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Artisan Nguyen Van Trung has spent his whole life working as a bamboo and rattan weaver and has created many valuable products imbued with humane values. He has a great passion for creating portraits of President Ho Chi Minh and has spent most of his time indulging in his passion.
Born in a family with 12 generations of bamboo and rattan weavers, he was taught the craft at a very young age. He became a skilled weaver in his village Phu Vinh, Phu Nghia commune in Hanoi's outskirts district of Chuong My when he was only 10 years old.
Unfortunately, in 1969, at 15, he suffered a muscle contraction, causing his right leg to contract 15cm and paralyzing him for three years. It took him a lot of time and effort to learn how to sit, stand up and walk again. Through President Ho's teaching 'Labour is glory', he was inspired to rise up and rid himself of any inferiority complex about being disabled.
He has worked with great passion and enthusiasm to improve weaving methods and designs and created nearly 400 samples of woven products for household appliances and interior decoration.
He won first prize in a competition for skilled weavers in his village and became the leader of the Phu Vinh handicraft Co-operative in his commune. In 1980, he won the 'Creative Youth' prize held in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. Three years later in 1983, he was invited to the Republic of Cuba to teach about handicrafts and fine arts. He found that Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as water hyacinths, could be used as new material for weaving instead of bamboo and rattan, which brought about fruitful economic outcomes.
Before leaving Cuba, he wove a portrait of Fidel Castro to present Cuban people which is now displayed in the Cuban Government Office.
It took artisan Trung more than two years to weave his first picture of President Ho Chi Minh. He said that he is always keeping in mind the images of Uncle Ho especially his bright and gentle eyes so that he can create precise and real portraits. His woven picture entitled 'Uncle Ho on a business trip to Pac Bo' won the Gold Medal at the Vietnam Trade and Technology Fair held in 1980 which confirmed his status as a highly-skilled crafts artisan. He also wove many others pictures of well-known figures such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Fidel Castro.
Notably, the artisan established the Phu Vinh vocational centre which has provided more than 100 classes for 5,000 learners in bamboo and rattan weaving, including the disabled. The centre earns around VND 400 million (over US$19,000) per year and provides 24 people with stable jobs. Each year, he uses around VND 50 million to help the needy and handicapped. He has also compiled a book on bamboo and rattan weaving which will be published soon.
According to artisan Trung, in addition to creating traditional and artistic pictures, weaving portraits of President Ho Chi Minh will always be his lifelong passion.
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