VietNamNet Bridge – Van Lam Village is set to become a cultural landmark simply by preserving its traditional embroidery and lace trades, reports Bui Quynh Hoa.

Well knit: Embroidery and lace pillows made by the Green Sun Limited Company. VNS Photos: Doan Tung

Wherever you go in Van Lam Village, there is one constant that you quickly become aware of – nimble fingers.

And these nimble fingers in the village in the northern province of Ninh Binh produce, or are capable of producing, sophisticated works of art, if not artistic masterpieces, using needles and colourful threads.

It is said that the embroidery trade took root in this village more than 700 years ago, during the reign of the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400). At the gate of the village stands an ancient temple dedicated to the founder of the local embroidery craft.

The story is that Tran Thi Dung, wife of the Great Tutor Tran Thu Do, visited the village with other people of the Tran royal family and taught locals how to weave and embroider.

The first local products were clothes decorated with bird patterns and parallel sentences and robes for the royal family.

The temple also worships Dinh Ngoc Henh and Dinh Ngoc Xoan, who brought the lace craft to the village in the early 20th century.

It has been a Vietnamese tradition for long that temples are built and dedicated to those who founded villages or introduced a prosperous trade to the villagers.

While the temple marks eternal gratitude, keeping the craft alive has been a challenge, particularly in a market economy.

Thankfully, Van Lam Village in Hoa Lu District’s Ninh Hai Commune, about 110km from Ha Noi to the south, has succeeded where others have not. The villagers have kept their craft going, and their products have reached most parts of the country and crossed borders to enter foreign markets.

According to village chief Chu Van Du Van Lam has 1,300 households at present, most of whom are engaged in making embroidery and lace, the crafts handed down through generations. Men in the village also master the craft, he said.

“Van Lam has ten officially recognised artisans in embroidery and lace, and five enterprises: Green Sun, Van Lam Tam Coc, Minh Trang Handmade, Thai Lien Handmade, and Minh Duc. They are widely known for high quality, handmade embroidery and lace-embroidery products,” said artisan Vu Thanh Luan, chief of Van Lam Embroidery Association.

“Their products have won high appreciation in European and northeast Asian markets for several decades, and the annual export turnover is between VND50 and 90 billion (about US$2.2-4 million)

In Van Lam, each house is a workshop run by family members. Every family has many kinds and sizes of embroidery frames. Some are big as a doublebed mat, others are as small as a hand. The skillful people keep embroidering a wide range of patterns and designs into diverse products including bed-spreads, curtains, pillow covers, table linens, napkins, handkerchiefs and garments. They also create embroidery paintings and photographs.

Recognising the need to preserve and develop the craft, village authorities have also taken necessary measures including training courses for local craftspeople, annual embroidery contests, promotion campaigns for traditional embroidery and lace products, and marketing new products.

Great reputation

“I learned the craft from my grandparents and parents when I was just six or seven years old,” said Luan, 62, who manages the Thai Lien Handmade Co Ltd.

“Day after day, I worked and learnt, and after I mastered the skills, I was able to set up my own enterprise. I have built close relations with Japanese partners (who are considered the hardest ones to please, and who always require the highest quality for their orders) over 15 years with about 480 patterns,” he said.

“It’s said that together with us (Van Lam embroidery craft village), other villages in Ninh Binh can also make quality embroidery products. But on lace technique, we are proud to be the masters in the province, even the nation.”

One of the ten recognised artisans in the village, Vu Thi Hong Yen, manager of the Minh Trang Handmade Com Ltd also enjoys high prestige in local and international markets.

Her handmade embroidery and lace-embroidery products, which have been exported to nearly 20 countries including France, Denmark, Italy, Australia, England, Japan and Korea, fetch an annual export value of VND13 billion (nearly $600,000).

Yen and her staff have kept creating new products and modifying them to meet market demand. They have created hundreds of lace patterns and combined embroidery and lace to make highly artistic products.

“Customers’ needs are diverse,” said Yen, who is the fourth generation in her family to follow the craft.

“Some people like our silk blankets, others like mattresses, clothes or table linens. They are all interested in seeing how we make embroidery and lace products. And we always try our best to make high-quality products for our customers.”

Along with the strengthening trademarks in both local and international markets, the Minh Trang Company also provides embroidery training courses for young people in the region.

“From 2007, our vocational training centre has held more than 20 courses for about 600 trainees,” Yen said.

“When the craft is better known, it can create jobs for more people.

“More importantly, the training also plays a significant role in preserving and developing the village’s long history of traditional embroidery. It’s also a great resource which can support us, along with other local workers, whenever we have to finish a big contract in a short time.”

Chu Thi Lien, a Minh Trang employee, has been engaged in the trade for 16 years.

“I’m very proud to be a Van Lam embroiderer,” Lien said.

“I will follow this vocation, which requires mastery of every step, until I become old and cannot do anything,” she said, smiling.

The Green Sun Co Ltd has won high appreciation from foreign partners for its attention to details and high quality of finished goods.

“At present, we have 50 regular workers and 4,000 casuals,” said Green Sun’s workshop foreman Dinh Quang Huy.

“Our products, mostly blanket covers, bedspreads, pillow covers, table linen and curtains, have been exported to England, US, Germany and Italy, with a value of $2-2.5 million per year.

“We also have plans to increase our focus on expanding our local market very soon,” Huy said.

Tourism benefits

Ninh Binh is blessed with unique and diverse natural beauty spots like Cuc Phuong National Park, Kenh Ga Hot Springs and Trang An Ecological Complex, not to mention architectural landmarks like the Phat Diem Stone Cathedral.

The province is estimated to have almost 1,500 historic relics, two of which have special national recognition: Hoa Lu, the first imperial capital of Viet Nam, and the Trang An-Tam Coc-Bich Dong complex.

The province also hosts the Bai Dinh Pagoda, the largest one in Viet Nam.

Nguyen Thi Cuc, vice chairwoman of the Hoa Lu District People’s Committee, said the number of tourists visiting Ninh Binh in general and the district in particular has increased rapidly over the last few years.

Last year, the province welcomed six million visitors earning VND1,421 billion ($63.2 million), an increase of 50.7 per cent as compared to 2014.

Meanwhile, the district welcomed more than 2.4 million visitors last year. But in the first six months of this year, it alone saw more than four million visitors, according to Nguyen Ngoc Suy, head of Hoa Lu District’s culture, sports and tourism office.

Van Lam Village has also benefited from the tourism inflow.

“The number of visitors to Van Lam has increased, from 338,000 last year to 465,000 in the first 11 months of this year,” Suy said.

Its proximity to several tourism hotspots creates favourable conditions for Van Lam to market their high-quality, handmade products to local and foreign visitors.

Van Lam is well situated to take its traditional crafts to all corners of the world, becoming a historical and cultural landmark in the process.

Floral elegance: A pattern for table linen created by the Green Sun Limited Company.        Work for everyone: Most of the residents in Van Lam are involved in the embroidery and lace trade, with the skills having been handed down through generations.        Intricate: Van Lam artisans are proud to be masters in lace techniques.      Sharp skills: With thin colorful threads, the skillful hands of local artisans in Van Lam Village make embroidery products that are sophisticated and beautiful.        Teamwork: Minh Trang Company workers take care to ensure high-quality finished goods.        Catchy patterns: An embroidered handbag made by the Thai Lien Handmade Company.

 

 

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