet Nam News, Vietnam
Most people achieve fame first through a regional competition, then a national or international contest. Nguyen Van Trung is an exception. He built his name abroad before being recognised by his home village.
At the age of 18, Trung fell ill and his legs became paralyzed. Having time on his hands while staying at home, he learned to weave rattan and bamboo items from his father, an artisan from Phu My village, north of Chuong My Commune, Ha Tay Province.
The village was once well-known for its rattan and bamboo handicrafts, but war and the centralised economy left the town without its main livelihood. Only a few artisans like Trung’s father, who taught him the trade, remained faithful to the work.
Trung’s traditional Dong Ho paintings made from rattan and bamboo charmed the director of Ha Noi’s College of Industrial Arts, Le Quoc Lap, when they first met in 1973. Lap offered Trung a chance to take decorative art lessons at HCIA. In exchange he would assist his classmates in mastering rattan weaving.
As he learned, Trung won three international prizes – Indochina’s Golden Hand, Japan’s Prize for Best Handicraft Works and Viet Nam’s Golden Star – and was named Viet Nam’s National Artisan. HCIA even offered him a lecturer position. The college also sent him abroad to conduct research on the processing techniques of rattan and bamboo. He also traveled as a handicraft expert to Cuba and Angola.
In 2002 Trung helped to revitalise the trade at his village. His beautiful artworks have encouraged villagers to promote the craft again and the Phu My Co-operative of Rattan and Bamboo was founded, with Trung as technical manager.
“In the old time traders flocked to Phu My to buy our products,” Trung said, adding that he has already set up a small museum exhibiting hundreds of his artworks. “I’ll do my best to restore the glamour we once had.”
Monk does away with ‘monkey’ bridges, aids the needy
Years ago, residents of Go Quao Commune, Kien Giang Province, in the Mekong Delta trod lightly when they walked during the rainy season. Roads were muddy while the bridges made of bamboo – the so-called “monkey bridges” – were slippery. Today, they all walk in the rain without fear as there are no more monkey bridges.
The Buddhist monk Tran Nhiep of Thanh Gia Pagoda was the mastermind behind the plan to replace the bridges. During the past 40 years, Reverend Nhiep has helped generate funds, create the designs, and monitor the construction of 100 concrete bridges.
Although he is self-taught, his high-quality bridges will stand the test of time. Each year, Reverend Nhiep builds two or three more bridges, with the help of local or overseas Vietnamese donations. A small bridge can be built in one month and costs from VND 10-20 million, while a big one can be finished in two or three months, costing VND 35-50 million.
The monk also assists the local poor to rebuild their cottages and drill for water. “In June last year, when I was building a bridge, the chairman of the Kien Giang Association for the Poor Tran Lam passed. He asked me about my project and then told me to call whenever I needed anything. Seeing that the poor have neither shelter nor clear water there, I called him and asked for help,” Monk Nhiep recalled.
With Lam’s assistance, Monk Nhiep has built five houses with five wells, and then later built another 10 houses and 10 wells. “But a lot of monkey bridges remain in remote areas. My dream is to remain healthy so I can help get rid of these monkey bridges and build livable houses for all the poor there,” said the 77-year-old monk. — VNS