Many artists are taking part in the second Vietnam Brocade Culture Festival being held in Dak Nong province. (Photo: nld.com.vn)HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Preservation of traditional Vietnamesebrocade helps not only highlight cultural values but also contribute tosocio-economic development and improves the quality of life for ethnicminorities.
Many makers of brocade are trying to preserve their weaving culture and seekingfinancial support.
The second Vietnam Brocade Culture Festival which is taking place in Dak Nong provinceaims to attract investment in preserving the traditional handicraft.
Ka Mom from the Chau Mạ ethnic group in Loc Tan commune in Lam Dong province’sBao Lam district noted that the commune has more than 500 women who know how toweave brocade. Some are from families that have been weaving for threegenerations.
Ka formed a brocade weaving cooperative about three years ago with 15 members,who were offered a 5 million VND loan per person by the Women's Union.
However, the cooperative disbanded after the Women’s Union decided to stopfunding its members after a year of operation.
“It's very challenging to make products and find sales outputs on our own,” Kasaid.
Ka usually needs over a week to weave a piece of fabric that usually costs 800,000VND in the market. “There should be 'regulations' during festive and holidayseasons to wear brocade items to preserve this cultural value,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lam Nu Minh from the Cham ethnic group said that she is one of 80members of the Cham My Nghiep Brocade Weaving Cooperative in Phuoc Dan communein Ninh Thuan province’s Ninh Phuoc district.
Despite an income of 1.5 million VND per month after excluding daily expenses,members of the cooperative have been pursuing their passion for a long time.
Except for a few people who love ethnic brocade, many locals, especially youngpeople, have switched to working at factories to earn higher incomes, she said.
Since brocade products are usually sold to international tourists, the COVID-19pandemic has made it difficult to keep the industry going.
“We cannot promote our products efficiently with such an income. We want totake part in more festivals to sell our products and exchange experiences withother artists," Minh said.
"We also seek financial support for professionalmachinery used to make fabric, while weaving the brocade parts manually. Mostimportantly, we are looking for better ways for our products to be circulatedand consumed."
Authorities in some provinces have focused on the preservation of brocadeweaving and have organised training courses for ethnic minority women in recentyears.
However, because of the country's global integration and economic transition,it is challenging to fully preserve the beauty of brocade weaving profession.
Skilled artists have become older, and many youngsters are not passionateenough about the trade to pursue a career.
Chairman of the Dak Nong Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Dinh Trung saidthat brocade has contributed to the solidarity and cultural diversity of 54ethnic groups.
“It is a cultural bridge between us. Let’s join hands to bring Vietnamesebrocade closer to people, especially foreign visitors!” he said.
In order for the profession to thrive, authorities should create incentives toencourage artists in Dak Nong province to search for markets at touristdestinations by themselves, set up stores of brocade products, and collaboratewith other cooperatives or trading companies to expand the market, Trung said./.
