The hundred-year-old craft village "father-to-son relationship"
According to the stories of the village elders, the cloud knee craft village in Tien Hao village (Vinh Hao commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province) has been passed down from generation to generation, and has existed for hundreds of years.
Born and raised in Tien Hao, Mr. Nguyen Cong Phan (77 years old) and his wife Vu Thi Tuyet (77 years old) have been involved in the traditional cloud knitching profession since childhood.
According to Mr. Phon, in the past, the whole Tien Hao village made cloud pillows, but now there are only the elderly or people who are free to work to earn more income.
According to Mr. Phon and his wife, to make a beautiful, durable pillow with eye-catching decorative motifs and when used effectively, the craftsman must be meticulous and skillful in choosing materials.
The clouds chosen must be old, shell-filled, cut into sections and drained so that when the clouds are split, they will be flexible and have many clouds. After the slicing, the incense will be dried and rubbed so that there is no more fiber and no mold.
"After completing the preparation of cloud materials, we started to frame the pillow. Knead frames are often made of jackfruit wood because the wood is light and fragrant; when the pillow is on, the user will feel a gentle, pleasant, and relaxing aroma.
Today, the above materials are prepared by the pillow purchasing unit, we only work on the complete knee weaving process," said Ms. Tuyet.
In addition to natural cloud fiber, to follow market trends, people in Tien Hao village also use fake cloud plastic fiber to make pillows. This type of fiber has the advantage of being cheaper, more colorful and easy to decorate.
Concerns about preserving traditional crafts
Tien Hao cloud pillow products are so famous, but up to now, there are few local households that still maintain the traditional profession.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien - Vice Chairman of Vinh Hao Commune People's Committee - said that in Tien Hao village, there are now about 50 households working, mainly the elderly and students, who are taking a summer vacation at home and doing their job.
Partly because of the diverse labor market, young people in the village are no longer interested in the knee weaving profession because of the hardship and unstable income.
Worried about the traditional profession that is showing signs of fading away, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh (60 years old, in Tien Hao village, Vinh Hao commune) has opened a facility to provide raw materials and collect direct output for people.
Mr. Minh shared: "I am very proud of my hometown's cloud pillow making craft village, so I decided to open a facility to support people to continue making and preserving the traditional craft. Every year, my facility sells nearly 50,000 pillows, all of which are handmade by local people.
Not only my facility, but other primary schools in Tien Hao village are operating on a small scale, so it is very difficult to develop. I myself and other families hope that the craft village will develop more centrally, no longer the small situation as it is now.
In addition, infrastructure and facilities are supported to improve and build large workshops, bringing good income, attracting young workers. Thereby, helping craft villages develop more sustainably".
