Small-scale artisans elevate Nghe An's rattan and bamboo products

In Tam Bong village, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong), there is a small house where a set of rattan and bamboo tables and chairs was born, winning the Special Prize of the "Vietnam Handicraft Products 2022" Contest. The unique table and chairs were made by the hands of a farmer who has a lasting passion for rattan and bamboo weaving. He said that behind the award, there are many concerns and plans to improve the rattan and bamboo products of his hometown...

Mr. Thuong completes the rattan dining table product. Photo: HT

Mr. Kha Van Thuong’s small house is located along Highway 7, filled with rattan and bamboo. His hands are dry and cracked more often, as he has to constantly soak them in water, then whittle each rattan and bamboo strand to dry the products.

Mr. Kha Van Thuong is attached to the craft of weaving natural rattan and bamboo like the breath of his life. Since childhood, he has been familiar with rattan and bamboo weaving items, from the small rattan chair, the round rattan table, to the press that women and mothers use to hold sticky rice when they go to the fields...

From making his own household items, he gradually made more, and when he couldn’t use them all, he started selling them. Being popular with many people, he researched and made many other designs… And the rattan and bamboo table and chair set was also born from his concerns, creativity and with his hands trained over decades of weaving each rattan strand, bending each strand from the mountains and forests of his homeland.

Most of the products at Mr. Kha Van Thuong's facility are made by hand with the skillful hands of the craftsmen. Photo: HT

On November 2, 2022, in Hanoi, Mr. Kha Van Thuong was awarded the Special Prize by the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development of the "Vietnam Handicraft Products 2022" Contest. The winning product was a set of rattan and bamboo dining tables. This set of products by Mr. Thuong has successfully surpassed nearly 400 handicraft products of 190 authors and groups of authors nationwide to win the Special Prize. This contest was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in June 2022, with participants being artisans, skilled workers, designers, organizations, individuals, associations and management agencies in localities from all over the country.

Right after receiving the award, Mr. Kha Van Thuong took the earliest bus back to the small village of Tam Bong, where there were still many orders waiting for farmers with skillful hands to complete the ordered rattan and bamboo products, waiting to receive the products.

Mr. Kha Van Thuong said that the same goes for his rattan and bamboo products. If he made them alone at this time, he would not be able to deliver them to customers in time. He did not dare to take on more orders, even though the price of each set of tables and chairs ranges from 4-6 million VND, and each round chair from 1.5-2 million VND.

Each set of rattan and bamboo furniture takes months to complete. The steps from processing raw materials to shaping and weaving are mainly done by hand. Photo: HT

In previous years, on the occasion of Lunar New Year, Mr. Kha Van Thuong hired 2-3 seasonal workers to complete the products. In 2022, after the Special Award, he is more concerned about realizing his wish to further develop the rattan and bamboo handicraft in his hometown, helping many people have another direction for sustainable economic development.

However, to make that wish come true, the farmer with the "golden" hands has concerns and worries when the source of raw materials is still quite difficult.

Mr. Kha Van Thuong confided that in the 1990s, in Tuong Duong district as well as the western region of Nghe An, there were countless rattan and bamboo forests. At that time, the two main raw materials for the rattan and bamboo weaving industry did not have to worry about shortages. However, in the past ten years, natural rattan and bamboo have increasingly retreated to deep forests, becoming increasingly scarce. People have to go to high mountains and remote forests to get them.

Many of Mr. Thuong's rattan and bamboo products are popular with customers. Photo: HT

Currently, the price of fresh bamboo has reached over 20,000 VND/m and is often in short supply. To ensure the source of raw materials, Mr. Kha Van Thuong has expanded his purchasing scope in neighboring districts, even from small traders in other provinces. "In the near future, I plan to establish a cooperative for hand-woven bamboo and rattan, expand the scale of production, and invite more villagers to participate," said Mr. Kha Van Thuong.

This year, Mr. Kha Van Thuong hired 9 regular workers to work together to complete the "orders". The participants are mainly women who take advantage of their free time. After the "main worker" Kha Van Thuong completes the stages of preparing materials, shaping, framing tables and chairs, weaving intricate and meticulous details, the simpler finishing stages will be taken care of by the "assistant workers".

According to Mr. Kha Van Thuong, the participation of "assistant workers" will help speed up the completion of products, initially forming a "chain" of rattan and bamboo weaving in small villages, gradually realizing the desire to share and expand the scale of rattan and bamboo weaving crafts in Tam Bong village and many villages in the Western region of Nghe An.