Devotion to traditional crafts

When visiting the traditional craft village, you can see young people carving sophisticated sculptures from rough sections of tree trunks with keen interest. Many of them have been apprenticed from their elders to become very skilful at making sculptures with a high degree of creativity.

A 18-year-old, Nguyen Van Quyen who has followed the traditional craft for five years said that most of the sculptors in the village started their apprenticeships when they were very young. They go to school for half a day, then go to learn traditional crafts afterwards. The young workers have inherited the essence of professional skills from the previous generations. Their wooden sculptures such as Statues of Buddha, flat lacquered boards and wooden panels inscribed with parallel sentences all have the distinctive style of Dong Son crafts.

The strong development of carving has breathed new life into the village as many local people now have steady jobs, to stabilize their lives.

Many local people have gained their reputation and prestige by the age of 40. For instance, Nguyen Chi Quang currently owns three workshops employing around 30 workers and also runs a shop, which is the only paint supplier in the village.

Nguyen Viet Thach is very good at his carving. In 2005, he was awarded the “Vietnamese Quintessence” Certificate in recognition of his creative wooden sculptures displayed at a fair on Vietnamese cultural heritages. His products have also been shown in the US, Thailand and some European countries and displayed at the ASEAN fair. Mr Thach also owns three workshops that generate jobs for more than 30 workers.

 

Moving in new directions

It is difficult to preserve the cultural values of their ancestors’ traditional crafts in the current process of national industrialisation and modernisation. How to develop products still bearing the superb craftsmanship of their ancestors remains major concern among the local young workers.

Although the village has secured a foothold in the market the scale of production is still small mainly run by individuals. There are just a few professional companies. As business owners have not been trained professionally they lack management skills to boost production and trading activities.

To cope with this problem, Nguyen Binh Hiep has discussed with some friends ways of establishing a joint stock company to find new ways of developing the sculpture business. Establishing the first joint stock company has created a dynamic business environment for the traditional craft village. They are young people who graduated from universities and want to use their knowledge to develop their local area.

Nguyen Binh Hiep, director of the Hop Phat Joint Stock Company, said that he likes doing business. He was the owner of a small workshop when he was 16 years old and had wanted to set up a company since he was a secondary school student. Therefore, he quit a stable job with FPT and set up a joint stock company with some of his friends.

The basic knowledge of computers, foreign languages and management skills he gained in four years working for FPT has enabled him to access modern and professional working methods. In 2007, the Vietnamese Embassy in the US ordered the company to make a set of worshipping objects such as flat lacquered boards and parallel sentences to show to international friends when State President Nguyen Minh Triet visited the US. The order served as a driving force behind the young man’s desire to make his dream come true.

The company recently set up a market research department to build advertising strategies and business development plans in each specific period. Thus, despite a newly established company, it has secured a firm foothold in the market. The quality of its products is always strictly controlled in order to ensure they only sell the best quality products to meet customer demand.

During the time of UN Vesak Day celebrations in Hanoi, the company hired a stand to showcase its products. Mr Hiep said that this was a good chance for the company to promote its trademark to international customers. Following this event, a number of customers contacted the company to put in new orders.

Currently, the company provides jobs for 30 workers with an average monthly income of VND1.7 million.