Brocade Weaving in Po Ninh Village, Quang Nam In Need of Preservation

Brocade weaving needs its own mechanism for preservation. The Co Tu people in Po Ninh village who are working in the profession want the government to support them, so they can keep their job but still make a living with it.

Rosie Nguyen

ngtrang12.ftu@gmail.com August 04, 2023 | 07:10

Brocade Weaving in Po Ninh Village, Quang Nam In Need of Preservation

Women in Po Ninh village, Lang commune, Tay Giang district, Quang Nam province with the traditional profession of brocade weaving.

Having been taught weaving by her mother and grandmother since 16 years old, A. Bing Nhan (born in 1981) in Na village, Lang commune, is one of the good weavers in the area.

Every day, after working in the fields, in her free time, she weaves cloth. With rough fabric without decorative motifs, it only takes her one morning to complete one meter of fabric. For fabrics with beads and traditional patterns like flowers, fences, circles, and squares, the time will be longer. With the same time as raw fabric, only about 20 centimeters of fabric can be made.

"We make clothes for everyone in the family, give them as gifts to guests, and give to people in the village during holidays. Sometimes when tourists come, we also sell VND2 million (US$83)/set," said A. Bhling Nhan.

At the age of 26, A Lang Thi Dung (Co Tu ethnic group) is one of the youngest people in Po Ninh village in the weaving group. Because of her love for traditional crafts, Dung was taught weaving by her mother and grandmother.

Dung said she often wears traditional clothes of the Co Tu people on holidays and New Year, when guests come to visit. "I hope that I will be a good weaver so that many people can know about the brocade of the Co Tu people," she said.

"This is the costume of the Co Tu people from ancient times, we need to keep it so that our children and grandchildren can still know and understand. I hope tourism in this area will develop so that everyone knows and loves Co Tu brocade, Co Tu people can preserve the brocade weaving profession." That is the wish of Bhling Thi Tu (63 years old), who teaches brocade weaving to Co Tu women.

Tu has more than 30 years of experience in brocade weaving. She knew how to weave since she was 25 years old. Previously, she was invited by the leader of Tay Giang district to teach weaving to people in the region.

A Bing Thi Ngoc is embroidering beads on brocade fabric.

Talking about brocade weaving in Po Ninh village, Lang commune, Tay Giang district, Quang Nam province, BhLing Phat, head of Po Ninh village, said that the village's current traditional craft villages include knitting, brocade, relief, and sculpture.

However, they can only maintain brocade weaving and rattan weaving. As for brocade weaving, there are currently about 40 households who know how to weave and participate in weaving. However, they have not focused on weaving because a real brocade weaving village has not yet been established here.

Although craft villages were previously recognized, the investment level is still not guaranteed and not suitable for people's lives. Currently, people weave brocade at home. The good thing here is that there is a generational transfer, there are young people involved in preserving the profession.

Policies to preserve traditional craft villages existed, but have not been implemented synchronously.

The village supports weaving tools including thread and a number of machines for sewing needs. However, because it has not yet become a commercial commodity, it mainly serves the immediate needs of people and does not bring economic efficiency to the people.

"Even though we can keep our profession, most young people are not interested in traditional craft villages. Therefore, I want to have a separate mechanism to preserve it. Those who are working in the profession want the government to support them, so they can keep their job but still make a living with it. Investment policies and documents should be implemented soon."

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