VietNamNet Bridge – Saigonese riding on the city streets may see a gaunt figure with shoulder-length shiny black hair, a prickly mustache, dirty glasses and shaggy, paint-splattered clothes who is always striking amidst the crowd with an old bicycle carrying dozens of colorful masks.

Chu Bay sits on a sidewalk behind his mobile gallery of an old bicycle.

People often call him with a short name Chu Bay or Mr. Bay. He has two decades’ experience of making masks featuring characters of hat boi, a traditional opera singing of Binh Dinh Province’s people, Chinese historical characters as well as iconic characters of Egypt and Native Americans.

I met Bay on a sunny afternoon when he was sitting with a cigarette dangling loosely from his mouth, staring into a newspaper on a sidewalk by his bicycle which looks like a tiny gallery of masks. But beneath this unkempt appearance is the meticulous skills of an artist, one who can carve and mould rough materials into beautiful, colorful emotive masks.

Bay said the craft of making masks came to his life not really by chance but by destiny. “I was born in Binh Dinh Province in 1966 and while I was a child, I often sneaked to see hat boi shows. I adored masks painted meticulously and I could forget all fears when looking at them. All of my drawings contain my love for my hometown, my love of imagination and my childhood.”

Bay added that he studied late how to make masks from some local artisans and nourished his dream to be a handmade mask maker.

Coming to HCMC in 1990, Bay worked in a statue-making company for about six months with a modest monthly salary of about VND400,000. The passion for masks was always like a fire burning in his heart so he decided to quit his job and started to make masks and his products have won much praise from the public.

Chu Bay makes a mask in his attic at his Go Vap District home.

In a tiny house-cum-studio off Nguyen Oanh Street in Go Vap District with a cozy loft space hanging over his kitchen and bedroom, Bay crouches on his hands and knees over a half finished mask, making sure every detail is precise and dramatic. In that small attic, he sits in a messy area of shapes, rock power, water, and some old things that should be thrown away. As he paints, moulds masks with plaster, or mixes rock powder, he flips through books detailing the design and history of hat boi to study and find inspiration.

“The important thing is you have to love the job passionately and for sure, makers need to be patient, careful and creative,” Bay said.

Every morning he gets up at 6 a.m. and rides his bicycle, with his mobile gallery attached, along some main streets of Truong Dinh, Le Quy Don, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Dien Bien Phu into District 1 or District 3 to sell his artworks. He waits patiently for sales and chats with people on the street then he returns home at about 3 p.m. to make more masks. He often stays up late until 3 a.m. to make masks for the next day. “I just want to work hard to bring a better life for my wife and my kids.”

To save money, he just cycles on an old bicycle which is over 10 years old. “It’s a never ending cycle,” he added. Bay said he will do this job until he cannot cycle any more. “I wait for the day my two kids will grow up well and get a better life. I will come back to my hometown to live the rustic life until the end of my days.”

Bay does not only sell his products to locals but also to many tourists. Bay said: “In 2007 I got a huge order of over 6,000 masks from a German company. And since then I also have had some orders from Canada, the U.S and Japan.” He also takes orders from some city souvenir shops and individuals. Each work is priced from VND80,000 to VND600,000.

His works have attracted the attention of local television stations and numerous Vietnamese publications, and he credits this to the dying art of hat boi.

“I wish there will be someone else to help preserve this craft as a local tradition as well as hat boi.”

Source: SGT