vaga#4/8 Vietnam Craft

part VIII

Lao Cai market, she is settled with her loom in the middle of the market

I started in the North where their strength is the textile crafts, everything is done by hand, planting hemp for the fibre, which is spun, dyed, woven, then the garment is made. The variety of tribes in the area and each one with its very diverse clothes and complex festivities. Everyday clothes are sold by them. From what I saw there were more than hundreds of types of designs, you could also find some semi-handmade, cloth dresses with handmade embroidery and beads, you can also find traditional men's clothing. The poorest make their own clothes. The market sells all kinds of materials for production, skeins of threads, skeins of silk brought from China, fabrics, dyed fabrics, embroidered belts, beads. Unfortunately, I did not see the beadwork

The woman in the photo who sells her ethnicity in the market that I do not remember the name is shaving their heads

metal earrings, bracelets, anklets and chokers type of zinc or tin, are used every day

Laa showed me how they polish a fabric to give it a shine, as impressive a system I had never seen or heard of before

In the photo, you can see the bucket where it is dyed, a sample of the opacity of the fabric in contrast to the glossy one. My astonishment was such that they insisted that I polish the fabric. In a 30-centimetre strip of hemp dyed with very dark indigo, and they shine it. The fabric is placed on a cylindrical stone as seen in the photo, they put their feet on the stone and roll back and forth briefly, the constant friction brings out the shine in the fabric, this is done many times over a couple of centimetres. In the end, it is shown in a video.

In the central area of the country, only what I saw in passing, the making of incense that is consumed en masse, the woman who did it did not let me take a picture of it, this form is more efficient and has more varieties of designs, those from the north did it by kneading it by hand on the ground, the incense that is a tree bark with its natural brown colour, Here in the centre, they give them natural and artificial colours, they incorporate aroma, the craziest incense is the conical and large incense I saw in a Confucius temple they put the name of the deceased, or you write a wish and they light it so that the aroma and smoke can go to heaven

The photos below are a very funny anecdote that happened to me, at a cultural park in Hanoi, there were demonstrations of culture; architecture, food among others and of course there was a weaver who came from the south centre of the country, I enthusiastically approached there was a man who translated for us and to be able to see in detail the way he wove, he saw I was interested and asked me if I wanted to weave ... . What they have told me about the backstrap loom, I love it… I encouraged myself, obviously, the fineness of the warp was too delicate for my clumsy fingers and eyes, but I played it. We laughed a lot, and I was able to do something, I asked the man who translated for us to film me and as it was a demonstration, tourists passed by taking photos and I saw them laughing heartily, pointing their fingers and making comments, obviously a "farang" which is what they call westerners in southeast Asian weaving, yes uncommon, a rarity. It is woven barefoot, but in the cold weather of February, it is done wearing socks. It turns out that when I put my shoes back on I realised that I was wearing my funny socks… .. hahaha on the sole of my foot it says “if you can read this” on the other, it says “please bring me wine”……. that's where the pointing of the fingerscame from and the laughter of the tourists. LOL

In Hoi An, Further south, they make lamps, they make them in the street, and there are hundreds of different shapes, colours, sizes, a pleasure for the eyes and especially at night when they sell them they light them up, two blocks of stalls with lamps turned on. Made from either Kite paper or fabric. Magical

I observed an embroidery factory, with about 8 young men and women. They embroider copies of traditional paintings, a mastery worthy of recognition.

Animals, crickets, flowers made of bamboo bark, they make them in 5 minutes, after tree bark and coconut shells, I have never seen them either. They told me that for retirement they collect coconut shells together, they take out the fibre and then braid them into a rope, coconut fibre rope is very resistant and appreciated, finally the conical hats with all the varieties, are always working in the street.

It is not considered a craft, but it is a profession that I found very nice, they make clothes in the street on the pavement they put a sewing machine, and they can make you a formal suit in a couple of hours there are also elegant tailor shops where Europeans come to have their formal suits made, suits in general, men order several because of the very low cost and quality of the fabrics. There is something for all tastes, but some are not even suitable for a rock singer

I end with the video of Laa polishing cloth, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to observe it. An extreme and unknown rarity