As one of the famous traditional craft villages in Hanoi, 1,000-year history Van Phuc silk village still preserves its traditional beauty and remains at the forefront of the Vietnamese textile industry. Products of Van Phuc silk are favored for their luster, softness, elegance, and diverse colors, as well as its durability and beauty. The silk products are woven using unique sophisticated weaving techniques.
Understanding that maintaining the uniqueness and distinctiveness of Van Phuc silk is one of the methods to prevent the debasement of the craft village, artisans have exerted their utmost efforts to restore traditional weaving methods. Skilled and experienced craftsmen continue to use meticulous hand-weaving techniques to make high-quality products.
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Nguyen Thi Hang is one of the people who still apply traditional weaving techniques. |
Nguyen Thi Hang is a dedicated 70-year-old silk weaver in Van Phuc. Born into a family of silk weavers, Hang began learning the craft at the age of 16. She carefully observed and started to learn techniques from her mother and other weavers in the village. Despite her old age, the woman remains dedicated to silk weaving tradition protection and aspires to keep the craft alive.
According to Hang, there are different types of Van Phuc silk, but the most famous one is satin, which is made from 100% of pure silk fiber. Although Van Phuc silk village has used weaving machine from 1975, but silk pieces woven by skilled and experienced weavers are special and unique.
Like others artisans in the village, Hang always aspires to pass their craft onto the younger generation, raise the position of the traditional craft, and make it a pride of the nation. The woman has exerted all-out efforts to inspire and motivate young people to participate in preserving the craft.
Thanks to the efforts of artisans like Hang, many young people have been attracted to and decided to be engaged in and come up with measures to promote their village’s craft. Twenty-seven-year-old Tran Ngoc Thao is a person like that. Over the past time, with skills, experience, and the ability to keep up with current trends, she has diversified her products to meet the demand of customers and the market.
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A silk store in Van Phuc village |
Thao has actively applied technology to trading to bring silk products closer to customers. Products of her Phuong Linh silk brand are sold on various e-commerce platforms. She said that young people have their own ways to keep traditional crafts alive. For her, they are passion, innovation, and continuous learning.
Translated by Tran Hoai