Artisan inspires paper flower revival
Passion: Than Van Huy has revived his village’s traditional craft of making beautiful paper lotuses.
THUA THIEN-HUE (VNS)— Than Van Huy has trained 30 young girls in his village to make paper lotus flowers in an attempt to revive the traditional craft in Hue’s Thanh Tien Village.
Huy has used traditional techniques to make paper lotus flowers for seven years.
“The products are now standing firm in the market and I feel a need to train the younger generation in the village,” said Huy, adding that he had a strong desire to revive the industry.
Ten of the girls have produced paper flowers for Huy under processing contracts, and have got family members involved as well.
In 2006, Huy and his brother, Than Dinh Hoai, revived the traditional technique and started to create paper lotus flowers.
The siblings have created various kinds of lotuses, including lotus buds, blooming lotuses and lotus lanterns to attract customers.
They have found strong demand from markets in Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City, and expect to expand their business throughout the village.
Villagers hope the paper lotus flowers will thrive now it has been given a new lease of life, 50 years after it disappeared from local life. — VNS