Nowadays, many bamboo, neohouzeaua dullooa (gamble) or dendrocalamus patellaris woven daily wares have been replaced by cheap appliances made of plastic or aluminium. However, it is irreplaceable in the case of papooses. That’s the reason why many Bana ethnic people silently preserve their traditional elaborate bamboo weaving techniques. Bok Dinh Ba Hua from T2 village, Hoai An district is one of them
 |
|
Bok Hua is weaving the papooses at his home
|
Secretary of Bok Toi commune’s Party Committee, Dinh Xuan A, said, “Many locals are capable of weaving Bana-style papooses. Among them, Bok Dinh Ba Hua, 84, is the most skillful weaver, who is living at the T2 village.”
“His finishes are beautiful and favourite with many people. The craftsman is very skillful at maintaining the lively Bana ethnic design, pattern and colour in his products,” he added.
Bok Hua says that the papooses are not merely a kind of household commodities in the daily life of the Bana ethnic people. The finishes of various ethnic minority groups look similar at the first sight but they are actually different in case of attentive look. The product of each ethnic group has its own distinctive design, pattern, and colour. It isn’t difficult to make the wares for practical use but it is actually challenging to make the beautiful and typical products that represent essence of the group’s culture.
Because of that reason, Bok Hua carefully prepares materials to make the papooses. The handicrafts do require various kinds of materials although they look so simple. Some parts of them are made of bamboo, some made of neohouzeaua while the others made of rattan, not mention to choosing right dye for the bamboo laths.
The most difficult step in the weaving process is the pattern making. The zigzag-shaped, rhombohedron-shaped or square-shaped patterns require a lot of carefulness and skill to make. Otherwise, the commodities will be faulty.
It’s interesting to watch Bok Hua whittling and curving the thin flat bamboo laths. Witnessing Bok Hua weaving base of the papoose, which typifies the Bana ethnic design and has identical dots of pattern, without any technical drawing or supporting equipment except the a hook and the visualized pattern, the design in his head, we realize how important is the carefulness and the experiences of an expert craftsman. Because they are made with such the preciseness, it isn’t an overpraise to call his products works of arts
Owing to his old age, Bok Hua can’t make the woven bamboo wares in large quantity. His products are just enough for the demand of the villagers. Some from the lowland have asked him to make the items as handicraft gifts in recent years. Few of young villagers who want to preserve the admirable weaving technique of Bok Hua also asked him to teach them. He wholeheartedly instructs them ways of splitting and whittling the bamboo laths, method of dyeing and know-how of the pattern making. Yet, list of the young villagers interested in the traditional bamboo weaving are so short that Bok Hua is worried about future of the bamboo weaving.
Some localities in Binh Dinh province have developed traditional craft villages in combination with eco-tourism. It is expected that the traditional bamboo weaving in the mountainous areas like Hoai An will be preserved and developed thanks to such the initiatives.
| 
